Rear brake doesn't

Hi guys, ive got a bit of a set up issue with my rear brake on my plug ( heavy mondeo)

ive set it up god knows how many times, pads flat, angled, toed in/out and still its utter pap, it wasnt such an issue when i was running fixed but im ss now as most of the time im with my mate with one leg n all the stop start was just a ballache fixed with clips

ive messed with the cable, the adjusters, pads, all bolts and got it seriously tight to the frame, it still slips tho and there is no power, even with the adjusters all out so its on as soon as i touch the lever it still has no power

im getting really frustrated with it now, im not sure if its cable stretch or moving, does it need more guides/zipties to keep it tight to the frame all the way down or is it the caliper

any ideas, help, knowledge would be gratefully recieved

its a dual pull tektro btw
cheers in advance

Clean rims and pads? Correct type of lever?

If the pads are crap, i'd always recommend Koolstop Salmon wet weather pads.

exactly the same as the front and thats close to locking up in the wet and yeah as clean as i can keep them in this weather were having, theres just no power in the rear
thought about pads, maybe better pads will mask the crapness

There isn't any 'power' in the rear brake - it's just there for scrubbing a bit of speed sometimes, or adding a little extra in panic situations with both brakes. If it were too strong, it would just lock the rear wheel into a skid anyway.

It works quite well if you're cycling backwards though.

its back to the bar then it finally gives me a small amount of stop, pretty shit really, think ill flip the wheel back to fixed n just shout at the crippled fuck to keep pedalling ha

Double check you've got the correct type of lever for the type of brake (i.e. you're not trying to use a v-brake lever with a caliper brake or vice-versa).

I would thoroughly degrease your rims, then replace your pads and cable. Shimano 105 cable sets are reasonably cheap and excellent quality for the price.

Change the inner cable, and stick a bit of lube on it. Sounds like you are losing all your power to a rusty cable.

i dont think the cables rusty, the bikes not that old, hasnt seen much rain and lives indoors, i cant see any rust anyway.
its got dirt harry levers on it, similar to the ones that came as standard and like i said the front ones pretty good its just the rear.
ill get the old panel wipe out to clean up the rim, should get anything off, i was a bit suspect about the cable being the issue, trip to the lbs tmrw i think

Change the inner cable, and stick a bit of lube on it. Sounds like you are losing all your power to a rusty cable.

Huh? It's not electronics. You don't lose any power to rusty cables you might just find they snap and/or don't return properly. Also, don't lube cables.

If the lever is back to your bars your brakes aren't adjusted correctly for starters. After sorting these out so you can't bottom them out cleaning pads and rims is probably next best step. New pads might help if stock ones are rubbish.

i must be missing something hippy, in 30 years of pushbikes ive never had a brake this shit, have you got some tips on how i should set it up ?

How close are the pads to the rim?
How much barrel adjuster thread is showing? You have barrel adjuster right?
Let me actually read orig. post..

Huh? It's not electronics. You don't lose any power to rusty cables you might just find they snap and/or don't return properly. Also, don't lube cables.

A lot of bikes come with steel cables not stainless steel, and these are really prone to corroding. Once they have corroded they stick in the housing, especially where the housing bends. That is where you lose power, overcoming friction, not losing voltage.

If the cables are steel (not stainless) and in a housing that is a bit rusty too, a bit of lube works wonders. I wouldn't recommend lubing stainless cables in shiny new teflon lined housings, but in used and grubby ones and when trying to diagnose problems it is well worth doing.

No one has grip that weak they can't overcome a little bit of extra cable friction. That was my point.

Have you loosened the cable holder on the calipers, squeezed the brakes on and then tightened the cable gripper back up? So the pads are quite close to the rim. I do this with the barrel adjuster set just a little bit out so that I can then back the pads off from the rim enough.

i have the left arm of a 5 year old after a bike crash haha they look to be stainless cables
i set them a matchstick width from the rim then twiddled a little bit of adjuster til i was happy with lever travel n them not catching on the out of true rim
so just a bit less than a match thickness away

yeah i did that but they were way too close so had to back it off a little again n reset

If they are close to the rim and you can still get the lever to the bars then it sounds like a lever/caliper mismatch.

would the cable having movement be anthing to do with it ? its only held on with 2 clamps on the toptube
see what i mean its frustrating now, why does the front work so well n the back so shit
ill have another quick piss about with it n report later

No one has grip that weak they can't overcome a little bit of extra cable friction. That was my point.

A lot of people can't overcome the friction of a sticking cable,
reading the original post I can't see anything else it could be, unless someone has put grease on the pads

would the cable having movement be anthing to do with it ? its only held on with 2 clamps on the toptube
see what i mean its frustrating now, why does the front work so well n the back so shit
ill have another quick piss about with it n report later

do you have an outer cable all the way from the lever to the caliper?

yeah its a full length outer

would the cable having movement be anthing to do with it ? its only held on with 2 clamps on the toptube
see what i mean its frustrating now, why does the front work so well n the back so shit
ill have another quick piss about with it n report later

Do you have a full length outer? Does the whole outer move? Does the outer butt up to something on the frame, so that pulling the brake lever has something for the inner to act against? Hard to explain

A lot of people can't overcome the friction of a sticking cable,

I find that very hard to believe.

has the brake been crap from new or has it got worse over time?

thats hard to say because i was riding fixed most of the time til the last 200 miles or so as its quite hard/annoying with all the stop start my mate has to do, tell u what tho considering hes only got one leg n been pedalling for 3 months hes pretty good now
obvs the pedals are used as a 3rd brake

the outer buts up to the caliper itself, it has a quick barrel adjuster on it, the rubber ringed type that it sits in other than that its just the two clips bolted on the toptube