How to Install Brake Cables & Housing | Bicycle Repair

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So to reinstall it, basically you're just going to push the lever all the way to the bar. Place the barrel nice and neat inside the holder. Push it through the slit that's in the brake. Bring it all the way down towards the brake, so righty-tighty. Make sure the lock ring is also pulled all the way back. And then, install your piece of hosing.

Remember this is brake hosing so it should be flexible with coil hosing. And it should be to the correct length. If it's too long, it could create too much friction or it could just flop all over the place. If it's too short, it may pinch and not work properly.

So a lot of times when you're installing new cables in hosing you want to make sure that there's as little friction as possible. So when you have a new piece of hosing, sometimes what you want to do is you want to make sure that the end is opened up properly so you can use, like, a pin or something sharp and just poke it open to make sure that there isn't going to be any friction and the hole's really nice and easy to get through.

And you put your brake needle on which there's different sized brake needles but they will either come with your bike or you can ask a professional which angle you need for your type of brake and your type of bicycle. And you put it in the quick release spot right here. Add a dust protector onto it. And then thread it through the other side of the brake where the nut and bolt is.

And then you're going to pull the brakes tight to where you'd like them to be and get a five millimeter hex wrench or Allen wrench and screw it tight. Check the brake and make sure it's working properly. If it's a little too loose, tighten it up a little bit. If it's a little too tight and it's hitting the wheel, then you can loosen it. Also, on a lot of brakes, there are little adjustment screws so if this pad is a little too close, you can adjust this screw with a Phillips head or an Allen key and basically you loosen it, it loosens the tension on the side. You tighten it, it tightens the tension. So you can get the brakes nice and even so the wheel rolls in the middle perfectly.

And that is a brake cable installation.

[ShottaKenya]

I recently found my childhood bike that I got when I was about 12-13. after two decades of service, both brakes went out in pretty rapid succession (due to high speed tumbles). I’ve never done any maintenance on this bike and I guess now is time. I hope I can do it myself. I love this bike and hope that one day my sons inherit it

[JkuZZi]

Thank you. I tried to assemble the brakes to my sln's new bike today but the instructions were confusing and i couldn't visualize it. This was exactly what i needed.

[greigcampbell]

Too fast!! You make these videos for nontechnical people. More close up to be able to see better.

[mylongstoryshortned]

Thanks for the help! I took my rear tire off to change a flat & noticed my breaks cable was out of whack. I could not adjust my breaks correctly for anything but I came across this video & it helped a lot.

[painfullspankingballbuster]

Working on my 2nd project bike this a lifesaver

[jeffreybiscoe]

Thanks been a very long time, I couldn't remember how to hook up front brake lever.

[roncooke]

I always put a spot of oil when i fit the end of the inner cable in to the brake leaver it just protects it and makes work smoother

[Monyk]

Great video, exactly what i needed. No fluff.

[lucilleli]

Can you install a brake onto a bike that never had one before?

[goldenseal]

okay, that was really fast, but here is my question. When you said thread it though on that last step is there a whole in the pinch bolt to thread it through?

[alexlopez]

What do you do if you don't have enough slack for the cable head to sit and put through the groove?

[yehudacohen-zdvq]

Perfect video. No time wasted yet it still had all necessary information.

[joannekeefe]

Could you do a video installing handle bar brakes to a beach cruiser creating a mount? Please?

[anio]

How do you make the end cap part that goes into the handle bar li ever stick ? Mine just slips right out of the lever ?

[anio]

Ok I have 2 problems.
Number 1, the cables I bought, the little bullet head is smaller. Does that make a difference ?
Number 2. Even if I put the original cable back in. The bullet head, turns itself sideways. Does that make a difference ?
I dont know what to do ?

[juliepercevent]

my brake cable need replacement every months. last month was front this month the back, is it normal? I use it every weekend. I let bike store install it for me but now I'm trying to find way to do it myself.

[JohnnyB-fbgs]

Awesome. So simple. Thanks.
I was thrown off the video at first because his voice sounded like a young Justin Bieber voiceover.

[feivelprince]

Thankyou for helping me lemme repair it

[sachajolly]

Hi my giant bike brake lever something has unclipped I can see it’s a small piece of metal I have no brake at all I m not sure how to clip it back in

[Migsfigs]

The end on the MTB brake cable I got is smaller than the original one on my bike, so it doesn't fill all the space in the hole in the lever. Is this normal? I'm not sure it's safe to use a cable with a smaller end...