Caliper disk brakes
#2
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well, from what little i can see in those pics.. the cable is not adjusted correctly, the caliper is also Not adjusted correctly, the caliper pivot cups/cones are not installed correctly, and the bike, in general, needs better care.
there's a strong possibility that the disc is contaminated with something too, but there is no pic of the disc, so who knows what it looks like, other than you, eh?
prepare to get comments about your JAK brakes, since most people trash talk low end bikes and their inexpensive components.
what type of pads did you install? Organic/Resin, Semi-Metallic, or Metallic?
what brand/type of disc is involved?
is there a bike Co-Op near you? go see them, and ask for help.
the pivot cups/cones should be installed so that the dark parts touch the caliper mount ears, and the light colored parts touch the frame mount/bracket and allen screw head/washer... the allen head end is correct, the frame mount end is reversed..
that will make aligning the calipers easier, but won't dramatically effect braking...
youtube has dozens of videos on the correct way to adjust disc brakes on bikes, but you may still want to hit up any local co-op for help.
we work cheap, and do this sort of thing for a living.
there's a strong possibility that the disc is contaminated with something too, but there is no pic of the disc, so who knows what it looks like, other than you, eh?
prepare to get comments about your JAK brakes, since most people trash talk low end bikes and their inexpensive components.
what type of pads did you install? Organic/Resin, Semi-Metallic, or Metallic?
what brand/type of disc is involved?
is there a bike Co-Op near you? go see them, and ask for help.
the pivot cups/cones should be installed so that the dark parts touch the caliper mount ears, and the light colored parts touch the frame mount/bracket and allen screw head/washer... the allen head end is correct, the frame mount end is reversed..
that will make aligning the calipers easier, but won't dramatically effect braking...
youtube has dozens of videos on the correct way to adjust disc brakes on bikes, but you may still want to hit up any local co-op for help.
we work cheap, and do this sort of thing for a living.
Last edited by maddog34; 02-12-26 at 06:00 PM.
#3
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I know it's not a high-end bike like Trek, but for me, if it gets pinched, I'm not out of pocket too much. As for the pads, they are resin. The rotor is in good condition, cleaned using isopropyl 99%. I've added more pics. For the bike shop, there isn't any near me; smh. I've got all the tools I need; just need some help.



Look ok to me what do you think.




Look ok to me what do you think.
#4
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I found a real clear video showing changing those pads. His had rusty bolts too. LOL It has only one moving pad. Usually a lame design.
But this guy showed the front brake lifting the rear of the bike.
Expecting much from cheap parts on any CHEAP bike is laughable.
But this guy showed the front brake lifting the rear of the bike.
Expecting much from cheap parts on any CHEAP bike is laughable.
#6
* the bolts that go through the caliper, not the ones that go through the fork.
#7
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#8
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Here’s instructions for adjusting BB7 from Avid. Not the same brake but close enough to use the instructions. You like the ability to adjust the pads on the arm compared to the BB7. The key is that you don’t what much lever movement from unengaged to locked. Mechanical brakes work best if the lever has a very short throw.
#10
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No. Your anchor point on the cable is too high up as has been pointed out but that is because your pads aren’t adjusted properly nor is your caliper properly centered.
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Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#11
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From: NW Oregon
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that screw attaches the cable arm to the moving pad's cam system... leave it as it is... the "Adjustment" is on the back side of the caliper, and moves the "non-moving" pad inwards toward the disc. SOME of those adjusters are held by a small allen set screw, and attempting to turn the adjuster, without temporarily loosening that set screw, will ruin the adjuster...
did you properly install the caliper alignment cups/cones yet?
did you properly install the caliper alignment cups/cones yet?
#12
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What are you going on about? First those aren’t “cup/cones”. They are spherical washers. I also don’t see anything wrong with the way they are installed.
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Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#13
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It shouldn’t make that much difference.
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Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#16
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common name is Cups/Cones...
and the way the two closest to the frame are installed defeats their purpose, making them merely spacers.
that means it makes a difference.
i'm "going on" about helping someone get their brakes sorted out.
smh.
and the way the two closest to the frame are installed defeats their purpose, making them merely spacers.
that means it makes a difference.
i'm "going on" about helping someone get their brakes sorted out.
smh.
Last edited by maddog34; 02-15-26 at 10:12 PM.
#17
I know it's not a high-end bike like Trek, but for me, if it gets pinched, I'm not out of pocket too much. As for the pads, they are resin. The rotor is in good condition, cleaned using isopropyl 99%. I've added more pics. For the bike shop, there isn't any near me; smh. I've got all the tools I need; just need some help.



