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Safety of old brakes

Bicycles Asked on June 14, 2021

I found an old bike and I am not experienced with bikes. I am wondering if these brakes need to be changed:

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I am not sure if this is in all bikes, but the mechanism of the brakes looks too old to me. You just press the brakes and those cables get stretched and the bike stops. Is that ok/normal and safe?

2 Answers

Those are cantilever brakes and as long as the cables are still intact, everything works as it should and the pads still have plenty of material left, they're perfectly fine. From the photo it looks like the pads are still okay, but replacing them can never hurt. A drop of oil on the hinges might not be a bad idea, too.

Correct answer by Carey Gregory on June 14, 2021

You need a new tyre because of the wear, and probably new brake pads if its been sitting around for a couple years.

I can't tell if the main brake wire goes through the bridge and to one side, or if there's a separate yoke. If its a yoke wire between the two brake arms, I'd also suggest a wire catcher poking out of that hole in the crosspiece (where the old fashioned caliper brake would have mounted.)

Here's the wire catcher on my bike. Its really just a bolt with a long spoon-shaped catcher. I've made the same kind of thing from a long thin bolt and three nuts. The idea is if the main wire lets go, the straddle cable/yoke cable gets pulled down by the two springs in the canti arms. This pulls the wire into the tyre where it catches and you do a sudden unexpected deceleration. Admittedly this is more important on the front than the rear.

wire catcher.  Suspension is for pussies.

Yes the observant will see that I have a more modern wire where the yoke is only on one side, and the other side is the main brake cable. However I still don't trust it to release right should things go wrong, and I still need a bolt for my mudguard.

Answered by Criggie on June 14, 2021

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