Originally Posted by
veganbikes
As you said basic and low end. I wouldn't use them unless I absolutely had to. If they are super short arms they are going to be a bit better but flexy brakes are not what I want. You want good stiffness in your braking and sadly those brakes don't have it. A dual pivot brake is going to be a better solution especially one with good non-flexing arms and you can find some cheaper ones out there and upgrade with better pads and shoes and good cables and housing.
New fresh pads will help any brake but again with loads of flex in the system those new pads can only improve so much. If you want your bike to work well use quality parts.
On the plus side, the small amount of flex will probably contribute to better braking feel, lol.
I actually like these brakes a lot, mainly for that reason. My old GT mountain bike had some good AVID rim brakes with Koolstop pads with ridiculously strong stopping power, but not much feel through the levers.
Originally Posted by
Gresp15C
I'd just put a drop of regular lubricating oil on the pivots and ride the bike.
I've been using Jig a loo and well.. I won't ever again. It barely lubricates for more than a day even if its perfectly dry outside.
Originally Posted by
Gresp15C
If you don't want to buy anything, any kind of oil is probably fine. I've been known to steal a drop of oil from my car by just pulling out the dipstick. I'm trying to deplete the different kinds of interesting lubes and fluids in my house, hence my recommendation of "whatever works and is handy
LOL... this is hilarious.
I'll have to do some research and find some sort of thicker oil which lasts longer for my chain and whatnot.
Honestly, before I put my front brake back on, I will just lube the pivots with some dollar store Vaseline quick. Apparently it works fine..