Don- Remove a brake pad to allow the caliper to be a bit more closed up. Or. If the lever has a QR button then engage it so when in the use position the cable is that much tighter. Or get a 4th hand/cable puller. They are great for tightening zip ties too. Andy.
> There is a great deal of slop in a rear centerpull on a Carlton (with
> top tube cable stops and a rear semicircular bridge.) Does anyone
> know a surefire way to get the proper cable tightness on the first
> try? I don't have a 3rd-hand brake tool, but even if I did, I'm not
> sure it would eradicate all the slop on the first attempt.
>
> I'm terrible at this. On today's bike build-up, I cut the rear cable
> run a little too short. When I replaced it for a longer housing, I
> had to reposition the triangle / hanger at least three times, and
> still the triangle is mounted a few mm too far down the cable. Both
> housing and cable are modern high-quality stuff.
>
> On a fresh bike build-up, I think you should have zero slack in the
> barrel adjuster, but after my third try I'm down to 4-5mm (out of 8mm)
> of slack taken up by the barrel adjuster *sigh*.
>
> I remember now that my greatest fear of bike maintenance .. is playing
> with these rear weinmann brakes. It's been compounded because my
> fishing pliers have gone dull, so I mangled one cable before finally
> using a dremel with cutoff wheel. What do people use for decent cable
> cutters?
>
> - Don Gillies
> San Diego, CA, USA
>
> P.S. I noticed something new to me about weinmann hangers. They clamp
> the cable to the bolt, NOT to the triangle. The triangle actually
> hangs loose. This means the bolt holes really mangle the wire. That
> leads to excess fraying if you move the hanger. After one clamping,
> if you remove the hanger, the cable profile looks like this :
>
> ____________________---_________
>
> and the offset area is what was drawn through the hole in the bolt.
> Are all centerpull hangers like this?
> _______________________________________________
Andrew R Stewart
Rochester, NY