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Are Cantilever brake bushings readily available?

Old 12-15-07, 08:55 PM
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Are Cantilever brake bushings readily available?

I am building up my touring/comfort road bike, and a couple of the brake arms have
worn out bushings. The affected ones touch the front of the pad first like they should,
but as you tighten your grip, they rock sideways as the pad contacts fully. I have never seen anyone
mention replacing the bushings on them, so can I even get them? They look like a brass cylinder?,,,,BD
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Old 12-16-07, 04:35 AM
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Originally Posted by Bikedued
I am building up my touring/comfort road bike, and a couple of the brake arms have
worn out bushings. The affected ones touch the front of the pad first like they should,
but as you tighten your grip, they rock sideways as the pad contacts fully. I have never seen anyone
mention replacing the bushings on them, so can I even get them? They look like a brass cylinder?,,,,BD
Are they currently available brakes? If not, it might be difficult. Bushing usually don't wear out. You could try buying some brass tubing. Problem is brass is much softer than bearing bronze. I don't want to say your SOL but that might be a difficult part to find on an old brake.


Before I go, maybe they're the same size as a current V-brake bushing. You could find a cheap set on a bike in the garbage. Good luck

Tim
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Old 12-16-07, 04:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Bikedued
I am building up my touring/comfort road bike, and a couple of the brake arms have
worn out bushings.
Exactly what kind of brakes are they?
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Old 12-16-07, 07:58 AM
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Shimano post type. Model number looks like BL-MT60? There's a little corrosion on the back where the model number is.,,,,BD
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Old 12-16-07, 10:39 AM
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In several years of using cantilevers I've never replaced the bushings in any of them. Never felt the need. I'm not sure that it'd be worth the effort. You might try measuring them and looking at an automotive source but I'm not sure if you could find them there. A quick qoogle search turned up a few manufacturers but I don't think you could buy just one.

It's pretty cheap to replace them with new ones...which is what I've always done anyway. With the growing popularity of cyclocross there are more choices out there now then 5 or 6 years ago. I'd recommend not going with the Avid Shortys unless you change pads to Kool Stop dual compound pads. They squeal with just about any other pad.
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Old 12-16-07, 11:34 AM
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Worth a look, I was just wanting to use the existing brakes. They're silver alloy finish, and I imagine most newer ones are black composite or black in general. I have an older Gary fisher, maybe the bushings on those are better? More 90's looking, but still silver. It's an 80's Shogun bike, with navy blue paint, white cable housings, and white bottle cages. Black would look out of place.,,,,BD
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Old 12-16-07, 12:50 PM
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On one of my cross bikes the bushing to post fit was so sloppy it caused alot of brake squeal. The fix is to use beer can shims. It can take few tries to get the fit right, but worth the effort.
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Old 12-16-07, 03:00 PM
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I have the bike together, and the brakes are not too bad. No squeals yet, but the braking is a little vague.
I think it has the same problem as my drop bar Hard Rock. The straddle cables need adjusted shorter. They're all there just not powerful enough for me. Pictures as soon as the battery charges up,,,,BD


The only thing I really changed on reassembly was the shoes, for a longer/thinner more modern NOS Shimano. Maybe a set of kool stops could help. I've had nothing but good results on every other bike I've put them on.
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Old 12-16-07, 03:02 PM
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oooooooops, lol..
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