How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

The brakes on my Specialized road bike were not opening all the way when
releasing the brake levers. At first I thought it was the old brake
cables having corrosion so I replace them, and I also put on a set of
new/used levers, since the springs in the original levers were weak, but
this wasn't sufficient.

Went to a bike shop this morning and the shop was closed but the service
area had an open door and I asked the mechanic about replacement
springs. These are for Dia-Compe Edge brakes that came with the bicycle,
circa 1987.

The mechanic told me to just replace the brake set. I ended up buying a
set of Ultegra 6800 calipers from him, with pads, that he had taken off
a bicycle where the owner was upgrading. At first he wanted to sell me
the whole Ultegra group for $300, which had a FC-6703 triple crank, but
he sold me the brakes only, for $50. This is a much better brakeset than
the original, but really I only needed the springs, I was just in a hurry.

How often should I have to replace brake springs. Since this road
bicycle is about 30 years old I figure that the springs do fatigue over
time.

I think this is what I wanted:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIA-COMPE-S-PULL-BRAKE-PART-SPRING-/282571492776?hash=item41ca92cda8:g:LiIAAOSwUFtZaPk c

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 7:40:49 PM UTC-4, sms wrote:
The brakes on my Specialized road bike were not opening all the way when
releasing the brake levers. At first I thought it was the old brake
cables having corrosion so I replace them, and I also put on a set of
new/used levers, since the springs in the original levers were weak, but
this wasn't sufficient.

Snipped
How often should I have to replace brake springs. Since this road
bicycle is about 30 years old I figure that the springs do fatigue over
time.

I think this is what I wanted:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIA-COMPE-S-PULL-BRAKE-PART-SPRING-/282571492776?hash=item41ca92cda8:g:LiIAAOSwUFtZaPk c

How often? NEVER! Just unhook each side of the spring from the caliper arm and then bend the brake spring upwards away from the caliper arm to increase the tension of the spring and you'd be set for many more years of use. The shop ripped you off by selling you new brake calipers you did NOT need.

Cheers

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On 7/26/2017 7:05 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 7:40:49 PM UTC-4, sms wrote:
The brakes on my Specialized road bike were not opening all the way when
releasing the brake levers. At first I thought it was the old brake
cables having corrosion so I replace them, and I also put on a set of
new/used levers, since the springs in the original levers were weak, but
this wasn't sufficient.

Snipped
How often should I have to replace brake springs. Since this road
bicycle is about 30 years old I figure that the springs do fatigue over
time.

I think this is what I wanted:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIA-COMPE-S-PULL-BRAKE-PART-SPRING-/282571492776?hash=item41ca92cda8:g:LiIAAOSwUFtZaPk c

How often? NEVER! Just unhook each side of the spring from the caliper arm and then bend the brake spring upwards away from the caliper arm to increase the tension of the spring and you'd be set for many more years of use. The shop ripped you off by selling you new brake calipers you did NOT need.


Right. Besides which the most common problems are dirt/crud
or a bent inner arm.
Dissassemble, clean everything, oil or grease all mating
parts and reassemble such that arms move freely without any
fore/aft slop. Lock adjustment, hook the spring ends in and
you're good for many years.
Bent arms on that class of brake are very easily reshaped.
Hold in aluminum vise jaws, rectify with a crescent wrench
and a straightedge.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On 7/26/2017 7:40 PM, sms wrote:
Since this road
bicycle is about 30 years old I figure that the springs do fatigue over
time.

Sorry, you're wrong. You probably had a grungy pivot.

--
- Frank Krygowski

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On 7/26/2017 10:36 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/26/2017 7:40 PM, sms wrote:
Since this road bicycle is about 30 years old I figure
that the springs do fatigue over time.

Sorry, you're wrong. You probably had a grungy pivot.


#1 reason for spring replacement is aesthetic = flaking
chrome, rust etc not dysfunction.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 7:21:03 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 7/26/2017 7:05 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 7:40:49 PM UTC-4, sms wrote:
The brakes on my Specialized road bike were not opening all the way when
releasing the brake levers. At first I thought it was the old brake
cables having corrosion so I replace them, and I also put on a set of
new/used levers, since the springs in the original levers were weak, but
this wasn't sufficient.

Snipped
How often should I have to replace brake springs. Since this road
bicycle is about 30 years old I figure that the springs do fatigue over
time.

