jargo432

I'm building my second bike, a Surly Ogre, and I thought I'd ask a question.
I decided to go with rim brakes and bought shimano deore V brakes. The frame has three holes to choose for the tension peg. On the right side I can choose the middle hole and it works fine, however on the left side, if I choose the middle hole there is almost no tension, even if I screw the adjuster all the way in. If I choose the outside hole and let out all the tension screw it has too much tension. (I beginning to think Deore is crap)

Is it standard procedure to bend the spring wire so the tension can be more equal?

Any ideas would be helpful and appreciated.

wschruba

Bending the wire to increase tension is normal. Use a screwdriver between the frame and spring as a bending point, and go gently; if you break the spring, it's not replaceable.

The spring tension should be set to accommodate your break lever/housing run: classic levers, no return spring, use the highest tension hole; sprung levers with full run housing, use the middle/high tension position, broken housing and sprung levers, use the low tension setting.

These are basic guidelines, do what works for you, as some people find the low tension setting, even if acceptable, strange feeling. The bottom line is that the brakes need to be able to return to their default position--if they can't, move the spring to the next highest tension hole.

jargo432

Thank You

fietsbob

They're not actually spring tempered.

I put a pair of pliers on them and bend them, occasionally, in setups & repairs..

Aubergine 

Really? On the V-brakes I have worked on, the spring just falls out when the lever is unbolted from the seat stay.

wschruba

I must have been unclear; you unclip the long, upright spring from the brake arm, while the break is mounted to the stud.

The vast majority of current linear-pull brakes are assembled permanently at the factory, or at the very least, are not meant to be disassembled. Assuming you could find a spring that could fit, fitting it to the brake would likely not be worth the time spent, as that particular brake (T610) goes for about $25. With the exception of old Dia-compe style arms, with a self contained spring (a'la traditional cantilever arms), this has been the generally followed method of manufacture in the past few years.

RubeRad

I very often bend v-brake springs by hand. I'm not that careful about it.

Make sure the brakes are clean & greased so apart from springs they rotate freely on the mounts.

mconlonx

+1.

Bike tinker man

You've not mentioned if this problem is with the cable & the SS U guide attached, both brake arms should fitted be on the same hole, I've read somewhere I think each side should be about 3-5 lb pull into the rim, you need to have this set up before you attach the cable, even the little rubber boot I've seen too long being used so pushing them out of balance.

PatrickGSR94

I always try to ensure that V-brake arms have relatively equal tension on both sides, set to the same peg hole on both sides of the rim, and then adjust for centering using the adjustment screws on each brake arm.

Are both brake pads installed the same way, with the same washers on each side? There should be a thick and thin concave washer, plus two convex washers to allow for pad angle adjustment. The concave washers can be swapped sides on the brake arm to move the pad closer or farther away from the rim.

And of course, be sure the rim itself is centered in the frame.

I bought a set of Tektro v-brakes awhile back to replace some 20-year old Deore brakes with the parallelogram linkages, which were crap. The Tektro brakes are very simple, but yet have excellent feel and modulation, especially with Kool Stop pads.

FastJake

OP - how many times have you setup V-brakes? I've done them a lot over the years and never had this issue. Especially not with a new brake. The arms don't need to spring back with much tension. Just enough to keep them off the rim, really. Have you tried backing out the tension screw on the right side to even it out with the weaker left side?

I've bent springs before to even out tension but it doesn't take much.

+1 Tektro brakes are excellent, but new Deore should be just as good if not better. They don't use the Parallel Push linkage anymore.

fietsbob

Yea the Parallel Push linkage and The Avid 'Arch Rival' were attempts to make the motion to the rim Linear ,

And did not quite get in a mechanical , type where Magura Succeeded, with a Hydraulic rim brake..

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I know, those old linkages were all worn out causing play in the pads, and the various parts were not replaceable.

Not sure how Deore brakes could be much better than Tektro. Other than possibly a few grams lighter, it's just a lever arm pushing a pad into the side of the rim. Not much to it.