After I re-cabled and replaced the bar tape on my CX bike, I’ve been having this awful front fork shudder under heavy braking.
Ive tried replacing pads, double checking pad alignment, changing out the brakes themselves, even switching to a different wheel and the front fork still vibrates horribly.
Could it be the angle at which my front fork cable is going? Do I just redo the cabling all over again to see if that fixes it?
Nervous-Rush-4465 on
Those cable arrangements are frequently prone to shudder. If you mount a cable stop on the fork crown, it will get better. Or, switch to v-brakes.
Tvr-Bar2n9 on
Sanity check- is your headset preload bolt tightened properly? Hold front brake, with bike on ground rock it forward and back… I think it’s just an illusion but fork looks loose from this angle??
FR23Dust on
Judder happens in this situation because the fork flexes and slightly changes the distance from the rim to the hanger, so the brake pulses slightly, which makes it worse.
Moving the stop to the fork crown helps a lot.
this_broken_machine on
Second the shudder comment due to high brake mount. The stop is too high on the steerer and you will have flex that will vary tension on the cable… very disconcerting and possibly a potential for fork failure.
Does your fork have a through-hole for a fork mounted stop? If not, a linear pull brake may be used depending on brake lever pull.
I used a Paul MiniMoto on men for that exact reason.
RightyTightey on
First thing I’d check is the break pad toe in.
funkysax on
The cause of this is the fork flexing. The vest way to remedy it is to replace the cantilever brakes with mini v-brakes. Second best option is to buy a cable hanger that mounts to the fork crown.
7 Comments
After I re-cabled and replaced the bar tape on my CX bike, I’ve been having this awful front fork shudder under heavy braking.
Ive tried replacing pads, double checking pad alignment, changing out the brakes themselves, even switching to a different wheel and the front fork still vibrates horribly.
Could it be the angle at which my front fork cable is going? Do I just redo the cabling all over again to see if that fixes it?
Those cable arrangements are frequently prone to shudder. If you mount a cable stop on the fork crown, it will get better. Or, switch to v-brakes.
Sanity check- is your headset preload bolt tightened properly? Hold front brake, with bike on ground rock it forward and back… I think it’s just an illusion but fork looks loose from this angle??
Judder happens in this situation because the fork flexes and slightly changes the distance from the rim to the hanger, so the brake pulses slightly, which makes it worse.
Moving the stop to the fork crown helps a lot.
Second the shudder comment due to high brake mount. The stop is too high on the steerer and you will have flex that will vary tension on the cable… very disconcerting and possibly a potential for fork failure.
Does your fork have a through-hole for a fork mounted stop? If not, a linear pull brake may be used depending on brake lever pull.
I used a Paul MiniMoto on men for that exact reason.
First thing I’d check is the break pad toe in.
The cause of this is the fork flexing. The vest way to remedy it is to replace the cantilever brakes with mini v-brakes. Second best option is to buy a cable hanger that mounts to the fork crown.