brian669

i have tektro r520 brakes on my slice and the rear basically won't hold tension. i did all the standard adjustments to it to no avail. what's happening is when i grab the lever it will grip, then slowly depress all the way to the bar, at that the point the rear brake really does nothing. like i said, i have made every adjustment i can think of short of pulling the whole cable out of the frame. any idea's? i've been told tektro brake pads suck but i'm not having any issues with the front.

jimc101

What happens when there is no cable attatched? is the movement of the caliper smooth & quick or slow as you are currently describing?

From your description, it sounds more like an issue with the cable routing, which is causing the hang-up with the caliper, this can be verified by squeezing the caliper and seeing what the action is with the cable removed.

For the performance of the Tektro brakes, from experiance, their pads not great, but they still will stop, you can always change the pads to another brand for better performance.

gyozadude

Check the rear cable routing and how it threads through the housing. Is the housing correctly positioned against stops? Are there end caps on the housing? Are the stops holding against the tension?

I have used many types of tektro brakes, even cheap r420s, and the brake pad compounds are fine and stop well (got them for $19/pr plus S/H). So I doubt if it's brake pad. Again, check housing stops, and this includes inside the brake lever. The cable end must be seated correctly and the cable routing through the correct housing path. Sometimes, if you've got drop bars or brifters, the brake cable routing underneath the drop bar wraps isn't seated properly against the lever stop. Check it first and then question the brake pads or calipers or something else.