How to Adjust Bike Brakes | Bike Maintenance
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
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Learn how to adjust bike brakes and keep your brakes working smoothly and safely from expert Jesse McDonough in this Howcast video.
Hi my name is Jesse McDonough and I'm here at Spokesman Cycles in New York City right by Union Square. I'm a bicycle tour guide in New York and formerly a bike messenger and I'm here to tell you a bit about the bike. Let's talk about brake adjustments. There's a number of different reasons why your brakes can need to be adjusted. The brakes themselves can be rubbing on the rim; they might not be tight enough. But we'll start with just tightening the brakes themselves. So first you see this brake, it's in pretty good shape. You really want two finger lengths between the handlebar and the break where you squeeze, so here you got plenty of room, but on this side the break itself goes almost all the way to the handlebar, way more then two finger-lengths. So here clearly is not tight enough. We're going to try to start with a minor tightening with the barrel adjusters. So here the barrel adjusters just twist and as you pull them out of the break handle itself this will tighten the break. In this case it's probably tightening it a bit more but not necessarily enough, you still have less then two finger-lengths. So now that opening the barrel adjuster did not tighten your brakes enough what we're going to have to do is open up the break so that you can tighten your brake cable here. So you're going to take an Allen wrench and all you got to do is unscrew this just a bit so you pull the break cable tight here so that the break pads are resting along the rims, so you can hear them rubbing along the rims here and at that point you want to tighten the cable to exactly where is should be and if you notice I left the barrel adjuster opened so that way now the rim is just barely rubbing along the brake pads but as you tighten the barrel adjuster as the brake cable is already tight again it should open up just perfectly so that your brakes are the exact tension you want them but at the same time aren't going to be rubbing on the wheel, so we tighten the barrel adjuster here and see how that worked. Perfect. Got two finger-lengths and a nice tight brake.
Full Bike Maintenance Playlist - czcams.com/play/PLLALQuK1NDrhdCUOFgV9YFZp3vmZR1rgT.html
Thank you!! Best brake l video ever🔥🔥🔥👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Mine is stuck I can’t adjust it can you make an new video how to fix it? ):
@@numb3r0101 ]]
It might be from 13 years ago but this clip has just saved me from having to bring my bike to the repair shop. Thank you!
Yes
that was perfect advice - quick and easy - straight to the point and no stupid annoying music - very nice
Anthony Driver couldn’t of said it any better myself
@@adamgalpin08 Couldn't HAVE said it
I thought this video was very simply helpful also delicious with a side of Danish berries.
yup, my brakes had almost touched into my grips for a while so this was really helpful
I have the power to turn your 1k likes into 1.1 k 😎
This short video was from CZcams’s golden age - quick to the point no vlog or advertising in the video. An old hidden gem!
Omg the quality is so good for 9 years ago
Ikr
consideringthat it was iron age 8 years ago, it is
9 months ago
Ur actin like its 1990. It was made in 2011
I thought the same thing XD
Thanks this really helped!! I almost died so many times when I could have just tightened them so easy. I was going too fast the other day and pulled the brake but nothing happened and my life flashed before me...
Anthony Driver
I wish I saw this yesterday.
Today I was going downhill fast at a park. I was forced to go to a path which curved left sharply (instead of taking the path that curved right a little). This is because a person with a dog had walked in the direction of my bike! I checked and saw no one there before going downhill and all of a sudden that person came out of nowhere in the middle of the path.
My breaks did not slow me down enough. I was only able to take a half a turn before I crashed into the fence, popped my front tire when it hit the curb, hit my foot hard and scuffed the side of my bike badly!
MAKE SURE TO CHECK THOSE BREAKS!
I'm lucky that the bike did not flip and that I did not break my right foot on the fence!
P.S I learned not to go 15-20mph downhill with a bike in a park! ( I can tell by the moving car traffic beside me )
Okay maybe it was 10-15mph I'm not sure, I'm just a kid -_-
42luke roblox with a slope and the wind behind you 20mph is not as difficult to achieve as you might think it is. This is why cars underestimate the speed cyclists can go at.
Only 15mph???
Like final destination when the brakes fail on the rollercoaster :/ don't let it be your bike.
