brake problems?

[mini me]

hi, my brake is a comet mechanical disck brake and when i hook the brake lever to the handlebars and the cable to the brake, if i squeeze the brake lever it justs pulls up extra slack on the cable. does this mean i need a shorter cable. thanks

[RUBICON]

I am expecting some argument on this...but...here goes...I think the desigh of a mechanical disk brake requires a bit more lever movement than a hand lever can provide...they are usually coupled to a rod to a foot lever...or a cable to a foot lever...another thing..is it adjusted as much as possible to remove all the slack?...do you have an in-line cable adjuster? They can be founf at cycle shops...keep adjusting till the brake engages...Hydraulic brakes don't have this problem...good luck

[Mike Bean]

Mini Me,

You can use a mechanical brake with a hand lever, I did it on mine with no problems.

You need to be sure you have the brake setup correctly. On my mechanical brake caliper there is a nut on a bolt with a cotter pin used to adjust the slack out of the caliper. First make sure you have the brake disc flush to the inside stationary pads. You can do that buy loosening the brake disc and sliding it over to the brake inside brake pad. Then tighten the adjusting nut to where the brake is almost started to squeeze the brake disc and then put the cotter pin back in the adjusting bolt.

One of the easiest ways I found to get the correct clearance when tightening the adjusting nut is to support the back of the BSR so the wheels/axle can turn free. The keep tightening the bolt until you feel some drag on the brake disc and then back off the adjusting nut until it spins free again.

You should now have all the play out of the brake caliper and very little movement of the brake arm will start braking the barstool racer.

Also make sure you have all the slack out of you brake cable. You can do this where you tied the brake cable to the brake caliper arm. Just pull the cable until all the slack it out and tighten the cable holder.

I have attached a photo of my mechanical brake caliper setup to help you out.

Mike Bean