Hi, I was wondering if someone could help me. I'm trying to remove the rear wheel of my bicycle but it doesn't have the release system like my front wheel where you squeeze the brakes together and slip the cable out. Instead, it looks like this:


How do I release the brakes so I can remove the rear wheel? Do I unscrew the bolt holding the cable and release tension in the cable so I can pull the brakes away from the wheel? Or is there an easier way?

Let all the air out of the tire, pinch it together and slip it out between the brakes.

That doesn't release from the bottom? You could unscrew the bolt as you said. Or you could snip the cable with some cable cutters that would be REALLY easy (at least to remove the wheel not so much to put it back on and have a working brake).

The rubber boot will slide over. Then squeeze the brake levers together and you should be able to get the cable to lift up and release. If that doesn't work do what KBentley57 suggested.

If you have the basic skills needed, Pull the boot out of the way, and use a hacksaw and/or Dremel to put a 2mm cable slot into the link so it works like all the others.

My guess based on the pivot point for the retainer on the left is that it is a strange brake that has the slot under the cable instead of over the cable... but I don't see one there in the pic. Have you looked there to see if it is unusually situated?

If it is not there, I would replace the brakes with something more traditional, but you could cut the cable for the first time, and cut a slot for future use.

A slot under the clip wouldn't serve much purpose since the cable and noodle would still be trapped. To serve the purpose the slot would have to be at the top.

Replacing the brake is always an option, but I'd just go ahead and cut a slot and solve the problem for now.

The noodle would be trapped... but the other odd thing I notice in the picture is that the noodle is outside the retainer, and would be trapped even with a slot on top if it wasn't removed and positioned. differently, that's part of what made me think the slot might be below... and since I have never seen a retainer without a slot, I am just grasping at straws.

You definitely have something unique.

The more I look at that picture, the more it looks like the retainer is upside down, since the arc on the bottom would probably match the arc of the noodle if it were positioned differently. I would think that someone somehow installed the retainer upside down if it didn't look riveted.

I suspect this is a low end brake, and possibly there's no slot because the material lacks the strength or stiffness.

OTOH - you are right that the noodle seems to be routed through the gap on the side of the clip which would trap it no matter what the OP did. I suspect that's an assembly error, which could be solved by freeing the wire from the pinch bolt and rerouting.

If the OP doesn't want to modify the clip, he can keep a hex hey handy and free the wire from the pinch bolt each time to remove the wheel. He can make reattaching go a bit faster by coloring the wire on either side of the bolt, so he can quickly tighten it in the same place. Not Ideal, but depending on the circumstances, and the OPs wrench skills might be easier/faster than deflating the tire.

It looks that way but if it did have a slot in the bottom, it the noodle and cable housing could be pushed into the clip to give it some slack and act as quick release, maybe?.

Rather than re-engineering the caliper just do as suggested and deflate the tire. There is no need to perform surgery. If you have a flat on the road don't air the tire back up till you put the wheel back on. Problem solved.

Thank you all for your responses! I finally figured it out after reading your input, it releases from the side! I was looking for a slot on the top or bottom and didn't think to look at the side, but there's a slot right there. Has anyone seen this before? I haven't.

It looks like I won't have to deflate the tire or dremel the brake after all.