V brakes won't center

[jstan49]

I replaced my rear v brake. Whenever i put them on I read the directions and it instructed me to put the spring in the middle hole but it will only work in the top holes and seems to be tighter than its supposed to. Also when I view them from the rear the left side is cocked to left while the right is straight up. These are supposed to be parallel with each other right. And why do they not work in the middle hole? Please excuse me for any confusion you may have while reading this as I am a rookie when it comes to bike repair. Thanks

[cyclerUK]

Have you checked out the "tutor" :-
http://bikeride.com/adjust-v-brakes/
You only need to to use the "holes" that give enough spring tension to release the brakes.<br />
The one thing that may throw them of centre is the route of the cable from the rear fixing.<br />
Have a look at this to see if it's pulling or pushing the arms over.<br />
Without the cable attached then there should be fairly equal pressure on each arm.<br />
There are little screws on the side of each arm that can be adjusted to help centre the arms.

[jstan49]

Also it came with a noodle which I didn't use because the top would not fit over the cable ferrule. So I used the old noodle. Could this contribute to my problems?

[cyclerUK]

The noodle did cross my mind. ??<br />
If the the 2 are shaped the same then I can't see it making any difference.<br />
There are 2 shapes, one with just a 90 deg' bend and the other has more curve to it.<br />
My bike has the 90 deg' on the back but could do really with more of a curve to give a better line, but it does work fine.<br />
If you remove the cable ferrule then will the cable go into the noodel?
The other possibility is cable length?<br />
It could be to short and pulling or to long and pushing the arms.<br />
Try and get a cable run that doesn't bias the brake arms over to one side, assuming an even arm tension to start with.<br />
Or the only other way, is to use different spring holes / tension to even them up.<br />
With uneven tension though you may get one pad contacting before the other.

[jstan49]

Well I guess the instructions say to "use the supplied noodle only" for a reason. I compared them both and the older noodle looks to be a little shorter and with less of a sweep than the Avid noodle. They seem to be almost parralel now with the new noodle. I'am going to try a longer cable to see if that helps any too because theres only about 3/4 of an inch of cable sticking out past the clamp

[cyclerUK]

When I mentioned "cable" above I was meaning the outer more so than the inner wire.<br />
Sounds like you near to getting there. It's just a case of trying this and that, a bit at a time.

[jstan49]

The way my housing is set up it goes from the lever and stops at the top tube, bare cable runs the lenght of the tube then it goes back into a housing into the noodle. i was thinking i might need to try a longer lenght of the second half of the housing which seems to be pushing down on where the noodle fits in, therefore pushing the arm out past the seat stay. I will include a couple of pics that might help you see thank s for the help

[cyclerUK]

Your outer length looks just about right to me. Certainly no shorter.<br />
The inner could do with being a bit longer and fit a "cap" on the end so that it doesn't skewer your leg in a fall etc.<br />
My rear cable route is more tortuous than yours as mine has to come from other side of the seat post.

[DaveM]

I'd say that rear piece of housing looks a bit short actually. It takes a hard corner right where it comes out of the cable stop on the frame instead of tracing a smooth curve. That's usually a sign of too short a piece.

[cyclerUK]

With that shape of "noodle", as the brakes are applied, the angle of the "housing" will get less.<br />
Perhaps the noodle with the extra bend may be better?<br />
I think if you start lengthening the "housing" (outer) then that will only push the noodle more vertical, creating more bend as it enters the noodle?
But what jstan is trying to do is get both arms to center equally.

[jstan49]

Thats what i was trying to accomplish. Cause with the top of the noodle angled in, it seems like thats what is causing the left arm to be sticking way out. Then again you guys are the pros, not me.

[artcat2]

Had the same problem with mine when I replaced all my cables and rear brakes. The two noodles that came with the new brakes would not fit. The angles were off enough to throw the system out of wack. I ended up using my old noodle but replaced the sleeve that came from the new noodles into the old one. That solved it.

[bobster]

I have V brakes on my bike on both back and front the left hand block is tight to the wheel, I have tried using the adjusting screws. They seem to do nothing.

Any help would be great.

[Bert1220]

On the adjusting screws, remember that when you tighten one to make the arm spring back more, you have to loosen the other. Keep squeezing and releasing your brake to let it take effect.

[surreypete]

I've just replaced my brake blocks and now find that my V brakes are actually back where I want them to be, if anything they are slightly more out then I would like but if I change the spacers round it throws the arms in too much, so I can't seem to win.

I did try moving the spring to the outside hole originally when I had my worn pads but found it put too much tension on the arm and pulled it back the other way.