huhjunn

So the black road bike version of this bicycle is what I own : https://www.amazon.com/TRACK-FIXED-FI...o+single+speed

On my first ride out I had to brake very aggressively because this couple's leash-less dog ran in front of me. After that whenever I pull my rear brake lever it closes the caliper, but when I release the lever it does not reopen the caliper.

I noticed that if I pull on the brake cable it re-opens the caliper, which means that the cables aren't properly threaded through the lever. I've tried tugging on the cable and then tightening the brake caliper screw to fix the problem, but the cable is still 'loose' in the lever.


How can I solve this issue?

fietsbob

suspect binding in the cable run .. replace cable & housing. If you cant fix it, try a bike shop .

things will quiet down and dervice queues are soon shortened as the weather cools off ..

huhjunn

To replace the cables, would that require me to cut the handlebar tape and buy new tape as well? Or is it possible to unwind the handlebar tape without damaging it so that it can be reused?

RPK79

Depends on the tape.

huhjunn

I just watched a quick video on how to replace brake cables, and it seems like I can get that done without removing the tape so long as I keep the housing. How much of an impact can the housing have on braking capabilities? Is it important for me the change the housing along with the cables?

dsbrantjr

"How much of an impact can the housing have on braking capabilities?" A lot. If you have a problem with the housing replacing just the inner wire will not help.

I am also concerned that the end of your wire may have slipped in the clamp at the brake end when you made that panic stop.

Another possibility is that your panic stop may have crushed the end of an improperly-installed cable housing into one of its ferrules, causing the wire to bind. .

I would suggest that you remove the wire from the clamp and see how the brake caliper itself returns without the wire (it should do so quickly and smoothly) and then see how freely the wire moves in the housing. Do this with each housing run. This may give you a clue as to where the problem lies. When you have found and fixed the trouble reattach the wire FIRMLY and adjust the brakes. Squeeze the brakes as hard as you can a few times to be certain that everything is holding.

cny-bikeman

Excellent advice above to diagnose the problem

Wilfred Laurier

it sounds either like
cable friction
or
binding in the brake caliper

more likely cable friction
as calipers don't usually tighten themselves up while riding

if there was a sudden increase in cable friction
after one panic stop
then i would suspect
one end of the cable housing is being pulled through the cable stop
possibly due to the lack of a ferrule
or from improper preparation during assembly

hopefully your front brakes still work fine
as most people with fixies have either no brakes
or just a front brake
where it is most useful

FBinNY 

Fast question. Have you signed on to the trend to use "compressionless" gear type housing for your brakes?. If not, disregard what follows.

If so, odds are that's the problem. While index housing can be used for brakes, it's not made for the high compression loads braking involves. Most ferrules and fittings have conical bottoms resulting from the drill point that made the hole. Classic housing's circular coils sit up near the rim no problem. However index housing's linear strands are prone to working themselves down toward the center of the conical bottom, which pinches against the inner wire and binds it. In extreme cases, the housing can even extrude through the bottom of the fitting.

Simple rule, gear housing for gears, brake housing for brakes.

huhjunn

Never heard of that trend as I'm fairly new to biking. Everything on my bike is stock components.

FBinNY 

Like the others, I suggest you diagnose it by isolating the cable and seeing if it's cable friction or a binding caliper, or weak spring. My post was to point a specific possibility relating to the type of housing used.

surreal

It's 2014. Is anyone still using indexed gear cable housing for brakes? I don't see why they would, with Yokozuna and Jagwire offering high-quality compressionless housing designed specifically for brakes. Of course, I think compressionless brake housing only seems necessary for gyro use or mechanical discs, which sometimes feel yucky with conventional brake housing. The OP has a regular road caliper in this case. Being on a budget roadbike, I bet it's conventional housing....

Anyone, to address the OP's question, and the usual lack of reading comprehension on the part of some of the others who've responded thus far:
-This occurred on his first ride. The cable is not old, worn, or otherwise diminished by time or miles....
-This is a roadbike, with gears. He linked to the track version b/c it's similar to his bike.
-Dsbrantjr gives excellent advice above. Probably no need to rewrap the bars, and probably no need to buy new cable/housing. I'd disconnect the cable, confirm that the problem isn't occuring in the caliper (but it may be; this is a cheap caliper and the spring may've worked itself out of whack during the hard braking effort.) Then, I'd pull the cable out at the lever, and check the housing for any pinches/obstructions. You may just have to take a skinny, hard tool and diddle the end of the houing open a little bit, and check that the ferrules aren't crimped. It's *probably* a simple fix.

