How to adjust the u-brake?

Some of the u-brakes may be off-center after long-time usage. What matters most should be to adjust and maintain the brake as soon as possible so that the bike could perform well.

It is very similar to a cantilever brake. There’s a cable pulley system and that’s what controls the amount of tension that is applied to the brake. For this operation, you can do it by hand, and you can also use one of the special tools. You want to hold the brake pad together, and this will allow you to pop out the cable on your u-brake so you can adjust the tension on it. You need a Crescent Wrench and an Allen Wrench and vise grips will work too, as long as you don’t tighten the nut too much. Then use the Allen Wrench to loosen the tension. It is really simple: turn it to the left that loosens it. With your left hand, hold it onto the cable. With your right hand, push it on the little u-brake do-hickey thing until you get it to where you want it to be.adjust the u-brake

Then put the vice grip back and tighten the tension to the right. And put the whole system back in. Pull on the cable to make sure the brake is nice and tight. You’ll want to test it with the brake lever as well anytime you make one of these adjustments. If you don’t test it, afterward, when you go out riding, you’re going to find that it’s going to adjust on its own and the brake pad will end up rubbing against the brake.

Moreover, there are some tips of pad adjustment. The u-brake moves on an arc and the pads are moving up as they travel to the rim. So you need to set the pad at the lower edge of the braking surface. Bring the pad up and down in the arm as necessary, secure the mounting nut and then check that there is a slight angle between the back part of the pad and the rim. The process is repeated on the other side. As for the setting of the pad clearance, what you are going to do is to pull and feel the lever. To make changes to the pad clearance, you can use the barrel adjuster. Bring the barrel adjuster out effectively lengthens the housing, draws out slack and brings the pads closer to the rim. Bring the barrel adjuster in effectively shortens the housing, gives more slack and more clearance to the rim.adjust the u-brake

The pad clearance is set by changes to spring tension at the fitting on either arm. Take the cone wrench, engage it on the fitting and hold it. Loosen the mounting nut and if you bring the wrench inward rotating, you are increasing tension on this side. Then hold the position and secure the bolt and test it again. Repeat the process until you have an equal gap on both sides.