Front brake doesn't work any more.

PaulBravey

I've got an old rigid mtb that I've been tinkering with, trying to get the front v-brakes to work without constant rubbing but now they no longer even touch the rim on both sides so there's no stopping power whatsoever. When I pull the lever only the right hand pad moves and comes into contact with the rim, the left arm just stays still. I've tried the barrel adjuster, repositioning the pads and shortened the cable a little but all that's done is there's a bit less lever travel. I've not attemped to monkey around with the little screws on each arm because i'm not sure how much I should adjust them by and the last resort would be to take the arms off entirely and see if the arm is just seized on. I don't have a lot of time to experiment so I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction.

cooldad

Take them to bits, clean them up, lube the pivots, try again.

Chunkers1980

and make sure the spring is doing its thing

PaulBravey

Ta, I had a feeling that would be the answer but was hoping for a short cut.

cooldad

And make sure the rims and pads are nice and clean.

gt-arrowhead

what Cooldad said in his first post. Take it all off and put some grease on the pivots. Before you re attach the brakes to the pivots, make sure that spring is seated in the correct position in the brake arm. Next to the pivot there are usually 3 holes to push the end of the spring into. If the spring was not in the hole highest up, try out putting the spring in the highest hole, so that you get more tension in the spring. That should encourage the brake arm to move more when you brake. (both towards the wheel and back). Usually results in a nicer lever feeling too.

Those two screws are to adjust the gap between the pads and the rim. Screwing in pushes the brake away from the wheel, unscrewing makes it come in towards the wheel. This will only work if the spring is located correctly in the brake arm.

neiltb

the screws are not for adjusting the gap between the pad and rim, merely a secondary result of their use. The screws adjust the spring tension on the arm allowing them to be centered so the pads touch at the same time. screwing in to move one pad away will only move the other closer.

Anyway, as above, disassemble, clean, lube and start again.