Momentum USA Nov/Dec 2011
diy How to tighten your brakes 2010 SWITCH Studio All Rights Reserved WRITERS MELYSSA MENDOZA DAN GOLDWATER PHOTOGRAPHER DAN GOLDWATER B rakes can become loose because of brake pad wear or cable stretch If you nd yourself unable to stop as well as you once did its time to tighten your brake cables Tightening your brakes is a simple and common adjustment and youll save a lot of time and money doing this one yourself Simply Fix If you have caliper brakes you may have inadvertently unlocked the lever that lets you take out your wheel In that case reattach your brake cable and see if your brakes are still too loose a On the other hand if your brakes are bumping against the rim a couple of culprits could be at fault It might be that your wheel is not true or your brake pads are more seriously misaligned and you might need to realign the two sides Caliper or Cantilever All types of brakes have both a barrel adjuster screw used for small adjustments and a cable clamp which is used for larger adjustments Depending on the type of brakes the barrel adjuster might be on the brake or on the handlebar e cable clamp is always on the brake b Your barrel adjuster may resemble one of the two shown on the bikes we took pictures of c Look at the picture to determine which one you have Always start by adjusting the barrel adjuster You should very rarely need to adjust the cable clamp Pull back on the cable housing to make it easier to turn the barrel adjuster Unscrewing the adjuster will tighten the brakes Screwing in the adjuster will loosen the brakes Tighten the lock nut to prevent the barrel adjuster from slipping If you nd yourself with your barrel adjuster in your hand and no longer attached to the bike and your brakes are still too loose you need to adjust your brake cable clamp To do this rst put the barrel adjuster most of the way in again Second take an Allen wrench or a standard wrench for an older bike and loosen the anchor bolt but make sure the bolt is just loose enough to adjust the cable d Squeeze the brakes together against the rim with one hand pull out the cable a few millimeters and then tighten the bolt to clamp the cable into the new position After you do this you will use the barrel adjuster to tighten or loosen it a bit its very hard to get things exactly right using only the clamp Test Those Brakes After you have adjusted the brake cables squeeze the brake levers to con rm that the cable doesnt slip If it does tighten the anchor bolt some more Tight is good Note If you have cantilever brakes you can disengage the brakes completely before adjusting the brake cable is means you do not need to squeeze the brakes together Give the wheel a spin If it spins freely and the brakes dont hit the rim consider yourself done CHECK EACH BOX AS A GUIDE Name correct Address correct Phone correct Ad copy correct Offer correct if any AD APPROVAL Ad approved as is Ad approved with corrections indicated Re Proof after corrections are made Email Back To ads@ 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Street Kelowna BC 250 762 2453 kelownacycle ca SIMONS CYCLE 3 1841 Comox Avenue Comox BC 250 339 6683 simoncycle com NOVA SCOTIA NOVA SCOTIA BIKEWAYS COALITION 5516 Spring Garden Road 4th Floor Halifax NS 902 425 5454 nsbikeways ca ONTARIO URBANE CYCLIST 180 John St Toronto ON M5T 1X5 416 979 9733 urbanecyclist ca QUEBEC LES VÉLOS ROY O INC 463 rue Saint Jean Québec QC 418 524 0004 velosroyo com FOR A COMPLETE LIST go to momentumplanet com pick up SIGN UP TO BE A PARTNER at momentumplanet com distribute b c d Melyssa Mendoza writes for the blogs Change Your Life Ride a Bike and San Francisco Bike Party She is a San Francisco Bike Party organizer and volunteer and also works with the SF Bike Coalition as a Bike Valet Supervisor at events throughout the city @ CALITEXICAN CHANGEYOURLIFERIDEABIKE BLOGSPOT COM Dan Goldwater develops bike accessories with MonkeyLectric Previously he cofounded instructables com was a scientist at MIT and developed microchips at Intel INSTRUCTABLES COM GROUP 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