Hi! Got my first bike from FB marketplace with single side pivot brakes. When I use the horizontal front brake the pads don't fully connect ( pics 2 and 3) and are weak. I've unscrewed the cable screws and pulled as much tension as I could, as well as did my best to properly center and not clamp the calipers with too much tension. When I use the aero vertical handle they connect great (pics 5 and 6). Overall, my stopping dinstace is good with both sets of verticals together and poor with both horizontals, even though my rear brakes work well both ways.
Any advice for how to improve this front braking would be appreciated. I could invest in new brakes with a quick release since I'll be removing the front wheel to move the bike in my car, but I've already invested a decent bit into saftey and self-rescue parts so I'd like to tool it the best I can. Thanks.
by snakeinwoodysboot
12 Comments
That’s just the nature of “suicide” levers. Braking performance is typically poor with those since they bottom out on the handlebars while the normal brake levers on the hoods are fine.
Edit: I will say those pads look old and are probably pretty hard, better pads wouldn’t not be a bad idea.
Replace those hard brake shoes with Kool Stop pads.
And simply accept that those horizontal levers are not going to give you a lot of braking force.
But the softer and more grippy pads should make a difference.
also known as suicide levers. you can try by bending them etc. but generally they are finicky and hard to make them perform well. it’s better to remove them
They are often called suicide levers for a reason. They lose mechanical advantage compared to using the actual brake levers, and normally the design of them prevents fully pulling the brake lever anyway. The reason they don’t work well is probably because they never did.
If you absolutely need brake levers on the tops, get some interrupter brake levers. They actuate directly in the cables for provide full brake force. Alternatively you could just get rid of them and learn to brake on the hoods/drops like on most drop-handle bikes. Old road bikes are typically designed to be primarily ridden on the drops, in contrast to modern road bikes with are designed primarily to be ridden on the hoods.
Also if you want better braking, look at upgrading your brake pads. On all my bikes, I buy some cheap brake pads that allow you to change the actual pads (normally Clarke brand from memory) and then get some Kool Stop brake pads refills to install in them. Gives you much better brake feel and stopping power compared to cheap brake pads.
I remember these on my first 10 speed schwinn bike. More like a “speed trim” than a break. Used to try to curl my fingers to bring the grip up above the handlebar to get the pads to bite.
Those things will always be poor breaking.
I found replacing cables helped a lot, maybe my old cables became stretchy?
Suicide levers: a poor corrective for bad bike fit
I just want to point out that your tires are dry rotted and need to be replaced. Those brake pads look pretty rough too.
Maybe someone with more experience should chime in, but I was told by a charity shop I used to volunteer for years ago to avoid Raleigh techniums. They actually took mine and gave me and old centurion instead. Anyway, I was told that the joints for the frame tubes are Bonded using something like epoxy or similar instead of weld, and that these days those joints could fail on you while riding due to epoxy/adhesive breaking down.
Just be careful. Fyi you need tires and brake pads too, and those style brakes always suck.
They’re never gonna be great, but installing brake pads from this century would help, New cables and housing can also make a difference.
Any dual pivot calipers will be an upgrade, most of them will also have quick release for easier wheel removal.
All these will increase general breaking performance and that will in turn increase breaking performance on the suicide levers. just keep in mind better ≠great, or even good.
The fix I would actually advice is get some “modern” hoods, and learn to ride on curly bars without suicide levers.
All the other things will work even better with that, so no reason to not do all of it.
Potentially an interesting frame there, can’t tell for sure with the pictures provided. Look after it.
Also as other have said, softer pads, don’t rely on the suicide levers.