Thanks for this - I'm 47 years old and until now hated adjusting my brakes. This made it so easy. Most importantly, at no point did I have to shout or swear. So even my partner and neighbours are happy. Brilliant stuff!
Richard Cutler
Bc
I like that name
Thank you for the tutorial.. pretty simple, but I had no clue how to do it.
Being able to stop when I want to will be a life preserving bonus... thank you!
Wow, clear and easy to follow, I no longer want to end it all on the last step of putting my son’s bike together, thanks!
That's nice 😅
Perfect! Just went and tightened my brakes - took me 15 minutes! Brilliant - and straight to the point tutorial. Can't ask for more.
I tried can't do it
Why is this not working for me!!!!!
Thank you, your video gave me the confidence to tighten my brakes myself and it worked perfectly. I feel very empowered!
Very sensible advice in the shortest possible time; Thank you.
This was a helpful guide. My brakes were so loose they literally wouldn't stop the bike, I had to put my foot down while riding to make it work. Now, after this video, my brakes work perfectly.
A car would not pass the safety inspection if it couldn't brake. I am glad you survived!
I'm a total novice at bike maintenance and this video is the best one I've watched . Clear and easy to follow . Thanks very much, helped me loads
After about 1hr if annoyance found this guide and boom! Brakes adjusted perfectly in about 10mins! Thank you from the UK!
Followed along and was quickly able to fix my brakes. They no longer scrub against rim. Thank you!
Woo-whoo and oodahllally! I don't have to Flinstone my stops or pretend I meant to crash into the curb to avoid traffic anymore - thanks! The bottom of my shoes thank you also.
hahaha, that was me today biking home from work
😂😂😂
This comment speaks to me lol
Lol
wow this video was perfect. my back brakes weren't tight enough. this totally helped. thanks a lot
Took my bike on an easy hiking trail that I've walked before and I figured my bike could handle it. My back brakes felt fine before going down but as I went down a relatively steep grade I noticed there was less and less braking power until finally my front brakes were doing most of the work. I had to choose between going fast down the last bit of the hill and praying nobody would be at the bottom, or flip over the bars. I chose to go fast and boy that was a scary experience. I considered going to a bike shop to get them fixed, but now seeing how easy this is, I was able to adjust them in a few minutes for free. Thank you guys so much!
ABSOLUTLEY AMAZING. I've owned an apollo highway for a good 9 years, over time the brakes have got loose, this was the perfect video!
The quality is so good for 12 years ago
I really loved this video. Now I can adjust my breaks easily. Thank you.
Just finished adjusting my brakes after watching this. Worked perfectly. Much thanks from Canada.
@Howcast Haven't had a bike in years (after my last one was stolen), finally got another one recently in order to save some gas on shorter trips & I've been looking for this information ALL WEEK. Wow, so much easier than I thought. Will be working on this over the holiday weeekend. Thanks for posting this! And yes, I know this is ancient, but STILL helpfull 11 years later lol.
Better than paying 20 dollars on this
my thoughts precisely xD
They take $20 for that? Seriously? People usually do it for free!
+Durga swaroop Perla maybe they have a warranty to fix it. i think
mr blueberry34. Yeah cool
My bike costed $20 so that would have been a waste of money😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣not joking
That was excellent. Clear and to the point.
Cheers!
PROcrastiDRIVE SV didn't help. no change.
find this video still helpful after 12 years when it was posted. thank you!
I've looked at so many videos and instructions to try to fix my brakes and this was the only one that actually got right for me and it was so simple. Thanks!
Extremely helpful, thank you! Had a front brake pad rubbing on the rim and only one arm moved when pulling the brake lever. This video helped understand the mechanism and I got it done in about 10min (with a few attempts at adjusting to make it right). 👍
Who are watching after 10 years
My brakes were very weak and i thought they were breaking.
This was so easy and straight to the point. I finally tightened them and they work great again.
Thank you. I wanted to do proper maintenance on my bike since I've just been letting it collect dust for awhile. Already got the tires reinflated and checked for air leaks but the breaks seemed to be off centered. Appreciate how quick you got right to the source of any issues the breaks could really have.
