Cantilever brake?

[hokuspokus74]

I have the rear cantilever brake on the robinson build i have had 4 different ones on it,and on each one it doesnt work properly when you pull the lever the close in a wee bit then if you release the lever the cable pops out off it,ive spent hours trying to sort it out but have had no luck,any idea's guy's

[oldschoolace]

Cut the gay things off and get some proper brakes 

[oldschoolace]

You tried backing off the mounting bolt? also check the brass sleeves are smooth and have not had the ends crushed by the mounting bolt 

[hokuspokus74]

I would love to get an ordinary caliper on it but nowhere for one,there is nothing crushed on it and the bits are smooth that the cantilevers go on i would have cut them off coz i hate them but i like a back break for a few stunts

[pickle]

they are superb once set up but can be tricky if you're not used to them.  once you've sussed how they are set up they're a piece of p*ss.

Put up a few pictures, it might help see whats wrong.

also what lever are you using?

[bmxband1t77]

I concurr. Cantis and V brakes setup correctly give immensely greater performance than calipers. Choose your brake pads carefully or try out sets from different manufacturers. I've had terrible squeelers (mainly the clear types) to ones too hard and sound like they're grinding out ya rims! There's a good type fitted to my Dawes commuter I can thoroughly recommend if your not using Mag wheels or lovely anodised  rims. Check the 'Jagwire' brand of canti and v brake pads on Amazon. I've used these for years and offer good balance if price to performance.


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[hokuspokus74]

Am using a set of polygon levers on them i will get a pic up of it in a while and see were am going wrong

[Dannywhac]

Are the Polygons sprung levers? You need specific levers for cantis/v's to get them work otherwise the cable babs out 

[hokuspokus74]

Hmmm So basically its like the levers that are on mid/new school bikes i need?

[kev-s]

tech77's work fine with canti brakes

my gt fueler runs a canti brake with a tech77

id be more inclined to look at the brake itself or the cable

first off disconnect the cable completely from the brake, now push both canti's into the rim and let go

do the brake blocks go all the way to the rim smoothly but with some resistance? and do they release smoothly and spring back?

if they dont then the problem is at the brake, could be you need to seat the springs into one of the different holes on the canti mounts

if they do then the brake is good so next look at the brake cable

again with the brake cable removed from the brake but still connected to the lever, make sure the cable is fully seated in the lever and the other end is fully seated in the frames cable mount that sits just above the brake

hold onto the inner cable and pull the brake lever, does the cable move freely when u pull the lever and does the brake lever snap shut when u pull the cable back?

if so then the cable is good

finally check the brake lever with no cable attached, does the lever blade move freely with no resistance back and forth?

check the adjuster and the cable barrel entry for any burrs or anything that could cause the cable to rub/catch

[hokuspokus74]

Cheers for all the info there Kev will do a check once am home on all the stuff mentioned