sailorbenjamin 

You know that barrel shaped piece that fits around the stud and holds the return spring? It's about a half an inch tall and maybe 3/4" around? They dry out in the sun and brake and the the whole bike is useless. The LBS only sells complete brake sets.
Do they even have a name?

unworthy1

I think they are called "free".
At least if they are the pieces I think they are, I may have some I'd give you for postage, but maybe you can show a pic of what you want, just to be certain.

PHT

If they are the grey Shimano ones, just replace the whole brakeset. They always break eventually.

WNG

I think those spring retainers were popular on Altus cantis. And there was a defect as they always cracked.
Supposedly there is a revised part to replace these and are available at LBSs that might stock them.
I need 4 myself.

sailorbenjamin 

If I loved the bike, I'd do it up with a new set but it's a bike I got out of the dump and fixed up for my daughter 5 years ago. When she outgrew it I fixed it up again for the neighbor kid. Now he's moved on to a bigger bike. Seems a shame to throw it out cause I don't want to spend $25 on it, but it also seems silly to restore a crappy xmart bike for a third time. Stupid thing is sort of a fixture around the neighborhood now.
Here's the picture of the part. Seems like a real weak point in the system. There's another neighbor kid with the same problem on her bike. Her parents can afford the $25 but it just seams dumb. I'd sure like to just buy a bag of them.
Thanks for the offer, unworthy, I'll PM you.

unworthy1

ah! not exactly what I thought (I was imagining something from earlier Shimano canti brakes). But, I'll look over my pile of V-brakes and if I have some of these, you can have them.

kroozer 

I just bought a set of 4 at my LBS yesterday, I got the plastic pieces along with springs for about a buck and a half. I should probably go back and get some more while they still have them...

bobotech

I would go to your local bike coop and see if they happen to have a box of random parts like those. I know that we sure do. And those kind of parts are super cheap if not given away.

unworthy1

looked for some, but did not find.

BeSelfPropelled

Get to know the mechanics at the shop. I'm generally pleasantly surprised with what they have in the parts drawers in the back. They're not normally priced since they're for repairs and often times they will just give them to you or charge you a couple bucks. Bring the part your looking for with you. There was a part for a shock that I had almost given up hope of finding. I couldn't find it anywhere online and called 6 different shops without any luck. I was on a business trip and walked by a bike shop and decided to see if they had it. The mechanic opened a large drawer of neatly organized parts in the shop and there it was. He told me he needed one for a repair and ended up ordering 10. He charged me $1 for it. I would have gladly paid $20.

Johnny P
Be Self Propelled

sailorbenjamin 

Yeah, I have a pretty good LBS, the guy knows me and has dug out some small parts for me. He doesn't have any of these, though. Seems like a pretty common consumable to me. I'll try the LBS in the next town over.
Thanks for the input guys. I'll let you know if I find something.

oddjob2

To the best of my knowledge, I was told those plastic spring retainers are unobtanium. Since new Alivios are cheap at under $10.00 and include pads...........

Glennfordx4 

Ben I will look and see what I have, I have a bunch of bikes waiting to go to the scrap yard plus a bunch of cheaper V-brakes in a bin already. I thought is was going to be the Shimano Altus Cant' housing also, they were covered under warranty for a time but the parts aren't avail any longer but they did supply dealers with boxes of them for free when the were.

Glenn