5 Minute Rim Brake Tune-Up | Cable Tension, Ferrules & Toeing In Brake Pads

It's the second of our 5 minute set up tutorials and today we're focussing on rim brakes. From cables, to toeing pads, Jon will help you get your brakes working perfectly in no time.

Many jobs on your bike can seem daunting, and feel like they might take hours. But with Jon's helpful tips, you'll see that setting up rim brakes perfectly needn't take too long.

If you've got time once you've set your brakes up, don't be afraid to give your pads and rims a quick once over, and make sure they don't need replacing.

What else should we cover in our 5 minute set up series? Let us know in the comments 👇

Watch more on GCN Tech...

Music: Messed Up Breakup - Anders Bothén

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[gcntech]

If this video doesn't solve all of your braking problems, make sure you send in any questions using the hashtag #askgcntech

[harleyHDz]

This is by far the best guide by miles, this should be #1 on how to "fix" and or "adjust breaks"

[Desmo]

TKs, best 5 minutes I have spent on my brakes. Toe in was brilliantly easy.

[wackery_zeimer]

I have a bike with disc brakes and a bike with rim brakes. Gotta say, rim brakes are much easier to maintain.

[SteB]

When the brake pads are glossy but with some life left I usually use some fine sandpaper and they're back to life, thanks for the video!

[dakrisht]

This is the best rim brake adjustment guide on YouTube. Bar none. Effective, quick, covers all the essential points, a couple tips and tricks - it does it all from end to end. Perfect in every way.

[chinabuzz]

This is great. Thank you so much. Most other videos make brakes look so complicated, this made it much easier to understand.

[yeff]

This helped me alot especially my front rim brakes are not centered and the part of "centre calipers" really helped me on how to do it. I was quite worried for i dont know what to search on YT and gladly the first vid that popped up was this! Thanks guys, your fan from the Philippines!

[louandreola]

Thank you man! Awesome video. Thought I needed a new set of brakes...but just needed to take my time and carefully adjust how I like my brakes to feel.

[schmo]

This video really helped me to not throw my bike through my conservatory window so thanks 😂😂

[hillariat]

This helped me sooo much when i had side pull brakes. Not so applicable now that i have linear pulls but still a great vid. Keep it up GCN

[mrfailure]

One tip I've learned is clean the brake surface and pads with alcohol when done working on them to help prevent squeals.

[Visiontech]

I was having problems with my rear brake calipers not giving me any strength for some unknown reason. I did my first half century and the rear brakes simply stopped solidly clinching until the point that I could put my bike up on a stand and press the rear lever and I could move the rear tire with my hand. It was tight but moveable and when I was riding it was practically useless. I was going to take it to the shop but using the steps that I just saw in this video it worked just fine. I mean I feel like a champion. THANKS!!!

[davidide]

Great video Jon.
I like to check that my bolts are tightened to the correct torque.

[hartunstart]

Using old school mtb with V-brakes: Attach the pads roughly on place, don't tighten much yet. Use a rubber band (from old inner tube) to bind the lever near the grip. Loosen pads and align them, tighten up properly. Long pads (70 mm) don't need toe-in, shorter ones possibly need some.
Remove the rubber band, make sure both pads come off the rim evenly. Because the tire is far wider than the rim, make sure nothing rubs when the pads travel away the rim. Sometimes you have to repeat the process a few times to get everything right.

[marcelodonadio]

Man really really thanks for the video, I personally know all the parts except for the last one when you show how to correctly toeing in brake pads, that's exactly what I was looking for! MANY MANY MANY THANKS, SUPER USEFUL!

[georgehugh]

In addition to wiping away the brake dust/road detritus, I add a dash of chain lube to the pivot points of the calipers each time I need to do a bike/chain cleaning. (remove any excess oil)

[overcookit]

#gcntech: When cutting the outer casings for shifting cables, be sure to file the endings flat, otherwise each of the wires that form the outer casing is formed like a screw driver, and is able to cut through these plastic ending caps. And if you don't file the cutted endings of outer casings for brake wires, it may happen that a piece of the cutted wire of the outer casing is preventing an easy gliding of the braking wire. Especially when the outer casing is needed to cover the full distance between shifters and brake levers, it saves quite an amount of weight, when you use fasi outer casings, they weight only about 20 grams/meter, instead of 40 grams/meter like conventional casings, as fasi uses alloy instead of steel.

[DeprezBram]

"you're worth it", aw thanks XD

[derekjolly]

Thanks for this then! I got both brakes a little bit tighter than they were before, based on inadvertently pinching the rear wire at the tube router by mistake and then making some unsuccessful adjustments after that. The fact is I have only recently had old style caliper brakes and at times they've been like a Chinese finger puzzle at times. But today was better!