So - my bmx has some generic side pull front brake. bit like this
[img] 
[/img]
they are, frankly, aweful. I can pedal the bike along with two fingers holding the lever in.
I've tried the generic things - replacing cables, replaced pads with softer ones, but its still crap
is there any way to tune side-pull brakes? I'm guessing there must be some way? I Just use the bike as a town bike so don't need anything awesome, I'd just like to be able to stop if a car pulls out
alternitively, are there any other, better brakes that only require a center pivot (I suppose I could mount a v-brake plate but I suspect that's be a bit crap.
Ta for any help
H
Search for dual pivot calipers, like fitted to modern road bikes - Tektro make some reasonable price ones - but you might not get any to suit the tyre and drop on a bmx ...... Bmx not got u brake mounts?
I suspect the problem is how long the drop is for a BMX to get round the tyre. The length from the pivot point to the brake shoe is so long that there is a lot of flex unless well made. The arms need to have a lot of material put in to the line of rotation to resist the flex.
You could try these if you can afford them:-
I've got some nice Dia-Compe levers that I can sell you too for a total quality stopping solution!
[img] 
[/img]
Good Lord - you must be an animal; I can't pedal a bike with two fingers at all.
thanks for the offer but I don't have any mount for a top-pull brake - has to be side-pull 😐
seems strange no-ones made one with a load of metal on it to get round the flex - its not as if weight is a bit issue?
But you'd need to anchor the end of the brake cable to use those (centre-pull) dia-compes. The ones underneath on the same page (the 806s) might be more likely perhaps:
http://www.identitibikes.com/billys/english/productresults.php?delbrand=del&group=B&PHPSESSID=q4krcgb67cu32fuuvfehn89a81
*waves*
Wotcher Hugh !
Have you tried cleaning the rims too ?
easy Jon - how's tricks? you need to get down here for a ride, sharpish (I've not ridden since xmas so I'm nice and slow)
the rims are pretty good, not mint but don't look too bad. The brake might already be a 806 (its outside, and cold, so sod that till tomorrow) - if not it's very similar.
I might just stick one of these on
http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/298/DNA_VBrake_Plate
and use an old v-brake I've got kicking around
its wierd though - surely a v brake should suffer the same flex issues as a side-pull? obviously the arms are straight but its not that hard to make things strong?