Front Brake Adjustment

akpasta · Post by **akpasta** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:02 am

Hello,

I tried to adjust the front brakes on my CB77 yesterday but I did not succeed. The brake cable adjustment at both ends was out all the way (no more adjustment) so I pulled the wheel to have a look and there appears to be enough life left on the pads, I've read this morning it should be no less than 2.5mm or so, there is likely more than that but I'll have to re-check. I also have new pads I could just replace them if the old ones are unequally worn/difficult to adjust.

First I thought I would be re-positioning the brake levers on their cams a couple teeth over so I could get more adjustment out of the pads, but then I noticed the linkage between each brake arm seemed to also adjust the 'rest' position of the brake pads closer to the hub, so I adjusted that linkage all the way out so the pads seemed closer to the hubs before you even pulled the brake arm. I put the hub back together, installed the wheel but was clear that one pad was engaging WAY before the other. It appears that adjusting the brake arm linkage does something to time which brake shoe hits the hub first or something. I'm having trouble understanding how that part works but I'm starting to think that is its only function and I had it all wrong. Can someone please explain? Is there a correct way to set up this linkage so they engage at the same time?

Thank you.

akpasta · Post by **akpasta** » Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:47 pm

Further inspection shows my cam lobe dots and brake arm dots are lined up correctly. The linkage was put back to almost all the way in. I seem to have found the sweet spot but there's not much more room for adjustment. Can you adjust the cam and brake arm dot location to get them to engage more or by this point do you just replace the brake shoes? Is there another point of adjustment? I see cable both ends, linkage. The only other would be to reposition the brake arms on the end of the cams.

G-Man · Post by **G-Man** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:13 am

Probably safer to replace the shoes. If the cams turn too much they may lock.

G

akpasta · Post by **akpasta** » Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:14 am

That is a very good point. Thank you. I found the sweet spot using the linkage to get both shoes grabbing at the same time, which also, somehow gave me more adjustment at the cable too. When that's done and the only way to get more life out of them is to 'go past the dots' ill just replace the shoes, got a new pair anyway. Thanks.