Alexthe

These are my very reliable but probably never adjusted optimally brakes in my 78' Moto, grand jubilee. I am just now replacing the brake pads with new Mathauser's completely flat surface brake pads . I have in the past adjusted these breaks by squeezing them together and playing with the straddle cable? I used whatever I can find in the house and brute force. They work and I never damaged anything. But now I want to do it right. And I would like your advice on the tools ,I will need for a " nice " adjustment of these simple and efficient.. ( can be efficient ) brakes. I will work on upgrading of other components afterwards. My rear brake is smooth fair, stopping performance (with the wrong brake pads ) but the front brake is lumpy so perhaps the cable needs to be replaced. My levers...AH I will throw them out later, that's for another post, but for now this is my objective . oh and my wheels particularly the front need to be trued what tool do I need for that, Please in my old French bike .

Thank you
Alex

WizardOfBoz

If the cable is bad and the cable lube has turned to greasy abrasive paste, best to replace the cables. Kind of ridiculous to tune brakes with almost-worn-out pads, too. And installing and tuning brakes is a lot easier if the wheels are true and properly dished.

Calvin Jones of Park Tools does a nice job, here:

JohnDThompson 

A "third hand" brake tool will hold the pads against the rim while you secure the cable:



I'm not especially fond of that spring-type tool, but the shop quality locking tools can be pretty expensive.

Andrew R Stewart 

I'll add that the 999 calipers were really designed around rims with an outside width of 25mm or so. So when used with narrower rims the caliper arm swing and the resulting straddle cable angle WRT the pad get past the best leverage point. Add to that the flexible front cable hangers that were common back then and there can be a lot of mush and less "power" then the dual pivot might suggest.

SM pads will help. Placing an additional washer between the pad and the arm to better deal with the narrower rims will help. Of course using lined casing and redrawn inner cables will help. Stiffer hangers if possible will help.Back in the day straddle cables of various lengths were available but this option is pretty much long gone. Andy

Alexthe

O.K. I'm sure your rite , I' have new pads on the way . next to true the wheel while I replace my tires but how do I do this? I could post a new question on this topic thanks for the video

branko_76 

Alexthe , as suggested, new cables, pads, proper tools and true wheels will go a long way. But if you want to make your brakes work like new, you'll need to take them completely apart, thoroughly clean them, apply Phil Waterproof Grease to the pivots and reassemble. Also, pay close attention to the cable housing ends, make sure they are ground flat and have no burrs that the cable could rub against. If the cable ends are not flat and smooth, they will grind into the knurled adjusters when turning them, most of which are soft aluminum.

branko_76 

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