I think this is what I wanted:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIA-COMPE-S-PULL-BRAKE-PART-SPRING-/282571492776?hash=item41ca92cda8:g:LiIAAOSwUFtZaPk c

How often? NEVER! Just unhook each side of the spring from the caliper arm and then bend the brake spring upwards away from the caliper arm to increase the tension of the spring and you'd be set for many more years of use.. The shop ripped you off by selling you new brake calipers you did NOT need.


Right. Besides which the most common problems are dirt/crud
or a bent inner arm.
Dissassemble, clean everything, oil or grease all mating
parts and reassemble such that arms move freely without any
fore/aft slop. Lock adjustment, hook the spring ends in and
you're good for many years.
Bent arms on that class of brake are very easily reshaped.
Hold in aluminum vise jaws, rectify with a crescent wrench
and a straightedge.

Wouldn't you think that after 30 years that it is likely that the spring is rusted and dragging against itself? If you clean the spring of it's rust you still have the pitting which reduces the action of the spring.

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On 7/27/2017 8:30 AM, wrote:
On Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 7:21:03 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 7/26/2017 7:05 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 7:40:49 PM UTC-4, sms wrote:
The brakes on my Specialized road bike were not opening all the way when
releasing the brake levers. At first I thought it was the old brake
cables having corrosion so I replace them, and I also put on a set of
new/used levers, since the springs in the original levers were weak, but
this wasn't sufficient.

Snipped
How often should I have to replace brake springs. Since this road
bicycle is about 30 years old I figure that the springs do fatigue over
time.

I think this is what I wanted:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIA-COMPE-S-PULL-BRAKE-PART-SPRING-/282571492776?hash=item41ca92cda8:g:LiIAAOSwUFtZaPk c

How often? NEVER! Just unhook each side of the spring from the caliper arm and then bend the brake spring upwards away from the caliper arm to increase the tension of the spring and you'd be set for many more years of use. The shop ripped you off by selling you new brake calipers you did NOT need.


Right. Besides which the most common problems are dirt/crud
or a bent inner arm.
Dissassemble, clean everything, oil or grease all mating
parts and reassemble such that arms move freely without any
fore/aft slop. Lock adjustment, hook the spring ends in and
you're good for many years.
Bent arms on that class of brake are very easily reshaped.
Hold in aluminum vise jaws, rectify with a crescent wrench
and a straightedge.

Wouldn't you think that after 30 years that it is likely that the spring is rusted and dragging against itself? If you clean the spring of it's rust you still have the pitting which reduces the action of the spring.


In theory maybe but I've never seen that in real life. Rust
is ugly but in terms of % reduction of cross section of a
spring, it's meaningless.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On Thursday, July 27, 2017 at 7:08:07 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 7/27/2017 8:30 AM, wrote:

Wouldn't you think that after 30 years that it is likely that the spring is rusted and dragging against itself? If you clean the spring of it's rust you still have the pitting which reduces the action of the spring.


In theory maybe but I've never seen that in real life. Rust
is ugly but in terms of % reduction of cross section of a
spring, it's meaningless.

Well, I haven't seen the spring reduced in spring power, but I have seen it drag against itself so much that it effectively reduced the spring pressure. But perhaps I've seen a whole lot more junk than you have. People aren't going to bring equipment like that to a mechanic.

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On Wednesday, July 26, 2017 at 8:36:13 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/26/2017 7:40 PM, sms wrote:
Since this road
bicycle is about 30 years old I figure that the springs do fatigue over
time.

Sorry, you're wrong. You probably had a grungy pivot.


That's what the man said. All those darts and mustangs you saw in the 70's with their asses sagging didn't get that way because of gravity over time, they got that way by hitting a speedbump while heavily loaded.

How long should caliper brake springs last?
 

On 7/27/2017 7:08 AM, AMuzi wrote:

snip

In theory maybe but I've never seen that in real life. Rust is ugly but
in terms of % reduction of cross section of a spring, it's meaningless.

The spring is not rusty. But it pops out with no effort, it's just not
springy anymore. It seems to be fatigued.

The brake sets are cleaned and lubed. I may still order some springs to
use these brakes on another road bike which has lower quality brakes. If
I were in Wisconsin, I'm sure that AMuzi would have the springs in
stock, but the shops in Silicon Valley have little interest in stocking
and selling little parts like this.