Campagnolo athena brake caliper problem

Hi everyone, I`m having some trouble with the front brake of my road bike. It is a campagnolo Athena dual pivot brake caliper, and the problem I have is that the return spring won't force the arms apart with enough force. I disassembled and reassembled, but it still isn´t working right.
Any ideas of why this might be happening?

These springs can wear - especially if you have run the brakes with worn pads for extended periods. So, assuming all your pivot points arent seized , and the end of the spring is in its little sheath and moving freely - this is the most likely explanation. New springs arent cheap though - Alternatively you may need to adjust the tension on the pivot bolts - but I assume youve done this if youve already disassembled? Finally ,theres a 2mm hex bolt to adjust spring return tension on the drive side of the caliper, just above the pad.

Springs can be had for a couple of quid in Condor. I'd put money on seized pivots though.

Thanks for the help!
Im sure it is not seized pivots or tension on the pivot bolts. The brake is actually quite new (>1000km). I think the problem is that the spring deformed plastically (I don´t know how I managed to do this), so it lost its "springness". Im in Chile, so it won`t be so easy to source one... might be cheaper to just get a new brake.

Assuming that with the brake removed from the bike and with no cable in, when you squeeze it, it should spring open.

If it doesn't and if, when you disconnect the spring (pop it out of it's channel, don't loose the little plastic sleeve it runs in) the pivots move freely, then it's the spring - we can post you one of those.

On the other hand, in some of these cases we find it's the cable itself, so it's generally worthwhile fitting a new inner (don't just unclamp the inner and pull it backwards through the sheath, the part that gets spread by the pinchbolt will score the teflon outer cable liner, cut it between the adjuster and pinch bolt).

HTH
Graeme
Velotech Cycling Ltd | Campagnolo main Service Centre (UK)

Chicken Cycles recently quoted me £30 for 2 Chorus springs,plus a 6 wk wait for them to arrive from Italy. Hence my(misleading)comment about the springs.

Check your cable isn't snagged anywhere..

I had a similar problem recently and the culprit were some tight bends in the housing and old dirty cables.

I reruted the brake cable and it works quite well. Not as good as it used to, but good enough. Thanks for all the advice!

Assuming that with the brake removed from the bike and with no cable in, when you squeeze it, it should spring open.

If it doesn't and if, when you disconnect the spring (pop it out of it's channel, don't loose the little plastic sleeve it runs in) the pivots move freely, then it's the spring - we can post you one of those.

On the other hand, in some of these cases we find it's the cable itself, so it's generally worthwhile fitting a new inner (don't just unclamp the inner and pull it backwards through the sheath, the part that gets spread by the pinchbolt will score the teflon outer cable liner, cut it between the adjuster and pinch bolt).

HTH
Graeme
Velotech Cycling Ltd | Campagnolo main Service Centre (UK)

Graeme I need a new return spring for an Athena rear break and am struggling to find one anywhere - is this something that you can help me with please?