FBinNY 

Even compressionless housing buttressed for brake use poses the problem of "conical compression" at the ends. Brake fittings typically have conical bottoms because it's easier to produce that way, and there was never a reason to make a second drill pass to square the bottom. Unless a special ferrule, or washer with a dead flat or reverse conical bottom made for the job is used, the long strands will pinch in.

I'm sure the folks who make housing know that "spring coil" housing is more suited to brake use, but seeing that the market believes otherwise are going with the flow and making housing that at least won't get them sued.

huhjunn

Okay, so after pulling out the brake cable from the lever I tried re-inserting it through the lever hole and I think that the housing tube's entry point is either misaligned with the lever's hole or has been slightly crushed, thus preventing me from putting the cable back into the lever. This also might explain why the cable is not being released after being pulled.

Edit: Also, I don't think the calipers are an issue because when I pulled the cable out they opened up quickly and smoothly.

Thoughts on how to fix this?

surreal

To clarify: You think the housing is pinched where it enters the brake lever?

surreal

AFAIK, Yokuzuna actually uses a coil outside of the linear strands, so maybe that reduces the tendency you're describing? Jagwire just uses some sort of kevlar reinforcement, which I guess wouldn't address that, but the Jagwire kits come with their own ferrulesso perhaps they've baked in an extra-flat design to their ferrules? I didn't really check when I installed it. All I know about all of this is that, when ppl tried to run brakes in derailer housing, it failed. But, nowadays, quality compressionless housing is a common upgrade, and the usual remedy prescribed by mechanics when the complaint is "my mechanical disc brakes suck." I'm running one compressionless cable on one front mechanical disc, on the kludgiest bike I own.... and possibly the kludgiest bike I've ever seen. So, far, zero problems...

huhjunn

I believe so. Here is an image of the area where the cable enters the brake lever: imgur: the simple image sharer (sorry for quality but I tried my best).

You can kind of see that the two holes do not align properly.

FBinNY 

The outside coil or ballistic kevlar wrap eliminates the problem of catastrophic bursting and loss of brake. But it does nothing to prevent the linear strands from creeping down the cone, pinching together and "choking" the inner wire. They don't all do this, but many do, and you can often see erosion at the bottom of the fittings with heavy use.

The steel on steel coil of a fully compressed spring is also compressionless, and if made well actually more compressionless than high helix housing. However, if made poorly or kinked allowing the coil to separate then it becomes a spring and can use up lever travel before coming to full strength.

huhjunn

Update: I've tried to use a small enough tool to 'diddle' with the housing but to no avail. Will I have to replace the housing altogether? I believe this will require me to remove the handlebar tape

huhjunn

bump

Wilfred Laurier

you probably will not need to replace anything
if the problem is a damaged housing end
you just need to cut off the damaged portion
possibly just a cm or two
and make sure the new end has a round opening
and is filed or cut flat
and that the friction is much reduced

and you do have to unwrap your bars
which is a bit of a PITA the first couple times
but is not a big deal

you can find instruction on proper handlebar wrapping
in lots of places online
esp sheldonbrown.com

but to remove brake cable
you only need to unwrap the top half of the bars
which should be easy
if they are wrapped bottom to top
as they should be

huhjunn

Hi, I no longer think that the issue is with the housing ferrule. After watching a video on how to install brake cables and housing, I noticed that the housing does not go all the way into the brake lever (it is merely tucked under the hood). So in the image (https://imgur.com/457RHzR) I provided in my previous post, it appears that the actual hole where the brake cable is fed through the lever has become crimped as opposed to the housing ferrule being crimped. What do you think?

Al1943

1. New bike? Take it to the dealer and have him fix it, should not cost you anything.

2. I don't think the panic stop could have damaged that part of the shifter (re photo) unless maybe the cable bead was not properly seated, and that may have happened if the panic stop pulled a bit of cable through the fixing bolt at the caliper. A round file of the correct size could be used to "round out" the hole so that the cable bead will fit.

3. I think the problem is excess friction somewhere along the cable. In the panic stop you may have pulled some cable into the housing that was never there before. I've had this exact problem when some rust was pulled into the housing, but this seems unlikely since the bike is new. I would look for excess friction and be sure that the housing is fully seated into the shifter. I use an old ice pick to round out the housing ends.