Thanks!
a very practical useful guide, hope you would demostrate how to align handler bar
Thanks! Pretty sure you just saved my life and about five nearby pedestrians.
LOL
Thanks for posting this! My water bottled popped out of the holder when I hit a bump going down hill and I ran over it. It caused my breaks to literally trip the bike. So the brakes grab, grab again for longer and then almost locking so bike skids almost throwing the rider off unless brake handle is released. The wheel rolls straight thank goodness. Scary!!! So I appreciate your tutorial. Going to hopefully fix it now!
Mike bike is the only one in the world that is different from the others.....
THANKS WALMART
Those are two finger WIDTHS.
Haha good point
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David Dial lighten up.
So are you saying you prefer two finger LENGTHS to two finger WIDTHS?
its actually 2/10ths of his finger mass if we wanna get specific 😤
Great tips and advice but the thing about this video that does my head in is right in the beginning... the guy passing the school bus that is displaying flashing warning lights is bad enough... but to do so by crossing the double yellow lines is inexcusable
Obviously you've never been to New York.
Don't try to apply simple, reasonable traffic laws to the North. They just don't get it.
Nick Belanger Lol, I think canadians drive okay...
Antonio Quinonez *Canadians. Excuse the typo.
MHMD
Thank you! This mom who knows nothing of bike maintenance and repair has a very grateful 12 year-old now.
Nifty trick with the barrel adjuster. I'd learned how to adjust brakes a different way but couldn't remember the exact process. This way seems much easier to do and remember.
Nice video. thanks for the clear & simple instructions!
My engineering buddy disassembled my bike, i thought the bastard know what he was doing. What a dog.
lol
Never trust an engineer lol
What kind of dog was he? I'd like to know.
OMG the quality of this video is so good for 13 years ago.
Perfect, worked exactly like Jesse clearly explained, I just tightened my brakes in 3 minutes, very simple.
Very clear and just what I needed, Thanks!
When I pull my cable through and tighten it back up the cable just slips through back where it was
I gave this a thumbs up because...have you seen some of the others? This one has clear, steady closeups, edited logically, and clear dialogue.
13 years later. This videos still saving me
I will try it, hope it works for me ,
Question:? how do you know what size the rims are on the bike rims/wheels not the tires , because two of my spokes on my rear wheel is broken was thinking of putting star rims on , but is it easy to replace spokes and is it cheap , bike shop told me $35.00 and how do I measure the spokes to know what size to get thanks bike guy
Im not completely sure on how to check the measurement, but it should be graved somewhere into the rim. Also if youre spokes are just loose not "broken" then you can try truing your wheel.
Thanks for the tips, but I found this video too late. I was riding my bike downhill, going quite fast, and my brakes wouldn't work. So, I was trying to get my bike to stop instead of steering, but that was a mistake. I ended up slamming into the side of a parked Tesla, and ended up having to pay for the damages I caused.
Thats pretty bad
SWS that stinks 😔
Thats cool
Exactly what I needed to help my son with his bike. Thank you!
Awesome guide, straight to the point, describing every step and providing visuals.
THIS IS FUCKING COMPLEX I CANT DO IT MASTER
Cool. Just one thing, it's an Alan Key, not an Alan Wrench ;)
We call it 'Allen/Allen's/Alan/Alan's Wrench here is AUS
I say Alan Key
+Harpic Bleach allah key
They're called hex keys. Allen is the name of a company (Allen Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut).
Whatever they're called, I need one .
Good one. Trying to get a bike front brake together for my 11 year old daughter and your explanation was simple, succinct and ace. Thanks
Thank you for a good demonstration, but also for not overcomplicating it, as I have seen on many other videos.
Useful except for the use of " two finger lengths " when you mean "two finger widths " !!
For real, I almost tried to cut off one finger to get two lengths.
music annoying
Perfect explanation but I needed to do it in reverse. My brakes were rubbing and giving me fits. I sorted it out but I couldn't have done it without this vid. Thanks!
I just fixed my brakes because of this video! Thank you!!!!
Great instructional video! Clear, concise instructions and no waffle or loud music in the background. Thank you.
