Whenever I try to set the brake cables on my bike, the caliper screws on my front/rear derailers, the alignment of my brakes and so on, I have a really hard time getting it set properly. How do you learn to do it right, it drives me nuts. I once spent 3 hours trying to get side pull caliper brakes to not touch the wheel while it spun and making them stay that way after breaking on an old 1980s road bike. It drove me nuts.
Calibrating Bicycles
Your brake pads just need to clear your tire and the tension has to be such that they're gripping your tire when you pull the break lever and coming away again afterward. A few ideas for things that may complicate the basic instructions for brake adjustments that are probably all over the internet: 1. If your bike is old, your cables and cable housings might be covered in rusty junk. If the cable can't slide smoothly back and forth through the housing, it may catch and refuse to release your brakes cleanly. If they're old and crappy, replace them and your housing too and drip some lube down the housing while you're at it. This is super easy to do yourself. Same goes for your derailleur cables and housings 2. Check to see if your brake pads have worn a little rim-grabbing lip on their lower edge. Cut it off with a razor blade. 3. If your brakes are still too loose after you adjust them, it may be that your cable is stretching, especially if it's new. When you put a new cable on, pinch the brakes to the rim with your hand and take out the slack before tightening the nut at the brakes. Don't do it super forcefully or with a 4th hand, but as good as you can get it. Then mash on the brake levers a bit. Usually that's enough to stretch the cable a bit and get the brake pads clear the rim while still having super responsive brakes. 4. If one side of your brakes are rubbing and not the other, you need to adjust the tension on the two sides until they match. 5. Probably obvious, but make sure your wheel is straight in the dropout.
As for derailleurs, I guess I'd be curious what problem exactly you were trying to correct.
If you want to learn to work on bikes, I'd suggest checking to see if there's a bike co-op in your area. They will usually teach you to work on your bike for free or for a small fee ($5/hr, for example).
As for derailleurs, I guess I'd be curious what problem exactly you were trying to correct.
If you want to learn to work on bikes, I'd suggest checking to see if there's a bike co-op in your area. They will usually teach you to work on your bike for free or for a small fee ($5/hr, for example).
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flitteringleaves
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:56 am
I would second the suggestion to utilize a bike co-op of some kind if one exists in your area. Much of what I have learned about fixing bicycles has been by volunteering with such an organization. However I will say that in the process of learning I have sure spent many hours on what I would now consider very simple tasks. A list of such organizations can be found at http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/ind ... anizations
Also some resources I have found to be very useful for bicycle repair are http://sheldonbrown.com/articles.html and http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help
Don't give up, and if you're getting too frustrated take a break and come back to it when you can think more clearly. If you have any issues in the future and can't find what you need to know in the resources above, feel free to ask me. I might know of something, I might not.
Also some resources I have found to be very useful for bicycle repair are http://sheldonbrown.com/articles.html and http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help
Don't give up, and if you're getting too frustrated take a break and come back to it when you can think more clearly. If you have any issues in the future and can't find what you need to know in the resources above, feel free to ask me. I might know of something, I might not.
