Schwinn_Guy

When I was riding today, I noticed every time I went over a small bump the brake lever would rattle like it was loose. After pulling the cable tighter and fiddling with the adjustment screw it still rattled when lightly tapped. Also, is mushy feeling when applying the brake related to the tightness of the cable, or is it a lubrication issue?

What can I do get rid of this annoying problem???

reptilezs

dirty cables, not enough brake spring tension, lever pivot is loose. mushy brake? are the pads hitting the rim squarely? housing ends finished properly?

cny-bikeman

My feeling is that the rattling may be a "gotta see it" problem, but it is possible friction is preventing the caliper from pulling the brake lever back up tight against the lever body. In that case you have to work your way from brake to lever to see where the binding is. Start with the brake caliper and no cable attached, see if it springs out healthily. Then hold onto the cable and work the lever to see if the cable moves easily back and forth. Finally pull the housing back to expose the cable near the lever and hold onto it, seeing if the lever opens and closes easily.

Mushiness that was not there before would most likely have three possible causes: Poor/partial contact between brake pads and rim, too much or too little cable housing after brake work was done, or poor quality replacement pads.