SRAM Locking Up

[martint235]

Is this the same bike you were having trouble with the rear mech the other day?

I really hope this turns out to be sommat stupid, ham fisted fettling by the sounds of it

And to be fair, where I'm concerned you should never underestimate the damage done by hamfisted fettling!!!

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

It is the same bike I was having problems with the other day cos it had done this locking up thing and I was fettling the brakes.

Anyway I think I may have found the problem, or at least I've found something that isn't right that may be causing the problem. I noticed this morning that the right hand lever was turned more outwards ie not in line with the bike so I moved it back. This didn't take any force at all so it seem the lever is loose on the bar. Now I haven't taken the tape off yet, do I need to do this to tighten it up? I can't see or feel anything under the tape to tighten it. Any ideas? These are 2011 SRAM Reds.

Thanks for all the help so far!

This is likely it, turning the lever away if the outers are tightly taped to the bars is the same as pulling the cable. This might help.

 

[amaferanga]

You can access the allen bolt to tighten the clamp by pulling back the hood.

SRAM instructions: http://www.sram.com/sites/default/files/techdocs/95-7015-019-000_rev_b_red_shifter_brake.pdf

 

[Scoosh]

..... that the right hand lever was turned more outwards ie not in line with the bike so I moved it back. ......

eldudino of this parish was one of the famous C+ Team of ... err ... guess it must have been 2010 - and they were given nice shiny bikes to ride during the year. They had SRAM DoubleTap too.

When the SRAM-man was setting up their brake levers etc, he said that the levers should be angled inwards, so the line up through them is aiming at a point just in front of your head when you are on the hoods. (eldudino was responding to my question on the 'right' position for the brakes)

The effect of this is that, yes the levers do stick out a bit but they are much easier to use, as braking is largely unchanged and there is less rotational hand/wrist movement required to change gear than with the levers pointing straight ahead.

It has worked well for me.

A loose clamp could well be your issue.

Hope that solves it for you.

 

[snailracer]

Seeing as you only lock up after hitting potholes, it may be that there is not enough brake return spring force to keep the cable outer ferrules in position during bumps. Your return springs are either weak, not dialed in correctly or cable routing/friction has offset the action of the return springs. Also, your cables may be insufficiently supported - on hitting a bump, the mass of the cable may cause it to flop about and pull the ferrules out of their stops, so when you next apply the brake, the lever will not move very far because the ferrule is teetering on the edge of the cable stop, effectively pulling the brake on. After a few minutes riding, you may have enough vibration to bump the cable ferrule back into the correct position fully inside the stop, so the problem appears to go away.

 

[martint235]

Thanks all for the advice. I'll see what happens once I tighten it up.

@Scoosh yes the left lever points out a tiny little bit but the right hand lever was way off centre.

 

[martint235]

Touch wood it's worked. No problems coming home whereas this morning it locked up on a tiny bump. Will see how I get on.

 

[topcat1]

god! your not using lelly for the commute are you?

 

[martint235]

What's the point of having 2 grands worth of bike and not using it . Only this week, will be back to commuting on Giant next week