I Need Help With Dialing In My Rear Brake - Gyro

[wsherman21]

Hey Guys,

I have a 2000 Specialized Fatboy Vegas.  I've owned it since 2000 and it has never had brakes that stop on a dime. 

I love this bike, and want everything on it to be perfect! 

I'm beginning to think that the original assembly of the rear brake and cables may never have been done correctly.  Possibly the upper and lower cables are not the right size for the bike.

I am open to buying a new set up - can someone help me with this?

[JFax]

First of all; get new cables and brake pads. 15 year old cables must be quite streched... if you are looking at spending money I would suggest a new gyro and u-brake. You can also consider getting a new chrome rim and lace it up straight.

If you dont want to get new stuff then true your wheel, remove everything, clean and lube and tighten and make sure that the springs flex well.

[@ss4oLe]

I ran a gyro for more years than many of the folks on this board have been alive.

We need more information about the condition of your bike but assuming it's not a complete rusted pile of junk and the rear wheel is true, here is what I would do.

take off the cables and spray DW-40 very heavily into the cables. Let them drip onto the ground, outside or onto your carpet...
Let the cables dry and then use Tri-Flow or some other quality cable lube and lube them HEAVILY.

Take the brake arms off and clean the posts and arms well. Clean the springs too. Make sure to remember what spring goes on what side of the arm.

Take the brake pads off and throw them at your cat or into the garbage can.

Put a small amount of grease onto the brake posts and make sure the arms pivot well.

If your rim is chrome, get black pads. If it's not chrome, get clear pads.

Wipe off any excess lube from the cables and replace them.

Clean your rim with glass cleaner or something to remove any old gunk.

adjust the springs on your brake arms.

Put the new pads on.

Go do a fufuanu.


You'll need to adjust the gyro cables at the gyro so the gyro doesn't flop.

If that doesn't fix your braking issues, you could replace the cables. or just put on a strait cable....


If you have more questions, ask.

[G]

Lube the living shit out of your cables. Cant stress this enough. As @sshole said it should be dripping out the ends.

Check that nothing is topping out. If when you pull the brake the gyro hits the top plate adjusters then you will have zero power, similarly if the lumps inside the 2 into 1 cable joints hit the top of the housing that is where all your brake effort will go.

Good luck.


G.

[ediotism]

to be honest, brake cables, inner wires and brake springs all age with time. with 15 years of mostly idling around, one would think new cables and new brake pads are well justified.

and even with new cables, TAKE OUT THE INNER WIRE and hold it by the nipple so it dangles down, then start dripping a teflon lube (e.g. Triflow, GT-85, etc NOT WD-40!!) on the nipple and let it run down the inner wire till it drips. you'd be surprised how much lube the wire can soak up between all its little strands. now take the outer cable and drip lube thru it till it comes out the other end. you can now put your inner wire back into the cable.

as for brake pads, odyssey's make some really nice pads that require minimal adjustment/set up experience, look them up!

[@ss4oLe]

No taking out the inner cable on a gyro cable.

[master]

I'm thinking this guy is a spammer... His next post will probably be for some online retailer.

[Funtimes]

If you are mechanically inclined, do the above. 

If you are not, I'd have someone local with experience, bike shop or not... help you.  Sometimes its just easier to go straight cable until having full headset 360° whip and spin is consistently relevant to your riding.

Let us know how things turn out!

[monteryroom]

Be aware that the springs on the brake caliper tension in different directions, both towards the front of the bike. The left one is clockwise, the right one is anti clockwise.