Removing and Installing Brakes and Brake Pads
If you ride your bike regularly, you’ll eventually have to change your brake pads. In this section, we tell you how to change brake pads and how to remove and install brakes (in case you need to overhaul or completely replace them).
Chapter 8: Stopping Short: Brakes 125 Removing brakes and brake pads
The procedures for removing V-brakes and cantilever brakes are the same. Here are the steps to follow:
1. Pinch the brakes together and lift the end of the cable up and out of the quick release in the brake arm where the cable sits (as shown in Figure 8-6).
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2. Undo the bolt that holds the brake onto the pivot (as shown in Figure 8-7).
Be careful as you loosen the bolt, because the spring may cause the brake arms to snap back or parts such as washers to shoot off the brake.
3. Pull the brake off the boss (as shown in Figure 8-8).
4. To remove the pad in cartridge-brake shoes, look for a small screw or pin holding the pad in place and remove it as shown in Figure 8-9.
Figure 8-10 shows how the pad slides off once the pin is removed. If there isn’t one, use a screwdriver to pry the pad off.
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Figure 8-7: Loosening the brake. |
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Figure 8-8: Removing the brake. |
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Figure 8-9: Removing the brake — pad pin. |
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Figure 8-10: Removing the brake pad. |
Here’s how to remove center-mount brakes:
1. Loosen the cable anchor bolt and remove the cable.
2. Using an Allen wrench or a 10mm open hex wrench, loosen and remove the center bolt mounting nut on the back and remove the complete brake caliper.
3. To remove the pad in cartridge brake shoes, look for a small screw or pin holding the pad in place and remove it (refer to Figure 8-9).
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Refer to Figure 8-10 to see how the pad slides off once the pin is removed. If there isn’t one, use a screwdriver to pry the pad off.
Some bikes don’t have cartridge brake shoes and have non-replaceable brakes pads. If your bike falls into this category, think about changing to replaceable pads, especially if you ride a lot and will go through pads relatively quickly. With the cartridge pads, you slip a new pad into the brakes and you don’t have to readjust the alignment and angle of the brake shoes every time they’re replaced.