Hi all, appreciate these are stupid questions but have never built a mtb before. I am building an SS on an inbred slot dropout frame. First off, how should I route the front brake cable should it go from the back of the forks up the front to the bar with a zip tie on the forks?????

Second I cannot for the life of me get the rear caliper aligned it just keeps touching the pads. I do not know if this is because I have it in the wrong place on the IS mounts (as they are kind of slots rather than just holes – crap desciption!), or is it because it is a slot drop out it is more tricky?!

Any advice welcome (oh and the brakes are avid juicy 3s) – would pics help?

I would route the front brake the cleanest line possible (and minimise cable rub) It does not really matter where it goes as long as it does not rub on the tyre.

I imagine the rear brake is more tricky because of the slot drop-outs. Check that the caliper/pads are clearing the end of the disk first…

Pics would help 😀

Always run the front hose up the inside of the forks up to the bridge using a couple of zip ties. If you have it on the outside there is a high risk that it will be damaged during fall offs or even get snagged on passing rocks and branches, which will cause you to fall off too!!

for the rear:

loosen the brake caliper.
tesnion the chain; making sure the wheel is central (eyeball the tyre/ chainstay gap on either side), do the wheel up.

slide the caliper back so there is a 1-2mm clearence between disc and caliper. tighten bolts.

should be right.

HTH

this work???

themyers – difficult to see if you have “dimples” in the bridge of your forks to guide the hose, like on my SIDs

Personally I went for this routing [sorry, not a great pic] using a single tie because it seemed the smoothest line:

IMG_6336 by oxym0r0n, on Flickr
I have never had a problem with it being

damaged during fall offs or even get snagged on passing rocks and branches, which will cause you to fall off too!!

As for rear – follw TomThumbs instructions to get caliper aligned with rear wheel (bolts attached to frame)

Then, push your calpiers apart, loosen the caliper bolts slightly – pump the brake lever a couple of times, then hold it on while you (or someone else!!) tightens the caliper bolts.

Hope that helps?