Hi folks, I have a lil problem over here with my rear brake caliper. It’s a new shimano 105 dual pivot brake caliper. I have it perfectly centered but once you push the lever the caliper is not returning, at least one of the sides seems to open but the other is sticking… Don’t know what to do next… thanks
So I got a new cable today and went to work. The housings are the right lenght, I drip some lube in there just in case, housings don’t appear to be bent, cable went smooth in and out, still when I attach the cable and operate the lever it still doesn’t come back the whole way, there seems to be some slack on the cable. Once I pull up a little on lever then the caliper opens completly…This is annoying, I feel like a complete stupid struggling on something very easy… Any help is well welcome!!!
FYI. I have vision base bar, dia competition brake levers and shimano 105 brakes.
Good chance it’s not the caliper at all. If your cable run isn’t smooth and/or you’ve got too much housing, the excess friction could be the culprit. Especially if your levers don’t have return springs.
Check that the cable is sliding freely. If not, drip some lube down the cable and into the housings.
Check that your housings are neither too long nor too short, both of which can cause binding. Also check that there are no kinks/sharp angles.
10/1 that solves the problem.
You’ll need to undo the cable to check the above (maybe) if the brakes works properly w/o the cable attached…it’s the cable. Actually this should be your first step.
Check that the cable is sliding freely. If not, drip some lube down the cable and into the housings.
Check that your housings are neither too long nor too short, both of which can cause binding. Also check that there are no kinks/sharp angles.
10/1 that solves the problem.
You’ll need to undo the cable to check the above (maybe) if the brakes works properly w/o the cable attached…it’s the cable. Actually this should be your first step.
I’m not sure that I’d use lube. A lot of cable housings are coated, and adding lube will actually cause them to bind as the fluid gets in the way.
Silicone spray works beautifully for this - once the carrier dissipates theres virtually no sticky goo left in the housing to trap dirt, etc. Also, silicone is what the cables are pre-lubed with at the factory.
Definitely sounds like a cable issue - I’ve had similar behaviour multiple times on my bikes and replacing the rear brake cable has always taken care of it. While you’re checking everything out, it never hurts to partially break down the offending caliper and lube all of the actuation points on it as well.
I think the issue is inside my vision base bar, I just removed the cable housing and the wire is bent at mid point into the housing. Now I can replace the cable but the question is…HOW OFTEN WILL I HAVE TO DEAL WITH A BENT CABLE???
if the cable wasn’t bent by the housing, then it had to have been bent prior to being fed into the housing. In either case, it shouldn’t be a recurring problem. Just take care when routing the housing through the base bar (i.e. don’t force it) and lesson #2 would be never try to use a kinked/bent cable. You can always feed a kinked cable into the sheath, but you’ll almost always end up with problems similar to what you described as a result. This applies universally - bikes, throttle cables on cars, motorcycles, etc.
slide cable backwards/forwards through the ENTIRE housing/cable/lever system by actuating the rear brake with a bit of backwards force on the cable near the caliper with your other hand. If it doesn’t slide like butter, replace entire housing/cable/lever.
If it does slide like butter, it’s your brake caliper. When you activate (close) the caliper with your hands, does it open by itself (again, when cable is not attached)? strongly? If not, get a new caliper or rebuild the one you have. Even if it’s ‘new’, doesn’t mean it works as it should.
If you unhook the cable from the brake caliper, can you easily slide the brake cable in and out of the housing? You shouldn’t feel hardly any friction as the wire passes through the housing.