Bicycle Mechanics - brake pads rubbing

I have a Trek 1200 and after a ride I can suspend the bike and spin the wheel and its not spinning freely. I can then pry the pads back with my hands and it is perfect, until I use the brake lever again.

I guess you'd call them side pull.

They have a knob for adjustment and I put it near max out to get the no rub effect. This leaves them further from the wheel than the other settings.

thanks

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/categories/brake-service-and-repair

You weren't absolutely clear, but I assume you mean that they work to stop the bike when applied, but fail to open completely afterward. Since you can pry them open, the most likely culprit is friction, either in the cable, caliper & lever pivots, or where the legs of the spring meet the arms.

Start with the easiest, and oil the pivot(s) with a light oil and give that a moment to wick in. Also oil where the spring legs meet the arms on both sides , since friction there can cause them to open unevenly. If that doesn't do the trick try to draw some light oil up into the cable. You might have to field strip, clean and oil, or maybe even replace the cable depending on age and condition.

When you're done, follow any tutorial on the web for final adjustment and centering.

Do the pads rub both sides of the wheel or just one side? You may simply need to adjust the caliper.
I suspect you have dual pivot brakes, see the instructions at the Park Tool site offered by reptilezs, above.

Right, both pads will stay on the rim. I can pry them apart and spin the wheel and it goes freely. But after brake application they wont retract fully. Its like there is a dead spot in the cable draw. I can release the lever and nothing, nothing then after half released it will start to retract the pads.

The rear works perfectly, just having trouble with the front. Its a pretty old bike (1992) and probably the originals so I'll probably just take it to the LBS and ask for a new cable since this stuff is well over my head. I can do plenty of little stuff on cars, like a water pump yesterday. But such a simple machine as a bicycle is having my scratching my head.


Funny thing is, before I got the bike I would study this site and read a few books at the library because I wanted to be self sufficient, but I must now rely on the shop. Since a few weeks ago I couldn't swap out some pedals I just got because either my 15mm wrench wasn't long enough or I'm not strong because I felt like a dumbass taking my bike in to get pedals put on. There were cool about it though and didn't even charge me.

I may just ride it up there one day since its less than 10 miles away and I don't have a truck.

Thanks again fellas.

If you can change a water pump on a car you can easily deal with installing new housings and cables. You just need a bit of info to aid you much like you likely checked the shop manual for that water pump swap out.

www.parktool.com/repair (http://www.parktool.com/repair) Hover the mouse on the bike and move it around until you find the bit about brakes, cables and housing work. Read and then go forth and work on your bike. Unless the old housings look like they are flowing all over the bike in big oversize loops just use the old bits as cutting length templates for the new housings. You'll want to ask for "smooth drawn cables" for the replacements and brake cable housing sufficient to cut for the total length of the old plus a few inches all rounded to the nearest foot (they only sell by the foot). And remember to ask for the housing end ferrules and cable end crimp caps.

As for your pedals you did read that the left side pedal is left hand threaded, right? If you accidentally started on the left side and didn't realize that fact then it would definetly make you suspect your man prowess as being down a quart :D That's on the Park Tools repair website as well.

Yes, I went clockwise on the left and CCW on the passenger side (heh) I mean right side.

Thanks for the help, but it sounds like I need a cable cutter and a crimp tool for the cable ends and those park tool resources don't make sense like the videos I use from saturnfans to do tasks on the car.

Thanks though, maybe I can hang around enough to finally get my noggin into it and be my own mechanic one day. Right now, I'm so new to it I just want to ride it. Its just not easy enough for me right now to go buying tools I don't know how to use. I do have the parktool website as a favorite in case I can expand my mind. Thanks for offering assistance!