The aluminium knurled cylinder which should have the cable housing entering it but just has it sitting on top because it’s got ferrule on it, which from the above it should not have for this brake, and which has a screwthread mechanism inside which, by turning, fine tunes the tension of the brake cable without having to undo the clamping bolt and potentially (when loosening) leave a crushed/weakened section of cable doing important braking work.

You calling me stupid?

When unscrewed, the cable adjusters effectively lengthen the cable housing, thereby shortening the inner cable and drawing the brake shoes closer to the rim. Sort of a shortcut to adjust your brakes until they can be properly adjusted. They don’t really adjust the “tension.”

Your setup is so out of whack on so many levels that you might want to take it to a shop. If you want to attempt the fix yourself, buy the right tools, watch a ton of videos, and get some replacement shoes and cables—both housings (I recommend compressionless housing from Aican or Jagwire), and inner cables. Get that fourth hand I linked to, and some specialty cable cutters—the Craftsman dikes you have in your toolbox won’t cut it…literally.

Jesus, I thought this s*** was supposed to be "basic" and "obvious". Well, so far just manually squeezing them closer to the rim then re-tightening has worked. And I'm too poor right now to have my setup meet the apparent standard in here. I ride like 12mph or something slow so I should be alright. Thanks!

Well, I won’t apologize for having high standards, but we’ve all done the fix the way you’ve suggested. And know how the right tools just make the job easier. If you get the money I think you’d feel a big improvement if you replaced the shoes. They’re only a few bucks a pair.

OP, these two thing's might help you get going.

https://www.parktool.com/en-us/blog/...&area%5B%5D=48 I like the written articles better, but the videos are good too. They just are long to watch and sometimes too much horsing around.

https://si.shimano.com/en/pdfs/dm/GN...001-26-ENG.pdf This will give you a structured way to go about installing or repairing. While it's oriented for Shimano products of today. It still holds somewhat true for much of the old stuff an for other brands.

More specific stuff on Shimano components can be found here... https://si.shimano.com/en/#/ just find the part number which will be on most all of their components somewhere. And plug that into the search box. DM's are best, but only for new components. The other documentation for vintage stuff will give the basic info needed to adjust and maintain. All of this will require that you have some mechanical aptitude and can figure stuff out.

Your bike just in that shot has several things going on. And the issue they add will have one working against the other. So I'd recommend you go back to square one and pretend you are installing the rear brake and make certain everything is correct.

For sure, you need to undo the zip tie. Then it could be seen if the barrel adjuster is screwed too far out and the cable needs to be undone from the pinch bolt and resecured to take up more slack. As well some have pointed out that the ferrule on the housing doesn't seem to be all the way in the recess of the barrel adjuster. That is also a indication that the cable needs to be repositioned in the pinch bolt.

If you haven't been maintaining a bike to keep it in working order, then sometimes learning on a bike that is broken will only have you making the wrong decisions on what to do, as your perceptions about how something should work isn't how that somethings should really work. It might be something to consider getting the bike fixed by another and then staying interested enough to learn how a properly working bike works so you can maintain it.

I was going to say the quick release wasn't seated all the way. Sometimes it bends apart and the ferrule/adjuster doesn't ride on top. If you want to get into it you could remove the cable and bend them back together with some pliers. If the adjuster hasn't been moved in a while it is probably frozen together.

Thanks, I'll refer back to this thread as need be. I'm mechanically inclined but DIY almost everything and have no money to spend and am not the fastest learner. So often I make do with less than perfect solutions and currently the brake is working good enough. But I'll be back on this basic brakes lesson another time for sure as I won't be paying anyone else to do it for me. Even if I had the money I invested tools and stand in order to learn all this. Thanks for the help

People have commented on the general crappiness of those brakes, and while they may not be as good as most modern dual-pivot calipers, they're actually just fine. I have those on my Fuji. With salmon KoolStop pads and proper set up and adjustment, they provide enough braking for normal use. But, do invest in new KoolStop brake pads - it will make all the difference.

Ah.. I think I get what you're saying. This adjuster is common and usually at the shifters and derailleurs too. I could never figure out exactly how they adjust the cable tension, can't visualize what they do hence I never quite grasp how they work and am always befuddled by them. Same as the derailleur limit screws lol. But once I work on them enough times and save notes I get it. Thanks

I'm not sure what you're talking about exactly as far as the next level of brakes but I do have a set I've salvaged off a bike I picked up off the streets I suspect may be what you're talking about which I'll prolly use in the future once these are done if they're compatible.

I would strongly suggest finding a LBS that can apply their "expertise" to repair what needs to be repaired. You're dealing with your brakes here. They can be kind of important now and then.

