Them's The (Rim) Brakes
When to change your pads and cables?
Help us keep the lights on…literally
Two days ago the lights in the back of the workshop blew a fuse and thanks to the tilting axis of the earth, we were plunged us into darkness. Fixing bikes by candlelight is not the best idea. We are anticipating a hefty bill...
To that end, this newsletter is a fundraiser!
You can help us out by:
Booking a class
Buying our new presale merch
Becoming a regular paid subscriber
And now for a glorious smörgåsbord of a newsletter, buckle up kids, I'm ALL over the place in this one: empowering, advocating, selling, lobbying, giving away, begging - it's all here. Enjoy!
When to change your brake pads
[to be read in David Attenborough's voice]
Ah, the poor misaligned rim brake.
Its slow degradation happens over time, like a frog being boiled alive. By the time you notice something’s wrong, it’s probably too late: your brakes barely work or you’ve damaged your rims.
If you’re pulling your lever almost to the handlebar, it’s a sign that your brake pads need changing or your cable needs adjusting.
So how to know which is which?
First check if your pads have “teeth”. All rim brake pads have grooves in them when they’re new. As they wear down, these grooves disappear. If all you’ve got are gums, you need new pads.
If you’ve got the grooves, then the problem could be your cable - squeeze your lever. British Standards dictate that the pads should engage when you squeeze about halfway. Any more than this, or if your lever “bottoms out” (as opposed to bottom’s up! 🍑) and hits the handlebar, then you’ve got to tighten the brake cable.
If the cable feels spongy or fails to return when you activate the lever, that’s a sign that there’s corrosion in them thar cables, and the cables themselves need replacing. Or maybe a brake spring is broken - your local bike shop will know!
A rear brake will always feel slower to respond than a snappy front brake - that’s because the cable for the front brake is shorter with fewer twists and turns, meaning the cable has less friction in the system.
I chat more about replacing caliper brake pads and cables in my amazing limited edition book: HOW TO BUILD A BIKE. It’s now out of print, so snap up a signed copy right here.
When I went through my TikTok phase, I even made a video on how to cheat at changing pads (it didn’t work out tho, as you’ll see.) Making vids is time consuming (1 hour for every minute done) so I stopped doing it. I still like TikTok, but I find it dangerous as I will be sucked in for hours, so I stopped logging on. Enjoy!
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HANDS ON BRAKES
Do you wanna get hands on replacing your pads for caliper, v-brakes or cantilever brakes, or even disc brakes? We’ve got a class for that!
DISC BRAKE HOME MAINTENANCE
If you thought bleeding, think again!
There are several ways to address disc brake issues before you even think about fluids.
We're covering everything a budding home mechanic can do in the comfort of their own home, up until the point of replacing fluid or cables.
CHANGE YOUR RIM BRAKE PADS
In this 1 hour lunchtime class you will learn:
what type of rim brakes you have
how to change your pads and align them correctly
signs of wear so you know when to change them
PRESALE £20: Buttery soft long sleeve t-shirts
Tired of scratchy Gildan shirts made with the tears of small children?
It's time for a change.
Made by 'No Sweat', these are the most comradely t-shirts you could wear. And before you jump to 'there's no ethical consumption under capitalism', I'd like to point you towards their well rounded policies and ethics around their production, raw material sourcing, international garment worker campaigns, and eco-credentials.
We have only purchased a limited supply, (not really a fan of the print on demand model as the quality and worker conditions can be questionable, and you don’t have much choice of materials). They will be on sale for £20 until they arrive in our hot lil hands (after which they will go up to £25). Who knows when that’ll be - could be tomorrow, could be in 2 weeks time! Snap yours up today.
PRESALE £10: Rainbow Ombré Voile Straps
It’s been a long time comin - we had to wait until we had enough money to front up for some new 25” black Voile Straps, but they have gone to the printers! So as we wait with bated breath, we’re pre-selling our new rainbow ombré Voile Straps. Aren’t they gorgeous?
On sale for £10 until they arrive in our workshop (£13).
In intersectional news:
I’m just waiting for a Scooby Doo ending to the Gaza bombardment: the youthz corner Joe Biden and remove his mask, revealing the dead ghost of Henry Kissinger (oh wait he’s still alive)
“And I would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you pesky kids!”
Young people everywhere overwhelmingly support a ceasefire. Student groups supporting Palestine, including JVP chapters are being shut down (not sure how you’re gonna shut kids up tho, they’re pretty smart.) Read more about it from Jewish Voice for Peace.
The “kids” are alright. They give me hope.
What I am concerned about is the increasing criminalisation of the right to protest. I mean, I know it’s been going on for decades but now the govt isn’t even trying to hide it, just like they’re not hiding their support for genocide. Joshua Hill of
writes extensively on this here:
I feel our last hope here is in the courts, and with organisations like The Good Law Project.
What I’m paying attention to
Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha was kidnapped by the IDF last week. He has written a few pieces for the New Yorker.
He posted this today. This breaks my heart 💔
Anne Boyer resigned from the NYT as Poet in Residence, delivering a sharp and lyrical notice.
Are you a hoarder?
Do you have a stash of padded envelopes in the closet like me? If so, we are in need of shipping envelopes in preparation for Winterval. You could do a lil destash and donate said envelopes and we would be much obliged. We're trying to be more resourceful and reuse things instead of buying them. Thank you!
Anyone else miss Twitter?
I have 3 free codes to Bluesky which upon usage is probably the closest structure to old Twitter of the emergent apps. If you’d like one, hit reply or post in the comments a subject you’d like me to cover, and I’ll give you one. First come first served!
I told you it was going to be all over the place!
Thank you so much to everyone who liked and replied to my previous newsletter - it was quite personal, and while we lost several subs because of it, we are proud to take a stand with our values and our hearts.
I leave you with a podcast this time. While searching for the level-headed Naomi Klein, I discovered The Blindboy Podcast and his voice is so soothing and he is just magical, which is sorely needed right now. The second half of this particular episode talks about the symbiotic friendship between Ireland and Palestine, and I found it fascinating.
And while we're on an Irish theme, here's Bobby Fingers' latest video where he made a Jeff Bezos rowboat.
Art and laughter are therapy.
Ride on,
Jenni x