Help with V brake setup on kids bike please
danlightbulb
Posts: 701
Hi all, hope everyone is well.
I bought my son a used hotrock 20 recently. It needed some parts replaced on it, which included the brakes.
The original brakes were Tektro v brakes. They were kids specific and had fairly long levers. I couldn't find the same type anywhere, so I replaced them with a full set of Clarks v brakes from Halfords. Now the issues I have are these:
1. The levers are shorter, probably 2 finger levers for adults. He can't reach the lever in its fully open position, so I have adjusted the reach adjust screw. There isn't a great deal of adjustment available. The lever travel is pulling all the way to the grips and not producing much stopping power, unless...
2. If I adjust the brake pads so they are very close to the wheel rims, this reduces the amount of lever travel needed, however, this then means I can't unhook the v brake for when the wheel needs to be removed, because I can't squeeze the two arms together enough to unhook the cable.
Basically I need some v brakes which are easy to pull, have fairly long levers with short travel so my lad can brake effectively. And I need to be able to unhook the brake easily because the wheel has to come off to fit in my car.
My younger son has an Islabike, and the v brakes on this are amazing. However I have had a close look and I can't see anything different about them compared to a normal set of v brakes! The brake end looks the same, the levers are about the same, so not sure what it is about the design that's making them so good. They are really easy to pull, have short travel and excellent power.
Thanks
I bought my son a used hotrock 20 recently. It needed some parts replaced on it, which included the brakes.
The original brakes were Tektro v brakes. They were kids specific and had fairly long levers. I couldn't find the same type anywhere, so I replaced them with a full set of Clarks v brakes from Halfords. Now the issues I have are these:
1. The levers are shorter, probably 2 finger levers for adults. He can't reach the lever in its fully open position, so I have adjusted the reach adjust screw. There isn't a great deal of adjustment available. The lever travel is pulling all the way to the grips and not producing much stopping power, unless...
2. If I adjust the brake pads so they are very close to the wheel rims, this reduces the amount of lever travel needed, however, this then means I can't unhook the v brake for when the wheel needs to be removed, because I can't squeeze the two arms together enough to unhook the cable.
Basically I need some v brakes which are easy to pull, have fairly long levers with short travel so my lad can brake effectively. And I need to be able to unhook the brake easily because the wheel has to come off to fit in my car.
My younger son has an Islabike, and the v brakes on this are amazing. However I have had a close look and I can't see anything different about them compared to a normal set of v brakes! The brake end looks the same, the levers are about the same, so not sure what it is about the design that's making them so good. They are really easy to pull, have short travel and excellent power.
Thanks
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Comments
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Use the cable adjuster on the levers to get the wheel removal clearance needed.
Unscrew the adjusters part way out before setting up the brake calipers - screw them back in when you need to remove the wheels.
Canti levers on v-brake calipers will give a more powerful braking action but a shorter pull on the levers (pads will be very close to the rims), often they feel lighter as well so would be ideal for smaller hands. Adjuster the cable anchor point nearer to their pivot points if your levers have those functions (often called modulating the braking feel).0
