Cycling UK Forum

Well, i never thought i was.
But last Wens, down at the local, i was accused of such.
"Me !" i said, frantically clutching my wallet to my chest
I got accused of this when we were discussing brake block wear. I claimed that i got long life out of brakes blocks. That's when the chorus went up, " That's because your tight "
Perhaps i need to explain. I set-up my brakes pretty much the same as anyone else. As the blocks wear, i adjust using the barrel adjuster. When the adjuster reaches it's limit, i readjust the cable and start over again. It's at that point i'm accused of being tight.
Joking apart, i'm beginning to wonder if they have a point.
Nine times out of ten, i find that when i readjust the cable, one or two strands are broken at the clamping point. Therefore, i know that when fitting new blocks, i will need to replace the cable.
"It's false economy", they said, "Leave the cable alone and just fit new blocks".
Maybe their right. What do you do ?

I replace my brake blocks when they wear through, but I don't recall thinking that I needed to replace the cable when I did the blocks. I do sometimes adjust the cable to make up for wear. I think I've only replaced the brake cable once or twice on my road bike. The bike is about 6 years old, and has some thousands of miles on it (I don't actually know how many but I guess ~10000). I have a hilly commute, so the last two years, I've gone through at least two sets of brake blocks each year.

Could you be clamping the cables to tight if you are getting broken strands in them?

I thought all cyclists by definition were tight.

I change my brake cables as and when I feel the need to or when there's a breakage.
Given how cheap they are yet how important they are, it's something not worth skimping on.
The bikes just over 2 years old and on its third set of inner cables, second set of outers.

IrishBill76 wrote:I change my brake cables as and when I feel the need to or when there's a breakage.
Given how cheap they are yet how important they are, it's something not worth skimping on.
The bikes just over 2 years old and on its third set of inner cables, second set of outers.

What makes you think they need replacing? I'm curious; I've replaced mine when they seemed stretched, or had any strands break, but I don't think I've ever replaced them that frequently, even when I've been riding more miles per year than I currently am, and only had one bike.

It is worth mentioning that brakes are not all created equal. Some have sharp-edged clamps and pinch bolts, that damage cables. Others have clamp mountings that must move in use, but have not been designed to articulate properly, so as to allow this without straining the cable.

So a 'good brake' might be a typical side-pull brake (from shimano or campag) with a side clamp and an articulated pinch bolt assy.

A 'bad brake' might be one of very many low profile canti and V brakes, where the cable is mounted directly to the brake arm, where there is no strain relief on the cable whatsoever. A really bad brake might be a low profile canti or V brake where the part of the cable that is going to break is nicely hidden by the rubber boot or the M straddle.

Looking back, even the humble BR-AT50 canti brake had an articulated pinch bolt design; that this was replaced by designs that didn't is pretty daft when you think about it.

If the pinch bolt is fully articulated the cable can be soldered where it is clamped and it won't be badly damaged even if it is repositioned several times. However if the clamp isn't articulated, a soldered cable end can greatly shorten the life of the cable; it will fatigue in bending about ten times quicker than it would normally.

If you look at cable disc brake calipers they are often rubbish too. Worse than cantis or Vs because the angle of movement is usually greater. Decent disc brake calipers (like Avids) normally have a nice smooth radius for the cable to engage with, but lots of cheaper ones have nothing. Cable fatigue is guaranteed.

BTW if you use cartridge brake pads there is normally no need to reclamp the cable; the pad wear normally lies within the scope of the barrel adjuster.

cheers

Vorpal wrote:What makes you think they need replacing? I'm curious; I've replaced mine when they seemed stretched, or had any strands break, but I don't think I've ever replaced them that frequently, even when I've been riding more miles per year than I currently am, and only had one bike.

To be honest, the first set were replaced because they were basically rubbish. Dawes cost cutting meant they'd been fitted ungreased/un-oiled and were very rough and sticky after however many miles I'd put on them.
The 2nd set were replaced when I made the change to mini V-brakes and the 3rd set were put on when I switched back to cantis but they were also very dull looking (I like shiny cables ) and a few strands had snapped when clamping them on the canti.
As Brucey stated, I'm thinking the clamps may have sharp edges on them so I'll look into that soon. Looks play a part in my servicing though. If it looks bad, it goes in the bin. Within reason.

Edwards wrote:Could you be clamping the cables to tight if you are getting broken strands in them?

I thought all cyclists by definition were tight.

Next time you see a group riding state of the art carbon frames with campag gear throughout and fancy clothing do a bit of mental maths. Far from tight, extravagant even!

When I fit new blocks, I have the adjusters down at the bottom.
By the time the adjusters are at their limit, so are the blocks so they get replaced and the adjusters put back to Position One.
Isn't that the way it's designed?

Hi,
I like to wear the pads out not replace with a service because the mechanic has told you your tyres are worn when they are half worn.

Adjust barrel so the pads do not wear at a funny angle top to bottom across pad not front to back that is. Canti's and on the "V"s I swap the washers if allowed.
Only wear down to still show some of the groves.

Cable clamps they do differ greatly and I hate the ones that revolve when you work on the clamp nut.

Some bikes don't have barrel adjusters, or they are permanently seized up. Some barrel adjusters adjust more than others. Some brake blocks have more wear in them than others. With, V-brakes its a piece of cake to adjust the wire. Putting new brake blocks in is often a much more time-consuming task than just adjusting the cable length, even on bikes where adjusting the cable length is less easy (such as my ancient centre-pulls).

Hi,
Sorry when you said barrel I thought of the brake pad posts
I normally adjust the pad by moving the post so that original pad angle is still met when it hits rim, and on canti brakes it still maintains the correct straddle wire angle.

Aren't you supposed to wait until sparks erupt when you clutch the brakes? Really tight people wait for the sparks to turn to flames

You could tactfully suggest that the modest sums saved by your cable adjustments are ploughed back in to paying for their beer when it's your round...

TimP wrote:

Edwards wrote:Could you be clamping the cables to tight if you are getting broken strands in them?

I thought all cyclists by definition were tight.

Next time you see a group riding state of the art carbon frames with campag gear throughout and fancy clothing do a bit of mental maths. Far from tight, extravagant even!

This is a blast from the past Tim I see that you did not see the rolling eyes and wink.

I hope the OP has not turned into one of the above mentioned fashion victims and is still using the old style CTC methods.