Need some Brake help!!
 

I am starting to get fed up with my old brakes. I can adjust them all day, and there no better no affect! They are extremely unsafe. Even when I put high-performance breakpads on the back! But not high-dollar ones though. So this is where yall come in, would yall' reccomend high dollar breakpads, and which kind [link would be wonderful], or should I go with a brand-new break set-up? Do they even sell the older style breaks anymore? Thanks in advance for your help!

It might be the pads, it might be the rims, it might be how they're adjusted, or it might be any combination of the three. What are you using, and what have you done in the way of adjusting? Are the wheels true? How have you adjusted them?

fwiw - most of your stopping power comes from the front brake.

Are these brakes on the '78 huffy? If so, they are probably not going to get much better...they'd be steel sidepulls, if i recall correctly, with steel rims. Right?

I just tuned up an old Huffy for a friend. It had 26" wheels, I think, but was an old (but pretty) road frame with ashtabula cranks. The brakes on it were awful, but putting on newer brakepads certainly helped. You need to post more info according to luker's questions above.

What type and brand of brakes are they???

There the stock brakes that came with the bike. Steel rim, yea. But I did put newer breakpads on it, the ones on mtb's [there about 2 inches long]. Right now the fronts squeal like a little piggy, [stock pads] , and the back hardly even slows me down! And on commute I add 50lbs more then they really don't stop. The wheels are a little out of true [new orleans, land of many potholes] But I don't know how to true them, or if my LBS even does that? The huffy is a really nice bike don't get me wrong, but it's lacking in the wheel and brake department. the brakes are a old side-pull. So do they make newer high-performance side-pulls? I hope!

You could upgrade your brakes, but before you decide to do that for an old Huffy, you may want to consider getting new wheels with alloy rims. You could probably get some used 27" wheels off of Craigslist or ebay for $50 or less. Alloy rims will help you stop much better.

You should, at the least, get your wheels trued. If they're not true, then this would be a reason why the front's squeeking so much. (Think that would cost you about $20 for both wheels at the LBS, maybe less--my LBS prices are NYC prices.) ANY LBS will do that.

While you're at it, you might want to just get the bike tuned up, too. If this bike is in the shape that I'm beginning to imagine, you may just need to replace the brake cables and/or housings, and have the levers/brakes adjusted. The brake pads can be replaced by something different, but if you have new pads on them already, they should at least work better than the old.

In general, unless something violent has happened to the brakes (e.g. collision), there shouldn't be any irreversible reason why they don't work as they did before, other than a lack of maintenance on the bike. There is nothing inherently ineffective about a sidepull brake.

If you want better, more specific help, find out the actual brake brand (look on the brakes themselves) and also the lever brand. Posting a pic or two wouldn't hurt, either.
Good luck.

There are different side pull levers, but unless you are seeing a lot of flex in the calipers when you apply the brakes, it might not do a lot of good.

Unfortunately, I suspect that most modern brake pads are designed without any concern for good operation on steel rims. I often see recomendations for KoolStop Salmon pads... Those may be good for you.

If you are going to spend money to upgrade, I would sugest upgrading to alloy rims/wheels as you are addressing two issues (braking and weight) with one upgrade. And regardless of the pads, stwell rims are notoriously poor in wet conditions.

Also, since you should be doing most of your braking with the front wheel, you may be able to get along by only replacing the front wheel/rim.

I am assuming you have already checked things like cable condition etc... If your cables are meeting some resistance in the housing it could be robbing you of braking power as well.

To find a different set of brakes, be sure that you get single pivot, as I hear the modern caliper brakes mount differently from the vintage ones.

To be honest, if I were you and were to run into a bike with the right sized alloy wheels in a thrift store, I would upgrade the wheels and also try the brakes.

I have some wheels off another vintage roadbike in my garage. I am pretty sure there alloy. But the back wheel is toast but the front is good. And I have some 90's side-pulls. I might try them. The cables are fine. But the wheels are 26' not 27'. I think it's just because it's so old! well, atleast I am getting a new giant MTB for christmas so I can have something that stops. :D But don't worry, I won't give up on my ol' huffy!

Vintage roadbike with 26"? Are they possibly 700c? Just curious - what's ailing the back? I like making marginal stuff work. If it's salvageable, I'd be willing to offer whatever help I can.

nah. Huffy's came with 26" wheels. I think I had a varsity once with the same wheels.

but...I feel like I'm beginning to channel the spirit of Sydney...a Huffy isn't worth the effort when you can get a complete 80's vintage Japanese road bike at the thrift for $10-$20. Go shopping and let us know what you see...we can help you pick a good, rebuildable bike from your short list...and help you get it on the road...and help you fix it when it breaks.

The problem with Huffys was that they were never really intended to be rebuildable...

Vintage brakes are often a safety hazard. Here's my forumla for getting the most out of them:

1) Replace every steel rim with aluminum.
2) Replace all pads with salmon KoolStops.
3) Replace OEM brake handles with aero-cabled, which generally have 10% more lever advantage.
4) Replace all brake cables and housings with high-quality modern units.
5) You will enjoy slightly better leverage with 27" / 630 rims than with 700C / 622s.