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bike repair
Jan. 26th, 2025 11:50 amAccording to my blog, I replaced my bicycle brakes in February 2023. I had some issues as the pads wore down; there's an adjustment that you do to lengthen the cable (shortened the cable? whichever) as the pads wear so that you can continue to stop by pulling on the levers. However, after I did this, it still didn't seem to be stopping me very well. So I investigated and discovered that the brakes they'd used aren't really appropriate for the width of rim that I have on my wheels, and they just couldn't get any tighter. So I fussed with them and added some washers to push the assembly closer to the rim, and that worked for a little while, but then the brake pads wore some more and it was time to do it again. But the length of the bolt was not enough to be able to add some more washers and still be able to screw it on, so that meant getting new pads and taking the washers out and I was like, these aren't the right brakes!
The people I liked at the bike shop have quit, so I have no more loyalty, so I'm trying different bike shop. I explained my woes, and they didn't find any better solution really than I had for the front brake, so they're just going to clean it up and put new pads on and then I'll have to do the whole dance with the washers sometime in the future. But for the back brake, they are going to give me a fancy hydraulic brake. I hope that this works, and I hope that they don't make a mess of cable routing, which is tricky on my recumbent. Maybe I should call them on Monday again and say "pay attention to the cable routing, so you don't put them in a place where they are going to slam into my leg on every pedal stroke" which was a problem with the previous replacement, but that was able to be solved with some cable ties. With a hydraulic brake, the cable might be stiffer from the liquid inside? We'll find out.
Cleverly, I brought it in during the week when it was low single digits high in the teens, when I might ride but I'm not excited about it, and there was lots of snow for cross-country skiing. Unfortunately they haven't finished it yet and it's going to be lovely bicycling weather this afternoon, and the snow mostly gone. Though I might fiddle around the lake anyway.
The people I liked at the bike shop have quit, so I have no more loyalty, so I'm trying different bike shop. I explained my woes, and they didn't find any better solution really than I had for the front brake, so they're just going to clean it up and put new pads on and then I'll have to do the whole dance with the washers sometime in the future. But for the back brake, they are going to give me a fancy hydraulic brake. I hope that this works, and I hope that they don't make a mess of cable routing, which is tricky on my recumbent. Maybe I should call them on Monday again and say "pay attention to the cable routing, so you don't put them in a place where they are going to slam into my leg on every pedal stroke" which was a problem with the previous replacement, but that was able to be solved with some cable ties. With a hydraulic brake, the cable might be stiffer from the liquid inside? We'll find out.
Cleverly, I brought it in during the week when it was low single digits high in the teens, when I might ride but I'm not excited about it, and there was lots of snow for cross-country skiing. Unfortunately they haven't finished it yet and it's going to be lovely bicycling weather this afternoon, and the snow mostly gone. Though I might fiddle around the lake anyway.
