Aaaagh!

I’ve just given up trying to set up an Avid brake on the back of my new (old) Roadrat.

The brakes pad posts were as angled as they could go but the pad surface still wasn’t hitting the rim properly. I slid the wheel forwards and backwards in the drop outs, slid the brake bosses up and down and swapped the pad washers over.

Am I missing something or has my cheap commuter just switched from being a cheap build to a more pricey disc braked toy?

Funnily enough some BB7s just arrived today for mine 😛

Did manage to get some mini-Vs working but only after a-l-o-t of washer swapping about.

Hmm, I have also tried and Avid shorty canti and that was slightly closer but not there.

The cost of cable discs isn’t the hard part, it’s the disc wheels that I’ll need.

I got my Avid digit 3’s to work OK, a bit fiddly but seem fine.

It’s SD3s I’ve been trying to set up, they are on the verge but it all looks a bit shonky. I’m going to be pitting myself against some pretty grim roads so eff it, I’ll spend the cash I’d have ended up spending in a few months anyway and get some discs.

Ta.

Strange… I’ve got tektro shorty vs on mine with no problems…

Fitting mudguards on the other hand = #*&%@X£

The mudguards bit was easy, mate left them on when selling me the frame.

The thing is I don’t want to spend good money after bad. The plan was to get the bike up and running as cheap[ly as possible and then spend extra on discs in the future so it seems wrong to buy vbrakes to experiment with on the off chnace they may work.

aye, My tektro’s and my avids both didn’t work. the posts are a lot closer than on other frames (i assume for skinny road rims). I got some Cheap shimano brakes and they worked fine, try them?

may well be the pads try somthing with a thinner/thicker backplate to take it closer/further from the rim depending how u want it,might be worth a try

I’ve got Deore V’s on mine with A719 rims and they do fit, but only just!
I also tried some Tektro oryx cantis and they were even worse when I offered them up.
Narrower rims should be less of a problem as you’ll have more room for the pads to move inward before hittiing the rim.
Discs ultimely have to be the way to go…