Author Topic: Installing front brake  (Read 35892 times)

Offline Levi

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Installing front brake
« on: May 31, 2008, 10:31:37 AM »

 1. If you’re installing a used brake, make sure to clean your brakes and mounts before putting it on. Dirt = big no no.

2. Sand down your pads a little to make them grip better and get the dirt off. (This should be done every once in a while if you want them to keep functioning well) Put the pads on the arms but just hand tightend so they don’t fall off but you can still move them if needed.

3. Put some grease on the mounts and on the inside of the brake where the mounts go in. Don’t put too much because most will be pushed out again.  Put the brakes over the mounts starting with right arm.  Then put the springs on. Be very careful when putting them on because there are 2 different ones. If you put them on the wrong side you will mess up the springs.
This one goes on the left.

4. Start screwing in the bolt and spring adjusters. Don’t screw them in hard. You should still be able to move the adjusters.

5. Now it’s time to take the cable out of the housing and put it somewhere aside. Somewhere clean.

6. Put the cable housing on the lever and put it through your steerer tube. Make it so you don’t have too much cable out. You will only get caught in it.  Some people like to use a flexie here. This enables you to have the cable closer to your bars and less likely to get caught on. The flexie just replaces a part of the housing.

7. The housing now comes out of the steerer tube. Most forks have a special slot for better cable routing. If your forks don’t… bad luck sucka. Don’t put it too tight because it will create friction but also not too loose as this will just increase the chances of getting caught on it. Now mark it where you want to cut. Again some people like to use a flexie here. Very handy to make a tight bend.

8. Take the housing out again and cut it on the mark. Remember that cutting a piece off is simple but putting a piece back on is impossible. So don’t cut too short. You can go back to the previous step and check if the length is ok or if you want to cut more.

9. When the housing is cut to the required length it’s time to put the cable back in. First I push it through so it opens the inside of the housing. Then I take the cable out again and stick in the smallest  allen key I have to make sure the cable will go through well.

10. Add the little metal piece that comes with the cable. This prevents the housing from getting crushed. Now grease up the inner cable and slide it in the housing. Don’t use wd-40 type stuff. That is only good for cleaning and getting parts off.

11. Slide the brake bullet over the cable and tighten it slightly. Just so it stays in place.

12. What I do now is put my allen key ready in the brake bullet and grip the wire. I pull it to the max and tighten it some more but still not fully. The brakepads are now touching the rim. Then softly squeeze the brake so the cable slides back through the bullet a little (can’t ride with the pads against your rims). Now pull the brake arms equally away from the rim and check if there is space between the rim and pads. Just a little is fine, but there has to be space for the wheel to spin without touching the pads. If you think it’s ok, tighten the bullet completely.

13. Here comes the delicate part. Now you want to move your wrench up so there is tension on the springs and the pad goes away from rim and tighten it with the allen key. Be very carefull to not overtighten the springs (with your wrench). Just a little bit of tension is more than enough. Do this on both sides equally so the pads have the same distance between them and the rim. Pull the brake lever between every adjustment. If you have to put a lot of tension on the springs, you are doing something wrong. Go back if needed.

14. If the springtension is ok and everything is tight, it’s time to set the pads. I just pull the lever, set the pads so they are in the middle of the rim and flat against your rim and tighten again. Some brakes will squeak  like hell if the pads hit the rims flat on. What you need to do than is toe-in the pads. Set them so the front part of the pad hits the rim first. Guess you could use a credit card or a piece of paper to do this.

15. Your brakes should be pretty good by now. If needed you could still use the barrel adjusters to add some more tension on the cable. This makes your cable housing a bit longer, making the cable feel shorter. If you have to use the barrel adjusters to much, go back to 12.

2 examples of flexie use. 1 at the fork and 1 at the bars.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2008, 04:48:41 PM by Levi »

Offline Levi

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Re: How-to: front brake
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2008, 10:34:53 AM »
hope it's a bit correct. if anybody has some things that need to be added, should be explained better or finds this just wrong, let me know; extra tips and tricks are welcome.

Offline condemned bmx

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Re: How-to: front brake
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2008, 10:37:50 AM »
nice job man, can i add, i find when i sand it its worth doing it side to side so the ur going against the grain on the pad (if u get me) then its more lickly to add some crip, also sometimes its worth oiling the cable if ur simply re instaling ur  old one
slater

Offline Paradoxium

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Re: How-to: front brake
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2008, 01:40:33 PM »
Great job Levi!  :beer:
We can now send the  "How do I set up breaks"? newbies to this thread.
They can learn to not only set up brakes, but how to spell them also.

Offline Geert

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Re: How-to: front brake
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2008, 08:40:02 PM »
Definitely nice job.
No matter what, i always had problems with my brakes. (there was always somthing)  :huh:
And i must say if i read this how-to ... i see it in front of me, so personaly, well done man.  :beer:

Go outside, and have a blast !!

Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2008, 03:37:33 PM »
The following was posted on Pedal BMX by pwh4130 a long time ago.

No matter if you have a 990, Hombre or Evolver, if you follow these instructions, you will get your brakes to work better than ever.

Start off by making sure the brake arms fit on the posts. Sometimes the arms are too snug. If that is the case, you need to sand or dremel the posts a hair at a time. The posts should be greased lightly before the brake arms are put into place.

Next you will install the springs which should also have a dab of grease on them. Put the lock nut on and then lightly grease the bolt and install it into the post until it just gets snug and then back it off a hair untill later. If you have a 990, throw away the plastic dust caps. They just cause friction and don't really do anything.

The next thing is to adjust the brake pads to where you want them by pushing the arm in until the shoe hits the rim. Make sure the whole pad touches the rim. If you want your brakes to feather better, toe them in so that only about 50% of the shoe hits the rim. You know you should sand the new brake shoe first, right? At least scuff it on the ground once or twice and then wipe off the dust.

