Category: Brakes
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A Big Rookie Mistake When It Comes To Rim Brakes
from Rookie’s Keyboard Hello, friends Today, I saw something I never though I will. A customer came to bike shop asking why his rear brake is “so weak and weird”. One look is all I needed to identify a major rookie mistake. The issue was that the had a V-brake at the back coupled with…
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Bike Theory For Dummies: Know Your Brake Pads
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends Ok. It’s time for another educational post in my lunch break. This time I will share with you an important distinction that you have to make when it comes to V-brakes and cantilevers. To the untrained eye, both types look similar. That’s not surprising. After all, they are both rim…
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An Annoying Caliper Brake Issue (solutions)
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends What’s up? Here at Rookie Journal’s Headquarters, it’s time for another post. Today, I will talk about a super common caliper brake problem that many rookies (and advanced cyclists) may face. So, what is it? I call the it Slow Release Symptom (SRS). Here’s the full description: You squeeze the…
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Bike Brakes Lesson: From The Side or The Center?
from Rookie’s keyboard Hello, friends It’s been a while since I’ve done an educational post. Sorry. As they say – life happens. No excuses, though. I need to improve my posting schedule. Today’s post is dedicated to center-pull and side-pull brakes as I think many rookies need additional information to understand the difference between each…
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Bike Theory: From Calipers To Vs
from Rookie’s keyboard, Hello, friends Due to popular demand, today I will discuss the possibility of mounting V-brakes on a frame and fork originally designed for calipers. I don’t know why, but I’ve had 3 requests to write an article on that topic in the last month. So, who am I to argue with my…
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An Important Point About Carbon Brake Pads
from Rookie’s keyboard Hello, friends Today, I will tell you an important characteristic of carbon brake pads – namely that you shouldn’t be using them with alloy/aluminum rims. Why? Many reasons: Since carbon isn’t very resistant to external abuse, carbon brake pads are softer and made of cork compounds. The softness of carbon pads results…
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A Must-Know Peculiarity of Road Levers
from Rookie’s keyboard Hello, friends Today, I am going to reveal a peculiarity of road levers that every road cyclist has to know. Regular road levers are engineered for short-pull brakes and should not be combined with V-brakes. Short and Long Pull Brakes Mechanical/cable brakes divide into short and long pull depending on the cable’s…
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Braking…Pivot Points
from Rookie’s keyboard Hello, friends Today, we are going to talk about pivot points and bicycle brakes. There are two types – single pivot (SP) and dual pivot (DP) brakes. SP are caliper rim brakes equipped with brake arms rotating around one (shared) pivot point. You can find them on retro road bikes as well…
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Mini Vs and Cantis – Brothers From Different Mothers
From Rookie’s Keyboard, Hello, friends Yesterday, I received my first rookiejournal e-mail after starting this blog not so long ago. A reader was thanking me for my post on V-brakes and cantilevers. Thank you, bro for the positive feedback and giving me an idea for another post. Today, I am going to compare a less-known…
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Let’s talk about V-brakes and Cantis
Hello, friends Today, I will talk about V-brakes and cantilever brakes – the two most popular rim brakes found on cyclocross, entry-level MTBs, touring, and commuting bicycles. Let’s start with the similarities between the two. On top of my head, I can list the following: However, there are MAJOR dissimilarities between the two that every cycling guru must be aware…