On my rear brake (first photo) I accidentally unscrewed the middle screw on the arm which caused the whole thing to pop open (I thought I was tightening it, but for some reason this screw is reverse directions).
Before any of this the arm lever was 90 degrees counterclockwise when it was at rest, above the brake pads pin you can see to its left here. But now, it’s in this awkward position which means it’s hard to attach it to the cable (the cable is bent by the old position), and even if I attached it to the cable there would be friction with the sides of the cable exit.
The thing forcing me to use this position is the spring inside of the mechanism has two ends that must fit in particular parts of the arm and the brake mechanism, which enforces this angle (seemingly).
The second photo is my front brake for comparison
NoPresentation255 on
Try pushing the arm back in position and tighten the bolt you loosened. There should be an end stop that the arm was able to get around since it got loose.
Historical-Sherbet37 on
I hold the cable tight with pliers ( or vice grips) move the arm with my fingers on the pliers hand, and tighten the screw that holds the cable tight with my non pliers hand
7dare on
Ok I found the solution myself, it’s a bit complicated to describe but I’ll try for future reference.
Brakes are C-Star CX-7 by the way.
You basically make the arm fit with the spring in the right position, then you turn the arm to the right position without moving the brake mechanism (so you don’t push the arm in, just enough to move the spring but not enough to move the brake). This is kind of hard as the spring is strong but you force it. Finally, once it’s in a good position you push it all the way in and put the screw in and screw it (while holding it in place against the force of the spring).
The basic idea is just that the spring can move without the brake mechanism if the arm isn’t pushed in too hard.
4 Comments
On my rear brake (first photo) I accidentally unscrewed the middle screw on the arm which caused the whole thing to pop open (I thought I was tightening it, but for some reason this screw is reverse directions).
Before any of this the arm lever was 90 degrees counterclockwise when it was at rest, above the brake pads pin you can see to its left here. But now, it’s in this awkward position which means it’s hard to attach it to the cable (the cable is bent by the old position), and even if I attached it to the cable there would be friction with the sides of the cable exit.
The thing forcing me to use this position is the spring inside of the mechanism has two ends that must fit in particular parts of the arm and the brake mechanism, which enforces this angle (seemingly).
The second photo is my front brake for comparison
Try pushing the arm back in position and tighten the bolt you loosened. There should be an end stop that the arm was able to get around since it got loose.
I hold the cable tight with pliers ( or vice grips) move the arm with my fingers on the pliers hand, and tighten the screw that holds the cable tight with my non pliers hand
Ok I found the solution myself, it’s a bit complicated to describe but I’ll try for future reference.
Brakes are C-Star CX-7 by the way.
You basically make the arm fit with the spring in the right position, then you turn the arm to the right position without moving the brake mechanism (so you don’t push the arm in, just enough to move the spring but not enough to move the brake). This is kind of hard as the spring is strong but you force it. Finally, once it’s in a good position you push it all the way in and put the screw in and screw it (while holding it in place against the force of the spring).
The basic idea is just that the spring can move without the brake mechanism if the arm isn’t pushed in too hard.