How to Adjust the Brakes on your Bicycle

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Evan from Gregg's Vintage Cycles, today we're going to show you how to tighten or loosen your brakes on your bicycle. The first thing you want to decide is whether they're too tight or if they're too loose. Too loose if they're pulling way to far to the bar, like that. And then too tight would be if you're not getting any pull at all out of your lever. So in this case, way too loose. So we'll go ahead and tighten them up a little bit. Just take your five millimeter allen and just loosen the brake cable anchor screw here. And then just pull a little bit of cable through, and then tighten that guy right back down. Get it nice and snug, and then give it a pull. And then if that's still maybe a little bit too loose for you, give it one more. Just pull a little bit more cable through. Tighten her back down, just a little bit. Then give it another pull, and that seems pretty good. So if you're happy with that you can go ahead and leave it at that adjustment. Or if it's a little bit too tight for you, go ahead and let a little bit more cable out. And then your final check on the bike when tightening your brakes, is to make sure that your brakes pads aren't actually rubbing on the wheel. So just make sure that your wheel spins freely. And that it stops easily as well. And that is how you tighten or loosen your brakes on your bicycle."