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Brake cable tension, I had it backwards for two years until a kid at a trailhead fixed me
I always thought tighter cables meant better braking, so I'd crank the barrel adjuster until the lever felt solid. Then last month at a parking lot by the Blue Ridge Parkway, a teenager on a beat-up mountain bike watched me struggle and said 'your pads are dragging, man, back it off'. I laughed it off but tried his way, loosened the tension so the wheel spun free, and suddenly the brakes grabbed harder with less lever pull. Took me two years and a dozen noisy rides to figure out I was fighting the system, not tuning it. Is that a common beginner trap, or do other folks learn the opposite way, like starting too loose and needing more bite? Which side do you land on: firm lever or free spin, and how did you figure out your own balance?
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grayh6019d ago
My buddy ran his pads down to metal doing the same thing, took a shop guy to set him straight.
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