Why are my brakes rubbish?

Hey,

I’m having trouble with my front brake. Basically it’s just really, really unresponsive.

a)have I been spoilt by my V-brakes on my hybrid?
b) are the brake pads shit?
c)are the brakes themselves just old? – I really can’t believe its this as I’ve got brakes working on older and shabbier bikes
d) have I set them up badly?
e)Do I have the wrong wheels for this sort of bike/brake?
[URL="http://www.londonfgss.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10501&stc=1&d=1243458968"][/URL]

Also if I need to replace the front brake – is the drop too big to use a calliper brake?

As always any help advice much appreciated.

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I would guess your problem is a result of several elements.

1) The long reach arms are pretty cheap would have some flex in them, so less braking power.
2) Your brake pads look like hard rubber, a softer compound would likely grip better... especially in the wet.
3) The angle that your cable enters the brake seems to suggest some space between the end of the cable cover and the brake arms... this space would result in a pause before braking pressure is applied.

What I would do for quick cheap fixes are:
1) Replace your brake pads with better ones... softer compound.
2) Check the end of that brake cable cover and if the end of it isn't a clean horizontal cut across the full edge of the cover, you'll want to cut it again. Basically make sure you remove all space between the cable cover and the brake arms.

The more expensive fix is to buy new brakes. And yes the long drops reduce your options considerably.

Some road brakes are intrinsically shit, or certainly appear so if you are used to v-brakes, which are good. Yours look like they are of the shit variety. If this is the case you can tweak them and put good pads on them, but they will still be fairly shite.

Thanks for the advice.

I worried about buying cheap blocs... lesson learnt.

The cabble cutt is clean - i made sure.

Velocio on your point 3)... I'm not exactly sure what you are getting at. The cable does not sit tight in the metal housing part - should there be some kind of rubber peace to hold it in place. Is this really likely to make a difference.

Thanks again to both of you for your prompt advice.

Basically, it looks like the cable housing goes into the, er... holster thing on the brake arm... at an angle.

And if it's at an angle, then the housing is likely to flex to sit flat when you brake.

So if the housing is flexing to sit flush... then part of your braking power is gone into flexing the housing.

Does that make sense? It's a lot easier to show this stuff than explain it here.

Basically, it looks like the cable housing goes into the, er... holster thing on the brake arm... at an angle.

And if it's at an angle, then the housing is likely to flex to sit flat when you brake.

So if the housing is flexing to sit flush... then part of your braking power is gone into flexing the housing.

Does that make sense? It's a lot easier to show this stuff than explain it here.

A ferrule is what's needed.

I worried about buying cheap blocs... lesson learnt.

The pads are poor, but the installation appears to be poorer.

Make sure the pads are correctly lined up against the rim. They look like they'll hit the rim at different heights.

A ferrule is what's needed.

Yeah, that would do it. Though it's only 1 small factor into what essentially looks like a bad setup.

Oh, you need a saddle too.

yep.

Thanks for the tip. Think I'm going to buy some new pads.

i cannot make out from pics but those rims... are they machined, they look pretty old, which would suggest maybe not?! this could be a contributing factor. Also get some really good cable. Like Dura Ace £2.99 worthwhile upgrade. I'd do this before pads.

Have a butcher's here.

Thanks for all the info. New pads has sorted the problem.

@ Velocio - it was a seatpost that I needed, which came in the post today.... it makes riding it so much more comfortable.