Look ok to me what do you think.





Look ok to me what do you think.

The spherical washers look fine.
#18
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O.p. needs to take the bike to a co-op, LBS, or bike mechanic friend. If they had the ... whatever it is, to make those brakes work, they would be working. Videos help people who have the innate ability to make sense of mechanical things. They usually have been able to get into the ballpark without help, but a video can crystalize some of the minutiae. The quality of the pictures taken, the vagueness of the o.p. line of questioning makes it clear that they would not understand written instructions which is all anyone here can provide.
I personally have found that rear discs, especially on tandems, need pre-load to make them work well, or at all. In the o.p. picture, the anchor bolt is fully sunk to the 'rest' position, which is not in itself evidence of no preload but I'm not betting that they know it's necessary. On the picture of the front caliper, the anchor bolt is barely off of the fully actuated position. That wheel should barely turn. Throw in the shop towel and get local hands on help, o.p. That is the way.
I personally have found that rear discs, especially on tandems, need pre-load to make them work well, or at all. In the o.p. picture, the anchor bolt is fully sunk to the 'rest' position, which is not in itself evidence of no preload but I'm not betting that they know it's necessary. On the picture of the front caliper, the anchor bolt is barely off of the fully actuated position. That wheel should barely turn. Throw in the shop towel and get local hands on help, o.p. That is the way.
#19
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Nope. They are not a “cone”. A cup and cone system in a bicycle context is meant to allow bearings to roll around an axle in only one orientation. The spherical washers on the brakes is meant to allow for movement in different orientations. They allow for rim brakes to be toed to the rim, for example, or in this case allow for the caliper to the tipped if needed in different directions.
For the most part, they are just spacers. Spherical washers aren’t needed on disc brakes and many brands don’t use them anymore. But even in the configuration that azzzaoo6’s brakes are set up, the spherical part of either washer can rotate in any direction the same amount independent of the orientation.
No. It doesn’t. You could replace them with spacers and the brake would set up much the same way that it does now.
Not by bringing up red herrings.
and the way the two closest to the frame are installed defeats their purpose, making them merely spacers.
that means it makes a difference.
i'm "going on" about helping someone get their brakes sorted out.
smh.
smh.
__________________
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Last edited by cyccommute; 02-17-26 at 09:13 AM.
#21
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I know it's not a high-end bike like Trek, but for me, if it gets pinched, I'm not out of pocket too much. As for the pads, they are resin. The rotor is in good condition, cleaned using isopropyl 99%. I've added more pics. For the bike shop, there isn't any near me; smh. I've got all the tools I need; just need some help.



Look ok to me what do you think.





Look ok to me what do you think.

and i'd put a tiny drip of Penetrating oil on that screw before trying to loosen it

the pivot cups/cones are now properly assembled on the REAR brake.. the front caliper mounts are next, right?
the rear brake cable is now in the "normal" range...
adjust the front brake's cable to look like the rear brake, adjust the inner pads, re-tighten the set screw, align the calipers as shown on the 'tubes, and go enjoy your bike
Last edited by maddog34; 02-16-26 at 01:08 PM.
#22
Pic #2 shows the inner pad Adjuster's SET SCREW i mentioned earlier... that tiny, nearly hidden set screw WILL need to be loosened before adjusting the inner side pad. and the adjuster appears to be backed out to the point of the inner pad not contacting the disc, possibly......
and i'd put a tiny drip of Penetrating oil on that screw before trying to loosen it
and i'd put a tiny drip of Penetrating oil on that screw before trying to loosen it

#24
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To many of the same pictures in this thread and not enough words. I can't even find the few replies that I was hoping to see the response to. <grin>
#25
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