Road Bike Brakes Hard To Pull

The usual problem is the toe in.

Road bike brakes hard to pull. Doesn t matter if i have discs or rim brakes if i pull them hard the wheel stops and the bike skids. They should hit the center of the rim with an equal amount of space above and below them. They can handle high heat without damaging the tire by heating up the rim as rim brakes do. Great article and thought provoking comments thanks everyone.

Ok with that out of the way lets get down to business. Leave a reply cancel reply. If you disconnect the cables from the brakes you can hold the end of the cable and work the levers to feel how much friction there is. Disc brakes have become an increasingly important part of the road bike world over the past few years.

Maybe i m doing it wrong. Mechanical disc brakes are a disc brake that uses a cable to pull the pistons together. For reference here s my bike with the pull lever in resting position. Rim brakes standard on road bikes for decades this system is light easy to adjust and doesn t require much maintenance.

It has nothing to do with the barrel adjusters. How to set up mechanical disc brakes. Pull the brake lever and tighten the bolts to centre the calliper over the rotor. Then accelerate the bike to a faster speed and apply the brakes until you are at walking speed.

They connect the brake pads to the bike frame and the brake cable. As you pull the brakes and your bike slows down your weight shifts forward over the front wheel which puts all your braking power on the front brake. Pull on the brake lever and see where the pads hit the rim. You ll get mechanical disc brakes or hydraulic disc brakes.

And here s where i want the lever to be when the brakes are fully engaged. That makes it harder to control your bike. Andy has always ridden road bikes with side pull rim brakes. Disc brakes come in two different styles hydraulic or mechanical cable pull mechanical cable pull shown in diagram above these brakes are great for fast descents on off road trails.

For me that s a good compromise that gives me plenty of braking power and speed while still making sure the brakes don t engage when i m just riding along. Proper toe in is when the tip of the brake pad that is closest to the front of the bike the leading edge hits the rim first when the brakes are applied. The two most likely things that make the levers hard to pull are friction in the cables casings and adjustment lubrication problems with the brakes.