V brake with Skid Control!?

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fausto99
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V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by fausto99 »

I was giving a friend's bike the once over. He mentioned that the brake lever had a lot of travel so I looked at the brakes. The pads seemed pretty close to the rims but I tried to adjust the cable anyway without success. Then I noticed the noodle end moving as soon as the pads hit the rim and the writing on the noodle pivot gizmo saying SKID CONTROL! Basically as soon as the pad touches the rim, the outer cable is effectively shortened by the noodle end moving on a sprung bracket. This limits the maximum force which can be applied. I could not see any way of adjusting this. The gizmo has H, M and L marked on it but no matter what you turned the slotted head to, it always returned to M after applying the brake.

Image

Has anyone else come across this? I could find nothing on the Dia Comp website. Is there a way of setting it up to increase the force/reduce the lever travel?
Last edited by fausto99 on 8 May 2021, 10:44am, edited 3 times in total.
rmurphy195
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by rmurphy195 »

Frankly, I'd remove the device, sounds dangerous to me
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gregoryoftours
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by gregoryoftours »

It sounds like the high/medium/low setting isn't working properly but even if it was I doubt that it would make too much difference. It's never going to be more than a crippled v-brake. The design of this brake means that it wouldn't be straightforward to modify it to act like a normal v-brake, so I'd just replace it.
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Mick F
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by Mick F »

Road bikes don't use V brakes as they are too powerful for a lightweight machine with narrow tyres. I wonder if that's what it's there for in this case?

What sort of bike is it?
The front tyre is a bit on the narrow side?
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rjb
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by rjb »

This looks to be a refined version to shimanos power modulator for V brakes. Often fitted to bikes for novice riders to stop them applying the front brake too hard and going " over the handlebars" :shock:
Sometimes they have a spring. This does limit the brake shoe travel as you are pulling against a spring in the cable. I've had to remove one from my grandsons bike as I couldn't get the levers adjusted close enough to the bars for his small hands without the brake shoes rubbing.
Shimano docs here for info which may enlighten you.
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Paulatic
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by Paulatic »

My old P7 with STX levers had h m l on them. If I let anyone use or have a go on it I learnt from experience it was best to move from h to l. Anyone used to pulling a cantilever went over the front :lol:
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tatanab
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by tatanab »

Mick F wrote: 8 May 2021, 10:44am Road bikes don't use V brakes as they are too powerful for a lightweight machine with narrow tyres. I wonder if that's what it's there for in this case?

What sort of bike is it?
The front tyre is a bit on the narrow side?
Yet we old chaps who use them happily on 25mm tyres must have ABS built in ----- between our ears.
iandusud
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by iandusud »

Mick F wrote: 8 May 2021, 10:44am Road bikes don't use V brakes as they are too powerful for a lightweight machine with narrow tyres.
More powerful than disc brakes which are virtually ubiquitous on road bikes these days? :)
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fausto99
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by fausto99 »

Mick F wrote: 8 May 2021, 10:44am Road bikes don't use V brakes as they are too powerful for a lightweight machine with narrow tyres. I wonder if that's what it's there for in this case?
I think you're right about not wanting the owner to go over the handlebars on their first ride.

Tyres were 32 - not narrow in my book. I didn't make a mental note about the model. The brand was Specialized. It was not too heavy, had a curved top top, 42/32/22 triple front, 7 speed rear, flat bars, rapid thumb shifters and no mudguards. I guess it was a 80s tourer/commuter bike.
simonhill
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by simonhill »

Paulatic wrote: 8 May 2021, 11:13am My old P7 with STX levers had h m l on them. If I let anyone use or have a go on it I learnt from experience it was best to move from h to l. Anyone used to pulling a cantilever went over the front :lol:
Was that brake modulation or reach to the levers? I've had such adjustment, but it was only for the levers.
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Paulatic
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by Paulatic »

simonhill wrote: 8 May 2021, 12:15pm
Paulatic wrote: 8 May 2021, 11:13am My old P7 with STX levers had h m l on them. If I let anyone use or have a go on it I learnt from experience it was best to move from h to l. Anyone used to pulling a cantilever went over the front :lol:
Was that brake modulation or reach to the levers? I've had such adjustment, but it was only for the levers.
That was for modulation varied how much pull the lever gave. From good to aggressive I’d say. :D
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531colin
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by 531colin »

Paulatic wrote: 8 May 2021, 12:40pm
simonhill wrote: 8 May 2021, 12:15pm
Paulatic wrote: 8 May 2021, 11:13am My old P7 with STX levers had h m l on them. If I let anyone use or have a go on it I learnt from experience it was best to move from h to l. Anyone used to pulling a cantilever went over the front :lol:
Was that brake modulation or reach to the levers? I've had such adjustment, but it was only for the levers.
That was for modulation varied how much pull the lever gave. From good to aggressive I’d say. :D
ImageIMG_5146 by 531colin, on Flickr

As you see, I used mine on "low"
rogerzilla
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by rogerzilla »

Mick F wrote: 8 May 2021, 10:44am Road bikes don't use V brakes as they are too powerful for a lightweight machine with narrow tyres. I wonder if that's what it's there for in this case?

What sort of bike is it?
The front tyre is a bit on the narrow side?
Road bikes don't use V-brakes because it's hard to make a good drop bar lever with twice the normal cable pull.
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531colin
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by 531colin »

rmurphy195 wrote: 8 May 2021, 9:45am Frankly, I'd remove the device, sounds dangerous to me
It looks like you could take it to bits and use the existing noodle carrier thing without the silly spring bit.
I never liked the Shimano ones, either......they remove the ability to modulate your braking, depending on weather, surface, etc.
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531colin
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Re: V brake with Skid Control!?

Post by 531colin »

rogerzilla wrote: 8 May 2021, 1:00pm
Mick F wrote: 8 May 2021, 10:44am Road bikes don't use V brakes as they are too powerful for a lightweight machine with narrow tyres. I wonder if that's what it's there for in this case?

What sort of bike is it?
The front tyre is a bit on the narrow side?
Road bikes don't use V-brakes because it's hard to make a good drop bar lever with twice the normal cable pull.
All my bikes use the Tektro levers. Never a problem.
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