V clamp brake vs Disc

[professor]

On my pedaller, I have a disc on the front and V in back.
The disc seems wimpy.
The dual v brakes on another bike (a higher end one stops super.
I wouldn't ever use the old caliper brakes.

 

[Fly1]

Well my bike is new. But it does not stop as good as I would like. If it was just a peddle bike
I would say ok. But with the engine, faster speed extra weight it needs a little more stopping. I may not have
it adjusted just right ether. Maybe that's it, you guys know much more about such things than me.

Fly

 

[Fly1]

Well I bought some Kool- stop brake shoes & pads .I see they are longer then the OEM pads. So more
pad area. I took it down the street just now, but not far. I can tell some difference but not a lot.
We will see once they seat in. But I do think they will make a difference after some riding.

Man I,m learning some much about bicycles. I really did not know how much there is to learn.

Having fun though. Fly

 

[boyntonstu]

I don't have any before and after data, but my front disk/rear side pull. one hand brake lever combo seems to get me stopped fairly quickly.

Like others, I've assumed disk to be better without any data

More pad area, less force.

 

[Fly1]

Well yes, I thought about that also.But the Kool- stop pads are softer also.
They have great reviews.I do know this,as most here know.My new bike stopped much
better the more I road it.

When I first got it I thought no way this is going to cut it.But as the pads started to
seat in they stopped about 25% better.These pad out of the packet already stop
a tad better.Let me ride it & get them broke in some & I will give you a honest opinion.

Fly

 

[HeadSmess]

I may not have
it adjusted just right ether.

Fly

my money is on this lil factor.

they can be fiddly to setup...

how to explain to do them?...

insert new pads, only finger tighten nuts.

pop rubber band around arms to hold em shut to the rim.

square them up to the rim, ensuring that as they wear, they wont start chewing sidewalls.

also make sure that (due to slop) when you apply the brakes and they try rotating under load, that the shoe still wont hit the sidewall.

they also need to be completely on the rims, no overhangs!

then!

that rotation from applying the brakes works two ways.

youll find that the fronts of the shoes tend to come apart as the arm rotates slightly( under braking load). or, vice versa, the rears of the pads get closer together.

so we give the pads a touch of pre rotation, or "toe-in", so the front of the pads touch first. then, under load, they rotate slightly and the ENTIRE pad comes into contact with the rim.

something about 1-2mm thick at the rear of the pad, as you finally tighten them up, usually gives just enough toe-in.

sounds complex, takes all of two minutes

then you can fiddle with the cable, the balancing screws, and yay! stop like a dead elephant


there is virtually NO bed in. they either work perfectly out of the box or somethings wrong...

 

[Paul E.]

great freekin tips on adjusting brake pads! exited to do this tomorrow!

 

[HeadSmess]

indeed. just have to think symmetry and action/reaction that goes on. replacing the brakes on your car is much easier than bike brakes. and most people leave that to mechanics... what? undo a bolt, swing up caliper, replace pads, push in piston...replace caliper, bolt, done?...pffft.


what annoys me is that early on, cantilevers and v-brakes had shoes with no threads, just a rod. they were so easy to setup! (you would know if you had them and had tried) now they all seem to use the threaded ones with the spherical washers. the problem being that as you tighten up the nuts, the pads try twisting, upsetting oh so carefully made adjustments so you gotta compensate and on some bikes, its a pain in the...donkey.

in my mind, a bit of a backwards step to those horrible pads they typically use on caliper/side pull brakes! (same deal...tweak those for toe in and otherwise square rim contact and they start to work...sort of )

anyways. they should always feel solid from the word go...depending on pad compound. any "squishiness" is bad setup or overly long outer casing runs...

 

[Fly1]

HeadSmess what a great tip.It is funny, I had looked on you-Tube on setting up these
brakes & so on. Those guys did a good job telling how to do it.When I first started
reading your reply I thought ya same advice till you started, explaining the tow in thing.

They never touched on that. Great response, this should be made a sticky on this form.

Fly

 

[Fly1]

Well I must say these Kool stop pads are worth buying. As they wear in they keep griping better
the more I ride.
Fly