Vee brake noodles.

[simongt]

The minor irritation with vee brakes - well to me anyway, is every so often the brake cable won't return fully, the issue is snagging inside the plastic sleeve in the noodle, either minor corrosion or gunk build-up. Does said plastic sleeve serve any actual useful purpose - ? Discussing the point with one of my LBCs, he did suggest that the plastic sleeve may be be more hindrance than help ( can they be bought separately - ? ) and thought that simply ensuring that the noodle is filled with a decent quality grease may be a way round the issue.

Whaddya think - ?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Hmm, I always thought it was PTFE and as such is low friction. Maybe try getting rid, I've done that in the past by accident and nowt changed TBH.

 

[mrandmrspoves]

You can buy mouldable noodles that allow you to reduce the curve to the minimum required as it is the apex of the curve that tends to get most worn.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

They are important but not critical. In other words, if you remove them, you can still stop but the cable feel will be gritty, sticky and require some extra muscle. They are a pain, but stick with them and replace often.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Keep the plastic sleeve in the noodle and grease the cable where it goes through it. As part of regular servicing, pull partly out and regrease. And, +1 to @Yellow Saddle 's advice: replace often. The plastic will wear over time, on the inside of the curve.

 

[Tom B]

They are important but not critical. In other words, if you remove them, you can still stop but the cable feel will be gritty, sticky and require some extra muscle. They are a pain, but stick with them and replace often.

What he said.

SWMBO'a confidence is sensitive to brake feel as are my eardrums. I got a big bag of noodles for beer money and change them with pads or cables.

 

[zacklaws]

I had that problem but resolved it by changing the settings on the spring to maximum and now the cables always fully return, that is till the springs start loosing their springyness and need replacing.