V-Brake Pads - A question

[Portellini]

Hello guys,

Just asked my bike mechanic to change my V-Brake pads. He did it and the new pads are way smoother and more effective than the former.

The problem is that those brake pads are bigger than the others and they do not allow me to take off the wheel (it either can be taken off using force or removing the pads) since the pads are stuck in the fork. Do you know what I mean? Since they're are bigger than the previous, a part of them goes under the fork and you cannot move them to fit the wheel.

It's rather obvious for me I need smaller brake pads. The problem is the availability. Is there any way I can determine such size? Are smaller V-brake pads available widely? How do I ask for them?

Thanks for your help!

Portellini

[X-RAY]

are you unhooking the one side of the brake before trying to pull the wheel out?

[FredS]

Have you tried deflating the tire and squeezing the tire passed the brakes.

[Portellini]

(04-09-2011, 09:48 PM)FredS Wrote:  Have you tried deflating the tire and squeezing the tire passed the brakes.

FredS, I'm sure that way the wheel could be taken out, but that's rather unpractical since there are surely other sizes of V-brake pads (like the ones that came with the bike and allowed me to remove the wheel). This is quite important for me since I remove the wheel to load the bike into my small Ford Fiesta to go ridding with friends & girlfriend at least once a week.

Maybe I can get some photographs to illustrate better what I mean with all this explanation

---

(04-09-2011, 09:10 PM)X-RAY Wrote:  are you unhooking the one side of the brake before trying to pull the wheel out?

Yes of course. The problem is that when I unhook them and move the arms of the brake to the sides they can only be moved a bit, since the back of the pads touch the inner part of the fork allowing me to go no further and therefore not creating enough space to let an inflated tire to pass through.

I'mm gonna get some picks to illustrate my problem

Thanks a lot for your help. Gimme half an hour and I'll be back with some images.

[Portellini]

(04-09-2011, 09:48 PM)FredS Wrote:  Have you tried deflating the tire and squeezing the tire passed the brakes.

Here you have them. You see, I do all the steps: (1) unlock the break arm cable; (2) stretch the arms to the side and; (3) the tire doesn't pass through since break pads are big enough to not allowing the further stretch of the break arm (because pads touch the inner part of the fork and won't move any wider). Does it make any sense to you? Or it's just me messing something up?

http://img858.imageshack.us/i/breakpads1.jpg
http://img33.imageshack.us/i/breakpads2.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/i/breakpads3.jpg

[RobAR]

You are not messing anything up - just doing it the hard way.
You have a brake set-up that uses replaceable pads in cartridge style holder. This is a grand idea if you never exceed a certain tire width.

[Portellini]

(04-10-2011, 10:31 AM)RobAR Wrote:  You are not messing anything up - just doing it the hard way.
You have a brake set-up that uses replacable pads in cartridge style holder. This is a grand idea if you never exceed a certain tire width.

So what kind of pads do I need? Without cartridge? With the metal screw built in directly in the pad, if you know what I mean
Thanks!

[DaveM]

I think what you're trying to say is that the new pads are longer so they hit the inside of the fork when you try to pull the wheel out. Not uncommon. I don't know if the length on pads is commonly listed online, but you can definitely get some that aren't as long as the new ones. Or you may be able to cut down the ones you just got. Depending on how they're constructed, this may be easy with no safety issues. BUT, proceed carefully. I'm not familiar with what you've got there.

[Portellini]

(04-11-2011, 01:10 AM)DaveM Wrote:  I think what you're trying to say is that the new pads are longer so they hit the inside of the fork when you try to pull the wheel out. Not uncommon. I don't know if the length on pads is commonly listed online, but you can definitely get some that aren't as long as the new ones. Or you may be able to cut down the ones you just got. Depending on how they're constructed, this may be easy with no safety issues. BUT, proceed carefully. I'm not familiar with what you've got there.

Thanks I made an online search and didn't find anything. Anyway, didn't know it is common. As for the cutting, I cannot do this since it has the metal cartridge on all its length. I'll just get some smaller when these wear out.

[trevgbb]

Some pads are shorter one side than the other, if so, turn them around.
But shorter pads are freely available in the UK, you may have to ask for junior MTB pads.
But I would consult the mechanic who fitted them, he should have foreseen this problem.

[Portellini]

Hello guys,

On a visit to another bike shop I asked the mechanic to take a look at my problem and it turned out the pads were wrongly assembled by the other mechanic, since bigger nuts where mounted on the inner part of the pad holder, making it too big. Problem fixed, thanks for your help