Real-Life Communication
You just bought a brand new mountain bike. Excited, you head out
to the mud trails behind your house. You race as fast as you can across the
gravel parking lot, but slam on the brakes because you notice a huge tree
root at the beginning of the trail.
Nothing happens! Using your feet,
you slide to a halt. When you stop, you try the brakes again. Still nothing.
Unhappy,
you wheel your bike home again, but you're not going to take it to the shop.
You have trained as a bicycle mechanic and this is your first chance to make
a repair. You haul out the manual and read up on how to fix the brakes.
"Bikes
have changed drastically over the years," says Ben Kobylianski, a bike mechanic.
"There are hydraulic brakes, disc brakes and more. Bike mechanics really have
to be more skilled technicians these days to keep up with the change."
How
do mechanics learn about changes? "We read magazines to see what's coming
out and read about new technologies," he says.
Read the description
on bike repair below. By answering the following questions, repair your brakes!
Brake
Repair:
To tighten your brakes, you will have to remove the slack from
your brake cables. To do this, first turn the adjusting barrel on your brake
lever. Turn the barrel clockwise until you have about 0.16 inches of thread
showing. This will help you fine-tune the brakes once the cable is tightened.
Next,
compress the brake pads tightly against the rim. Have someone squeeze them
for you, or tie the pads in place. Loosen the cable binder bolt located at
the end of the cable. Pull the cable firmly down with a pair of pliers. Tighten
the binder bolt while holding the cable in place.
Squeeze the brake
lever a few times and spin the wheel to make sure the pads are centered and
aren't rubbing the rim. If they are rubbing, turn the adjusting barrel on
the brake lever clockwise until the pad isn't rubbing the rim. Squeeze the
lever again and double-check your adjustment.
You can use the barrel
to tighten the brakes without tightening the cable. However, it's best to
tighten the cable and use the barrel for fine-tuning.
Questions:
- What needs to happen to the cables to tighten the brakes?
- How can you compress the brakes while you are working?
- What do you do if the pads rub the rim after you adjust the brakes?
- Is it better to adjust the cable and barrel to tighten the brakes or just
the barrel?