5

When breaking lightly it doesn't happen, however when clamping hard it gets stuck. Whenever I bring the bike to a complete stop I have to manually un-jam it.

Here's a video:

3
  • Yeah, you probably need a little lube in the brake arm's bearing. Apr 7, 2018 at 1:23
  • 1
    Another possibility, but hard to tell from this angle, is that the pads aren't properly hitting the surface (e.g. because of wear) but instead, when braking hard, get pushed slightly underneath the rim and get stucked in that position. Not sure if my explanation makes sense without a picture but this occurred to me once.
    – stijn
    Apr 7, 2018 at 12:32
  • @stijn - Yeah, that occurred to me, but it appears that the pad is hitting high enough that it shouldn't be a problem, and it also appears that the pad can be seen to move slightly when the brake is released, strongly hinting at a "snag" in the pivot. (It wouldn't hurt to raise that pad slightly, though.) Apr 7, 2018 at 18:46

2 Answers 2

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It looks like there's dirt in the hinge. When you brake hard, the arm reaches the dirty region and sticks there, and the spring can't force it back; when you brake more gently, it doesn't get into the sticky region. Detach that arm, clean it and re-lubricate it.

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  • 1
    Probably a good idea to do both sides at the same time. The other side will start jamming up as well at some point. Apr 7, 2018 at 2:09
  • will do, ill report back weather that fixed it tomorrow. Apr 7, 2018 at 2:36
  • Using better quality v-brakes helps avoid this to some extent (but you'll have to deal wtih teh cleaning at some point).
    – Batman
    Apr 7, 2018 at 3:11
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It happened to me once that a V-brake pad that sat too low relative to the rim's braking surface literally wedged itself down into the rim at braking. To alleviate this, reposition both pad's position and angle. Always make sure that it clears the tire, because otherwise braking friction will destroy the sidewall in no time.

1
  • Yes I've had this too, where a tyre was quite wide for the rim, and was a bit bulgier than the original. So the brake block "clipped" under the tyre and wouldn't come back out. Solution was to lower the brake block to the spoke-side of the rim by a couple millimeters
    – Criggie
    Apr 7, 2018 at 19:55

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