I'm not going to get into all the variations of cable routing but I will say that the shorter the cable-the less friction-the less lost energy. Keep the cables short but make sure they aren't kinked. Get a bottle of Tri-flow or Slik 50 One Lube and put the little straw into the cable housing and drip enough into the housing that it comes out the other end. Make sure you grease the barrel of the cable where it goes into the lever. While you're at it, lightly grease the pivot of the lever.

I have also noticed that a lot of frames are set up so the barrel adjusters aren't in line with the brake mounts so the cable rubs against the adjuster when it's pulled. You can cut an old cable and get the teflon liner out or go to a bike shop and get a small piece to slide onto the cable and into the adjuster so it glides rather than grinds. You might also want to do this on a front brake where the cable gaes between the arms but not too long or it will jam up and decrease the effectiveness of you brake.

Now that you have the cables routed to the brake, it's time to tighten them into position. With NO tension on the springs, position the shoes against the rim and then gently pull the cable snug and tighten the pinch bolt/knarp/clamp thing. If you are using a gyro, do the bottom cable first and then the upper cable. Make sure the lower cables are screwed all the way out of the gyro tabs and the uppers are all the way into the gyro tabs.

All right, it's finally spring time! The mistake people often make is that they put too much tension on their springs thinking that it will make their brakes better. It just makes them harder to pull. All the springs do is pull the shoes off the rim when the lever is released. Put the correct allen wrench into the bolt and gently twist the tensioning bolt just enough so that the shoe comes off the rim. Lock it into place with the allen key and do to same on the other side. Since you didn't pull the cable super tight before clamping it, the springs will pull the shoes away from the rim a little bit.

Make sure both shoes contact the rims at the same time. To keep them even you just need to put a little more tension on whichever side hits first.

To get the feel you want, you might need to adjust the pinch bolt on the cable. If you need to do this you must first release the spring tension so you aren't fighting the springs. This will also give you a reference point for where you want to move the cabel to get the desired effect. As far as the pull, you can increase the spring tension to where you like it but you should remember to keep it to a minimum. Spin the barrel adjusters to fine tune and remove any slop.

Clean your rims with water or if they are really dirty use fantastic, windex or the fluid from you car's windshield wipers if you're in a pinch. After the first cleaning all you should need is to wipe them down with a wet rag or a spit covered finger. Just keep the dust off. If you rely on Simple Green or some other product, you aren't doing your brakes right and they will just get gunked up again.

Rules of thumb are:

Lube every place two things move against each other
Don't make your cables too long
Minimal spring tension makes for better brakes.


Sorry to write a novel here but hopefully this will help all the riders out there who still use brakes.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2008, 10:44:42 PM by Levi »

Offline GabeP

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2008, 08:28:50 PM »
Nicely done man. I like how you put everything together clean and simple for any beginners looking to get some new brakes.

Trust me, odds are your local bike shop doesn't know sh*t about dialing brakes.
I work in a bike shop with plenty of guys that are experts on everything about bikes. Maybe you should think about what you're saying so beginners don't stay away from professional bike shops.

Offline Leeman43

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2008, 11:00:57 AM »
Choice how to, very well explained, great pics! 

havok

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2008, 04:06:42 PM »
this is an incredibly helpful thread, thanks. -_-

Offline Claude

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #9 on: December 24, 2008, 02:57:35 AM »
I've done this a million times and I still enjoyed reading through it.  (And learned some new tips)  You should definitely add a detailed gyro version - I run one so maybe I could give you the pics or do it someday. 

Offline Levi

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #10 on: December 24, 2008, 09:18:33 AM »
I've done this a million times and I still enjoyed reading through it.  (And learned some new tips)  You should definitely add a detailed gyro version - I run one so maybe I could give you the pics or do it someday. 
all how-to's are welcome.
I don't run back brakes so it's a bit hard for me to make  ;D

Offline Claude

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #11 on: December 30, 2008, 11:11:52 PM »
I got an F-Set bike and a Gyro bike and feel like I got both of them to work well.  I'll try to step-by-step it with photos and start a new thread for back brakes.  When I do, I'll come add the link here as well. 

Offline Claude

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #12 on: March 23, 2009, 09:46:31 PM »
Levi,

Anybody got pics on how they set up like Evo 2's (on front) that don't have the barrel adjusters connected on the front brake mount.  I can rig something with what I have, but it just doesn't seem to make as much sense to run it straight onto the arm. 

I actually have the St. Martins but basically same design; both arms are open hooved design.

Thoughts?  Pics even better?

Offline David (Toucan)

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2009, 01:02:44 AM »
Levi,

Anybody got pics on how they set up like Evo 2's (on front) that don't have the barrel adjusters connected on the front brake mount.  I can rig something with what I have, but it just doesn't seem to make as much sense to run it straight onto the arm. 

I actually have the St. Martins but basically same design; both arms are open hooved design.

Thoughts?  Pics even better?


If im not mistaken...

http://www.flatlandfuel.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=869
Bikes--> Put The Fun Between Your Legs

Offline Claude

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Re: Installing front brake
« Reply #14 on: March 24, 2009, 04:19:16 AM »


If im not mistaken...

http://www.flatlandfuel.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=869


Thanks for the reply, but yeah I have the knarps and stuff, I just mean the entry side where older 990's have the barrel adjuster already built on, these newer brakes have the open end on both side.  Probably for running dual brakes, etc.

But what do you guys run on the cable side or do you just let the cable run right up to the brake arm end. ??  Make sense.


Actually looks like the Evo has the piece for that now that I look but the St. Martin didn't.