V Brake Guide :

[liam-pantera]

ok guys so i thort id jus clear up a few isues about v brakes with a guide as i know its a subject wich not many people know about so heres my guide .

TO FIT A V BRAKE TO HS33 MOUNTS

you will need ;

a set of brake mount adaptors

brake cable and lever

a complete rear brake with noodles and pads

grease or a lube

cable cutters

above is a diagram of the main components on a v brake.

step 1 : setting up

first you need to fit your adaptors wich are held in place by 2 m5 bolts , The heatsink adaptors have 3 holes on the bottom part of the adptor to allow the best fit for your rim and frame .

step 2

fit your v brake arms onto the adaptor bosses , on the arms you will see a small metal rod on the v brake this is used to apply tension to your brake to use it insert the rod into one of the small holes on the adaptor each one gives a differnt amount of tension the first being very little the second being strong and the last being hardist your choice will effect the lever feel and how easy it is to pull in .bolt on both arms with a m6 bolt and your ready for step 3

step 3 : now you have to fit your pads , there are lots of pads available now there are heatsink v pads there are plazmatic and onza citrus adaptors. you need about 2 mill of space between the brake pads and rim when the arms are streight up so you need to use the shims to get the spacing right .

step 4:cable fitting and prep

first you need to atatch your brake lever to the bars and then you have to trim the cable to the right length keeping in mind that it will have a noodle ( silver hollow tube conecting the brake arm and cable ) on the overall cable length . ounce trimmed you need to grease the inner cable i always chose to use grease but other lubricants work fine . after your cable is lubed and fitted your ready to set up the v brake and the cable.

step 5 : fitting cable to brake

firstly attatch the noodle into the v brake arm and pull the cable tight . push both arms in towards the rim and slide the cable into the locking nut on the other arm .pull the cable tight before tightening .when tightened u may see that the brake is either loose or to tight and rubs wich means you have to adjust the cable in the same way you fitted it .

by now your brake should look like this and you are ready to adjust .

step 6 : adjusting

spin your wheel if your brake is rubbing to one side screw in the adjusting screw on the oposite arm ( see diagram 1 ) until the wheel stops rubbing . also the pads may need moving up and down to get ful bite on the rim . cable can be adjusted by the lever or ajusting nut on the rear arm .

facts and queries

i recomend using a quality v brake mainly avid or shimano as with trials the strain will be larger than if it was used on a xc bike .

v brakes are light and a good v brake will be lighter than a hope mono trials and a magura hs33 but the new echo brakes are lighter .

some people say do you need a booster i say that if your frame flexs under normal trials conditions then yes and if u want a completely silent brake then yes but outherwise its not necesary .

allways oil cable it sustains the cable life and improves breaking and reaction time

allways change cable every 6 months for safety reasons

brake sqeak

brake sqeak is cause by vibrations through the frame and with a v brake this is greatly reduced but you can still get sqeak but the chances are if its realy loud like a magura then your brakes loose i have made a video showing braking with the bolts tight and the bolts loose the quality is poor but you can hear the difference.

loose test

tight test

any further questions please feel free to pm me and i hope this helps .

Edited June 7, 2007 by baseguy

[Joe Sheehan!]

good guide, but pics and vids dont work. Shouldnt this be in the FAQ section?

A+ for effort!

[toyota200x]

Great thread. V brakes for life.

[Mod Man Leo]

Great thread. V brakes for life.