My rear brake lever is super squishy and I saw that the brake pads still have life in them. This is what I did: set the adjustment barrel of the lever all the way clockwise, set the inner brake pad as close as possible to the rotor without touching it, loosened the caliper bolts that held them to the mount, pressed the brake lever all the way in while tightening the caliper bolts to torque (alternating while tightening both), and finally loosened the pinch bolt for the brake cable. I tried to pull the cable as hard as possible with my fingers and then later with some pliers and then tightened the pinch bolt. Problem is, the brake lever still has no resistance even if I turn the adjustment barrel many turns counterclockwise (it does start getting some resistance but I think it's way too many turns of the barrel). Is it safe for me to tighten the pinch bolt with the caliper brake arm at a non resting position (more compressed position)? First pic is the resting position and the second picture is where I would tighten the bolt so that the arm is in a better position to begin braking.
TLDR: Can I tighten the brake caliper pinch bolt with the brake caliper arm semi compressed for the new resting position??
by sobasicallyimanowl
2 Comments
It won’t damage anything, no. Might change the lever feel a bit, but ultimately not a problem.
Just need to adjust the caliper by turning the large allen screw on the back side of the caliper in a few clicks with an allen wrench. Loosen your lever adjusters all the way before you do.
You have to do this as the pads wear, it’s standard maintenance.