9 years later , still helping people. Thank you sir!)🙏
Thank you, you are a legend, I have been riding bikes for years, but never knew this simple way to tighten the breaks, I always used to get a bike mechanic to do it!
First time late in life biker and you just saved me a trip to the shop and $$. So easy. Thanks!!!
Thank you VERY much for this video! Saved me a LOT of time figuring out how to adjust the brakes on my own.
Thank you for posting this video. My husband and I bought new bikes recently, but I haven't been riding mine because the brakes were too loose and I didn't know how to fix it. Now I do. I hope I can easily find an allen wrench.
This is great advice. I thought I knew what I was doing until I watched this. I was able to follow these simple directions to get my disc brakes working their best. Thank you very much!
I watched about 6 videos none of which were as informative as this one! Thanks
You just made world a bit safer place again, thanks so much, perfect tutorial!
Short and to the point with no fluff. Very useful. Thanks a lot.
Amazing. I never knew about the barrel adjuster and have had problems adjusting my brakes for years.
I fixed my brakes in like, minutes. Thank you.
That worked for me, thanks for posting. Just rode my bike several miles with the tightened brakes & they worked great.
this was so much easier than another vid I watched. I will try this procedure. Very easy to understand. Bookmarked this one.
I just tried your method and was able to tighten the brakes. Proud of myself. Thank you
Thanks man, this bike has had a "broken" break since I bought it and after taking it back it went right back to "broken" but now it looks like I fixed it with your help!
Thank you for this, my bike has had very light braking, so because of that I was clueless and used my shoes to brake. So because of you, my shoes get a rest.
Finger widths*
Other than those words screaming in my head, perfect invaluable advice shown in the simplest, easy to digest instructional. Thanks.
Most helpful video I've ever watched it was so simple and to the point no pointless music or sped up footage
I like the clear simple info without any other extra talk. Straight to the point. How u have more bike vids, I'm gonna need them
Amazing video. Simple and easy to follow. This is exactly what I needed. I got a bike recently & the front/rear break felt so imbalanced. This tidied them up both & made them identical feeling 👍
Thank you, this is such an easy way to adjust brakes. My back brake is now perfect and I didn’t even chip my nail polish.
This helped so much! These didnt fix the situation but it lead me in the path of fixing it. Thank you from me and my mom
Thank you for posting this very helpful and simple video. I can tell the rear rim brakes on my hybrid are a little loose, tightening them was so easy after your video.
Thanks so much! Now my bike stops within feet compared to almost never stopping. I will recommend this video to others.
Thank you so much! This really helped. I am just learning to bicycle and I really need to feel safe to be able to enjoy using it.
This was made 11 years ago?! 2011?!?! (As of 2022). The quality is amazing! That must of been a really expensive camera.
Thanks a lot Jesse, now I can go back to riding down the hills in the East Bay without worrying about stopping !! Very concise and informative. Madeleine
My bike's brake mechanism doesn't rest on the rim but the same method works. Thank you!
Thanks for making a video that’s simple to understand and allowed me to fix my kids brakes without added frustration of “not knowing what to do”
Great video, I like the tip about tightening the barrel adjuster and then loosening it after tightening the cable at the brakes themselves.
Thanks for showing us how to do this without making seem so complicated. Best video I've seen on how to do this adjustment and in only a few minutes.
Nice job. Easy to understand and very helpful leaving the barrel-adjuster open.
Thank you! My 10 year old told me today that her brakes were not working too well. This did the trick since I can not take bike in for service due to covid.
This is exactly the information I needed! Perfect explanation of how to fix a common problem. Thanks Sir!
Excellent, clear easy to follow instructions. I felt so chuffed to be able to do this for my kids. Thankyou!
This video was invaluable. Just fixed my bike, saved myself $17.
Two finger "width", not "length" is what i think you meant. Length would be knuckle to fingertip, a considerable distance to pull a hand brake.
Thank you! Except of reasonable self-advertisement, not wasting a single second of us, terse and to the point.
thanks for the help. nice easy to follow instructions. i have been working on my brakes for a while trying to get them right and after this video i got it first try in about 30 seconds. i will give you a thumbs up a good rating and spread the word to visit your site. thanks again .