UKC

Brake spring sourcing

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 G. Tiger, Esq. 21 Jul 2021

I need to replace the springs on my caliper brakes, road bike rim brakes, but cannot find where to source a replacement. Local bike shops haven't come up trumps, and nor have the usual and less usual online retailers. Even eBay and Amazon have let me down.

I have Tektro R540 calipers, and the springs seem to be as rare as hen's teeth, and knowledge about them just as rare.

Any tips on sourcing such things?

I'm going to take them apart completely and give them a good clean, but as they don't spring back when the brake cable is disconnected, I've ruled out cable / housing issues 

Thanks for any help 

GTE

 GerM 21 Jul 2021
In reply to G. Tiger, Esq.:

Have you tried the UK distibutor www.upgradebikes.co.uk?

In reply to GerM:

I have now, but they were no help.

GTE

 LastBoyScout 21 Jul 2021
In reply to G. Tiger, Esq.:

I've never heard of a brake spring failing - replacements are probably rare, as they're just not needed.

More likely to be a build-up of crud/corrosion in the pivots - had similar on my Shimano 105 calipers. They do tend to get sprayed in everything on the road.

 Jon Greengrass 21 Jul 2021
In reply to G. Tiger, Esq.:

Buy a new caliper , remove the spring, fit to your brake, try and sell the new caliper sans spring to someone who has a broken caliper and a good spring.

 a crap climber 21 Jul 2021
In reply to G. Tiger, Esq.:

As LastBoyScout said, most likely crud in the pivots.

I haven't seen that particular caliper in the flesh but you can usually dismantle them if you're reasonably happy wielding a spanner. There look to be a few videos on YouTube on doing this, e.g.  youtube.com/watch?v=TqbCR83psAg&

I haven't watched all of this to see if it's any good though as like most of these things it goes on a bit...

They're easier to take apart than put together, though it's not super hard by any means. Watch out for grub screws on the pivot bolts - there'll be one on each pivot and if you don't loosen them you can damage the threads when you undo the bolts.

I strip mine annually to keep them working

In reply to a crap climber:

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've dismantled it and given it a good fettling and it's infinitely smoother. 

I need More time spent on maintenance rather than trying to fix the problem with new  bits.

Just need to refit it to the bike and do the rear one now 

Good call on the grub screws - need to check them after reassembly 

GTE

Post edited at 14:23
In reply to G. Tiger, Esq.:

Well the front one is fine, but disassembly of the rear has stalled due to rounding out the hex bolt on one of the pivots....

I undid the grub screw so it's clearly siezed. Next steps?

New brakes?

I don't have an unscrewing tool for that sort of thing. Can't even think of the name of it 

GTE

 John Ww 21 Jul 2021
In reply to G. Tiger, Esq.:

Large amounts of WD40 and a stud extractor?

 gethin_allen 21 Jul 2021
In reply to G. Tiger, Esq.:

After a bit of soaking in WD-40 or similar and maybe a freeze warm cycle you could try hammering in a slightly larger sized torx bit into the hex socket.

 stuartf 22 Jul 2021
In reply to gethin_allen:

Or if the head of the bolt protrudes you can sometimes get a file onto it, file a flat on each side and use a spanner to remove.

 John Ww 22 Jul 2021
In reply to stuartf:

Or possibly mole grips?


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