V Brakes having issues srtting them up !!

Woodyuk · Mar 17, 2013

Hi

Never had V brakes before always Canti or disc brakes so having some issues with setting these XT V brakes up and working...
There is no tension on the brakes when I set them up ?
The long metal bar just flops around and has no tension
Do V brakes just stop working after a while or have I missed something :roll:
Tried tightinening small screw but did not help

Cheers
For any help

Raging_Bulls · Mar 17, 2013

No, the arm is certainly supposed to be pushed outward by the spring. Care to show us some pics of the setup? Perhaps the springs are on the wrong way or something.

mikee · Mar 17, 2013

You got the springs on the right side?
Pics would help

Woodyuk · Mar 17, 2013

Hi

Thanks for the quick replys
The 1st picture is off the original brake pad and it seems to be the only brake that has tension ? so thinking it could be the pads ??
Here are some pics ...not best quality but hopefully will help
I have changed the brake pads from original XT to clarks that do look a bit thicker ....
Rest of pics are with clarks brake pads

ishaw · Mar 17, 2013

Once you've got them cabled up and the spring on the right side of the stop on the arms, you can tension it via the small spring tension screw towards the base of each arm. Easier done with the cables/noodles in place than without, though not impossible, though I doubt you will get anywhere near how it should be without doing this.

xerxes · Mar 17, 2013

If the new brake pads are thicker than the old ones, you may want to swap the washers on the brake post around.

If you look at the brakes, you should see that there are two washers, one thin, one thick:

Put the thin washer on the inside, like they are in the picture above, and the brake arms will be closer together.

Also, is there a little peg on the brake arm that fits into a little hole on the brake boss? There are usually three holes on the brake boss and you can adjust the spring tension by using a different hole in addition to the little grub screw on the brake arm for fine adjustment and centering the brake.

Woodyuk · Mar 17, 2013

Cheers fo the tips

Will try in the week with cables attached and bolts changed around

Thanks again I will let you know how it goes....

minor_LEGEND · Mar 17, 2013

Its not uncommon to have to bend the springs outward in order to generate more spring tension.

Charlieboy28 · Mar 17, 2013

minor_LEGEND":8psmtih8 said:
Its not uncommon to have to bend the springs outward in order to generate more spring tension.

this

and put the locator pin in the highest hole

jimo746 · Mar 17, 2013

Charlieboy28":1g37evwq said:
minor_LEGEND":1g37evwq said:

Its not uncommon to have to bend the springs outward in order to generate more spring tension.

Click to expand...

this

and put the locator pin in the highest hole

Precisely, there should be 3 holes on the brake boss for the locator pin on the back of the V-brake to fit into, if you're having problems with the tension of the arms then try locating the pin in the uppermost hole, just like you would with a canti brake setup.
I know that on my XT v-brakes you don't get much tension on the arms until they are a few cm's from the rim, but it's still easily enough to move the pads away from the rim, also the springs like to pop off the spring stop on the V-brake arm... number of times I've refitted a wheel only to find the arms aren't "sprung" anymore :roll: only a 2 second job to seat the spring back in position though

V Brakes having issues srtting them up !!

Woodyuk

Raging_Bulls

Sbike Fan

mikee

Woodyuk

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ishaw

xerxes

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