George There are spring tension adjusting screws on each arm. They offer finer adjustment than changing the tension by changing the mounting hole. These are small screws located just above pivots with the screw heads pointing out, away from the frame. Try tightening the left side and loosening the right.
Also, you mention adjusting the straddle wire. The straddle wire has a single position where the brake works correctly, with the proper mechanical advantage. Decrease or increase the brake cable length to get the brake pads closer to or farther from the rim. My IRD Cafams came with a link wire that was too short. For proper adjustment, the link wire (or straddle wire) should make a 90 degree angle with the upper portion of the brake arm when the brakes are applied. I bought a couple of other sizes of link wires until I found the sweet spot. Lastly, if the arm rotates smoothly on the canti post, there should be no reason to use a dremel. Dave On Oct 5, 7:37 am, GeorgeS <[email protected]> wrote: > Until recently I had never had a bike with cantilever brakes so I am > coming to the subject with almost total ignorance. I mounted a set of > IRD Cafam brakes that I got from RBW on a new Surly. The levers are > Shimano Tiagra. My problem is with the front brake. When the > straddle cable is adjusted so that the brakes come in contact with the > rim before the levers bottom out (about 3/4, feels OK), the left brake > arm (left as I'm facing the brake) does not retract away from the rim > when I release the lever. With no pressure on the lever, the brake > stays in contact with the rim. The right arm pops away from the rim > like it should. I can correct this by adjusting the straddle cable > but then the levers bottom out and I don't feel I've got enough > pressure on the rim to stop when I'm riding fast. Suggestions? I've > thought of changing the spring tension on the left side (now the > spring is in the middle hole) but I wanted to get advice before I went > that route. My sense is that the left brake is not pivoting on the > post as it should. What about giving the inside of the cantilever > hole some polishing with a dremel? Thanks. > George Strickler > New Orleans --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