Yeah, these guys. But looks like they mount differently, from two points on the fork. Maybe an adapter?
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e01e85271a.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...34c508bcfd.jpg

No. Those are V-brakes. Completely different and incompatible. You cannot mount them on your bike.

You have single pivot sidepull caliper brakes, extremely common. You can upgrade them to dual pivot sidepull calipers, which provide better stopping power (more powerful braking). But again, with good brake pads the ones you have are probably good enough.

No. They won't work. At all.

Most Dual Pivot road bike brakes still use a single center mount. But have a second pivot off to the side, like these:

Techtro Dual Pivots

These will improve your braking dramatically but are probably beyond what is necessary or affordable by you.

If you're going for the absolute most basic repair, loosen the cable pinch bolt, pull the cable out of the adjuster, remove the metal end-cap on the housing and toss it, screw the adjuster down, reinsert the cable through the adjuster and seat the housing inside the adjuster (it's sort of hollow, like a cup), re-insert the cable into the pinch bolt, squeeze the shoes together with one hand, and tighten the pinch bolt with the other hand. If the shoes still aren't close enough to the rims for good braking, unscrew the adjuster. You'll only be able to unscrew it so far.

This is the bare minimum. Note that if you attempt this, your cable may fray, in which case you will definitely need a new cable. They only tend to get worse. And the metal strands are sharp, so be careful. They're better than hypodermic needles. Your fingers will thank me.

I find it difficult to believe you have zero money to spend on your own safety. If that is truly the case, you would do well to look for a bike co-op near you.

I chalk that up to "toxic safety culture" like how women(usually) plead for everyone to keep their cats inside so they don't get hit by cars or catch made up diseases or eaten by coyotes. And I don't believe you're really concerned for my safety. I think Karen's are really more concerned for their own redemption or something rather than frivolous "safety" concerns. And even so I prefer to live a shorter more dangerous life. And I should start a campaign to promote "danger over safety" if we're gonna get serious about what the world really needs. Perverted safety concerns comes from a secret diabolical communistic new world order agenda to keep the masses enslaved in fear. I mean how many people are really dying out there for not properly maintaining their bicycle brakes? Well whatever the statistics are I'm more apt to die of stress over my brakes than their actual failure. How fast you guys really think I'm riding my bike? Let me just state for the record I know I have crappy potentially unsafe equipment, and sure I'd like it better but I'm not that concerned. And I'm actually a pretty safe coward hence my desire to care less in general about my safety. but I really appreciate all your help in understanding how these parts work. And I'm not trying to kill my myself. I'm just not that scared

Ooooh-kay then! I think I'm done with you! I would wish you safe travels, but then...well, you know.

Yup, have to agree with you there.
Just another name added to my IGNORE list.

I remember a customer when the garbage service changed from manual to automated. He refused to use the new container because he wasn't conforming to some bureaucratic new garbage policies. I told him the only way to get service now was to use the new cans. He jumped infront of my truck and said "You're going to dump that can". I backed up, grabbed the can, shook it into the truck and put it back down, twisted like a pretzel. They gave me three days off. Still, there is a right way to do things and I think that's all that's being put out here. You asked...

I guess we really only have ourselves to blame. All he asked was how to tighten the brake cable. That question was answered in Post No.2. The rest of us foolishly offered ideas to actually improve his braking, some costing more than others, which he did not ask about. We were trying to be too helpful--a trap we find ourselves in quite often, especially when we see seemingly neglected bikes that could be easily fixed, sometimes for very little, if anything (How much would it cost to remove the ferrule?).

His question was succinctly answered in post No. 2, and I guess I should have left it at that.

Wow must be nice never having been able to relate to people with no money lol. What are you Buddha before he left his palace?

You have three bikes. Two more than I do. One a fairly expensive bent. I’m guessing you’re also replying on a cell phone, and not a terminal at the library. It doesn’t take the wisdom of Buddha to know you can probably afford a cable and a couple brake shoes. I’ll also guess you don’t want to spend money on this bike because it just isn’t worth it to you. Perfectly acceptable.

But I really don’t care. As I mentioned, your question was answered in post 2. Apparently to you, the rest of the responses are just so much wasted electrons. Now go forth and part the red brake calipers.

+1. DiaCompe did make some excellent sidepull brakes back then but these are not them. (My Fuji Pro had Grand Compes that were much better than the Campy NRs on the bikes I raced against.) Any modern dual pivot will be radically better. Check out your local bike coop's used brakes.

The OP isn't interested in any improvement in braking performance--either radical or marginal. But I agree, dual pivots sort of changed the game in side-pulls.

the "adjuster" is short for "barrel adjuster" which allows one to tighten the cable so that you keep a good distance of brake pad to rim.
its a way of tightening the brakes without having to loosen and re screw down the cable. it is used for normal wear on brake pads and stretching of a cable.