Front Brake

[bart]

I bought my Bike E used and I failed to check it over. Shame on me. The front brake is not working. Do you think a bike shop would know how to service? Also all gears do not seem to work, especially gear 3. I need help. I don't want to go back to my weggie.

Bart

[Robin Parkes]

Bart,

Could you elaborate on your problem with the front brake?

I found that my front brake was not very powerful and a nephew of mine showed me that the arms were too close together. I took off each brake block and swapped the washers so that the thickest of the washers was between the arm and the brake block. This had the effect of bringing the block so tight to the rim that I had to slacken the cable to let the arms out and then retighten the cable once I had the spacing near enough right. Any small amount of slack could then be taken up by the adjuster on the lever. The difference was amazing. I had a front brake worthy of the name. Lining up the brake blocks is a black art but it can be done with care. You have to hold the brake arm so that the brake block is against the rim and line it up. Hold it in that position and tighten the screw.

Which model of BikeE do you have? Has it 3 x 7 or 3 x 8. The adjustment of the hub differs between the two. I am familiar with the 3 x 8 where the cable tightens to get 3rd so you may need to tighten the cable on the gripshift or down on the click box. Philip would be able to help on the 3 x 7.

Regards,

Robin.