mbnz230

i just received my downtube 9fs yesterday, thanks yan for the fast shipping. i havn't had a chance to ride it yet. it had been raining like crazy the past couple of days. i notice the front brakes required alot less effort to stop. i can see the plastic thingy on the rear brakes are too close together. is that normal? is there a way to make it so it is like the front???

iamstuffed

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=21

From the link:

If barrel adjuster is all the way engaged at lever and brake lever still too tight, loosen inner-wire pinch bolt and allow slack to feed through pinch plate. Tighten pinch bolt and test again, doing final adjusting at brake lever barrel adjuster.

LittlePixel

From the picture it looks like the rear brake is in the 'on position' which seems at odds with what you are saying. If the rear brake required a lot more effort on the handle I'd expect the cable to be a little loose and v-brake calipers and boot (that's the little rubber thing) would not be tensioned as pictured. Were you gripping the rear brake handle when you took the picture? It should be noted that rear brakes are usually a little less immediate and feel a little more spongey than the front due to the inherent increase percentage of stretch in the cable, which is longer than the one at the front.

mbnz230

iamstuffed, thanks very good info.

LittlePixel, the rear brakes aren't on. when i unfold the bike its like that too. when i press the rear brakes the plastic thingy gets squeezed even tighter thus require more effort. i will try what i can do to fix that. i hope its not too complicated. or i can just cut half of the plastic thingy off, maybe that will help.

iamstuffed

The rubber boot? Just loosen the pinch bolt, slacken the cable a little, tighten it, and adjust the brakes with the barrel at the lever. It's not hard, and even if you loosen it too much, there might be enough adjustment at the barrel to correct it. Just keep shortening or lengthening the cable at the pinch bolt and adjust, and iterate as many times as needed.

snafu21

Brakes are for wusses.












Real cyclists use trees..

mulleady

Trees are for heroines

vik 

Have a look at the picture above. If the thicker & thinner outside spacers were swapped the brakes would look like your picture with the brake arms too close together. Check out your rear brakes and compare them to the front ones. Are there any spacers you can move around to get your brake arms in the correct position?

snafu21

[helpful mode on]

My Downchoob was set up ok, but I did fiddle with the brake pad position and return tension to get them tuned-up and centered. It pays to carefully check all the brake components front and rear. The front brake will feel sharper as it's 'more efficient'.

The guru guide is here

odang11

yeah, my new dt 9fs came like that as well! I took it to the shop the first time for the recommended maintenance check, but I guess they didnt do anything with it..

soooo, i've been riding around with it pretty loose. as in the front brakes really well, but the back one does require a real hard pull and some extra time to get it to stop... soo i'll have to read those guides.. any luck to the OP on getting this fixed?

Ps.. just got new handlebars and brake levers today so hopefully get it all set up and post some pics!!

mbnz230

thanks for all the feedbacks, i have just loosen the the rear brake cable, so its about the same distance as the front where the boot is. but now the rear brake handle runs out of room and touches the grip handle. the front brake pads are much closer to the rim than the rear. there is about 1/4" gap between the rear pads and the rim. i think the fix would be to move the rear pads closer to the rim, but unsure how thats done??

vik 

Have a look at my post above. I suspect the spacers on your rear brake pads are setup incorrectly. If I were you I'd just take the bike to a local bike shop and pay them the $10 to sort out the problem for you.

mbnz230

yes, the rear spacers are exactly the same as the front.

iamstuffed

Can you take a picture of the brake pads near the rim? From the picture, I thought your rear brakes were too close to the rims, and that was your problem.

If they are too far away from the rims:

1. Use the barrel adjuster on the brake levers to pull the brakes closer to the rims.
2. If you adjust the barrel all the way and the brakes are still too far, retighten the barrel adjuster, loosen the pinch bolt at the brakes, pull some cable (the opposite of what I originally said) and retighten the pinch bolt.

Just repeat the steps until the brakes are satisfactory. It's not hard, so you shouldn't be afraid of messing around with them.

carmat3

mine came like that too. Look at the following picture and watch out for it, it broke on my with in the first week. Is part of the front brake assembly not sure what its called.

IMG_1350_resize.jpg

SesameCrunch

The highly technical term is: brake noodle....



I'm not kidding....

mbnz230

thanks everyone for the feedbacks,
i just cut a tiny bit of the plastic boot off and let it be. the brakes works well, but i just wish its like the front or maybe i am just being too picky . i am still looking for a couple more things for my bike and i will be all set.
1. bottle cage, on order.
2. wireless computer, probably will go with planet bike.
3. head and tail light, on order.
4. kickstand, this will be tricky cause theres no attachment for it on the bike.

Enough talking anyways i was riding it for the past couple of day, i am liking it more and more . Here are couple pictures, enjoy!!



just to be safe, when i put it sideways in the trunk, i had to put a carpet in the middle so it wont damage the paint.

jur

You seem to have very short legs. Can you reach the car's pedals?

mbnz230

i am short but not that short lol, i have moved the saddle a bit higher after taken those pictures. i did ride a couple miles in the seat height and its pretty tough comparing to a higher seat position. a more comfortable seat might be also in my list of mods.

Tovar

I was thinking the same about taking care of the paint, but is useless, the paint is CHEAP, is like a soft sprayed paint, almost anything will scratch it my first folder was a no speed, coaster brake, I think 1970 or something, and the paint was like new, the second one was a dahon like Compact folder, similar to the Boardwalk, again here tires where finished, but paint was like new.

What I care is the rear derailleur, so I put the derailleur always UP on the trunk.

Regards