Hi, i recently purchased a Hoffman Rhythm EL-2. Well i ended up waiting for 2 month and i finaly have it and its a great ride i love it tons but... Since this is my first BMX im not sure on how the brakes should be set up. At the moment they are fairly weak especily the front ones. Are they supposed to be like this or should i fix it up a bit? and if so how do i do this? i find it hard to do some flatland tricks becouse i have to use my foot to do a endo but that foot should be on the pegs or in the air. thanks for your help.

Take it to a local bike shop
or try using sandpaper on your rims and break shoes...like 220 grit, to get the glaze off them.

you could do that, or u could loosen the bolt on the left hand side (looking at it from the front) and pull the cable through a bit more until the pads are very nearly touching the rim

i think i like plan B better, i understand the first comment but i dont really want to do that to my new bike thanks.

Actually, all you have to do is tighten (on the cable, not the lever) the barrel adjuster to bring the pads closer to the rim.

thats what i said basically

No, you said "loosen the bolt on the left hand side and pull the cable through a bit more" which is completely different from what I said. All you have to do is loosen one bolt and then lock down a screw for what I said; far easier, and far more convenient.

well ok then

You're both wrong. He should get a new bike with better brakes.

And buy a keyboard with a shift button.

There's nothing wrong with that Hoffman; it might not be the highest end bike, but it's functional. Half of his braking problem for the front brake (although, according to the Hoffman site, it doesn't come with a front brake) is probably that, unlike the rear rim, the front rim is not chrome-plated. Combine that with what's probably a Tektro u-brake, and there's the whole problem.

I left the sarcasm tags off, sorry. And since he's an Aussie, by law, his bike has to be sold with front and rear brakes. It should have come with reflectors and a chainguard too. The brake is most likely a Tektro, as you mentioned. All 20" bikes have to have that "Safety" gear, as they're considered children's bikes. Go figure.

Don't let DirtyBMXer see that.

clean the pads with window cleaner and the rims as well. lube the cables up real nice too.

it's hard to tell what is the problem with your brakes over the internet.....

Yea its Tektro and it has to be imported with front brakes or customs dosnt let it in or something. I moved the cable so that the brake pads are closer to the rim and I also did beermans suggestion. But it dosnt help much. No way am i getting a new bike its like 3 days old!!!!! The only problem i have with it is the brakes. What do u really think i just need to upgrade them? What brand should i try to get? I'll try and find out what the back brake was origanly because i'm sure that the bike shop swaped it around to match (there a bit crazy like that). Oh yea i do really need a new keyboard . thanks
PS. Barspins are fun

Wow ok i was wrong;
Hoffman Rhythm EL2

Details

Manufacturer Hoffman
Model Rhythm EL2
Colour Black, Bee Yellow, EDE Gray
Frame Rhythm 20TT (TT - DT cromo)
Fork 2pc steerer (full cromo 4130)14mm axle slots, No brake pivot
Pressure Bolt Star Washer
Headset TH Industries TH888 Cane Creek
Handlebar HB 2pc Steel 2.0t
Stem Block Stem (with black bolts)
Front Hub 36h Low Flange Alloy 14mm cromo axle (loose ball)
Rear Hub Cassette 36h Alloy 14mm cromo axel. Sealed bearing c/w 13T
Spokes 14 G steel nipples and spokes black
Front Wheel 36h Jalco JL-ST32 single wall - low profile
Rear Wheel Jalco JL-ST32 single wall 36h
Front Tyres (Tires) Duro Dirt/Street Tire 65psi
Rear Tyres (Tires) Skid Mark 20x1.95 65psi
Front Brake n/a
Rear Brake Tektro 907A U-Brake
Brake Levers Tektro 289A Lever (Rear Only)
Freewheel 13 tooth cog
Pedals Wellgo lu-313 Alloy
Chainwheel HB 36t 3mm Steel Print Logo (1 color print))
Crank 3pc Tubular 175mm (cro-mo)
B/Bracket Loose bearing
Chain KMC #410
Saddle New HB Print ,8mm Steel rails, with guard, with clamp
Seatpost 25.4 mm steel
Seat Post Clamp HB Post Clamp w/laser logo
Rear Axle Peg Smooth Style 14mm axle hole
Front Axle Peg None
Detangler OEM Detanglar
Grips HB Mushroom
Bar Plug Velo Plastic
Chain Tensioners N/A
Year 2006

Clean your rims with something like Simple Green. Remove your pads and sand the surfaces, either with sandpaper/file or simply scuff them on concrete (works awesome). Reinstall the pads, ideally with a smidge of toe-in (for front brake pads, the edge of the pad farther away from the fork should be a little bit closer to the rim than the back edges). Check that your cable isn't binding anywhere and pulls freely. Adjust the cable such that you can get the lever in enough that your hand is making good power, but not so far that you can make the lever touch the grip. That should get your brakes dialed.

-Paul

Also try some aftermarket cables. They make a world of difference for not much $$$.

Ok, here is where my worldly knowledge comes in handy. The manufacturer did not spec a front brake, it was only put on there to meet Australian regs. So what's on there (which is what also came on my Backtrail X3) is a truly hopeless brake. You can try all the tricks in the book to get it to work better, but you'll really need to consider an upgrade at some point.

I had Tektro's and got them to work just fine.

do what Ettsn said and maybe purchase an Odyssey Slic Cable. they are dirt cheap and are teflon lined. lube it well with something like Tri Flow.

you can tighten the cable, near the lever (easier, just loosen the big part that goes into the lever and tighten the screw to make a longer space), or near the brake (as said before) i have tektros, and they work perfectly.

Well just got back from a ride with a mate and he owns the top GT BMX. To my suprise he has Tektro's too, His brakes are real good. The difference I noticed was that with the front brake; Its got a different mount were mine just has 1 single bolt in the middle holding it to the frame and he's has one either side on the bottom of the brake. Maby that give it better leverage?

yeh, like they all sed, its not supposed to have a brake on the front, id remove it if i were you

Wrong person. I said buy cables.

I think he was combining our advice into "do the stuff ettsn said and buy Slics".