Is this normal on a mountain bike?

Ahhhh....Yup · 06-26-2007, 07:37 AM

I bought a new mountain bike. I am new to montain biking. My Bike had braes you need to use gripper hand things on the bar, not the coaster type brakes you access with the pedals. anyways... my bike is hard to pedal even when i move the shift changer to eAsier shifts. I looked and it appears as though my brakes connected to the wheel are always engaged, like the plastic pad that touches the wheel rim never not makes contact. is it normal for the brake pad to always have contact driectly with the rim even while in motion?

boy-o · 06-26-2007, 07:38 AM

no you need to take an Alan wrench and loosen the brake cable so it doesn't touch
the rim but is vary close to the rim

G-T Rider · 06-26-2007, 07:40 AM

that is unsafe, use a hex wrench to open the cable screw and lower the cable tension then close the screw do the same on the front brake if needed

JeffyB · 06-26-2007, 07:51 AM

No, it is not normal. The brake cables need to be loosened slightly, and make sure your tires are properly inflated. The brake pads should only touch the rims when you apply the brakes.

Obes A Lot · 06-26-2007, 07:52 AM

The place you bought the bike from set the brakes too tight. Maybe they did it thinking that if they set the brakes tight then that they would loosen up as the cable stretched (brake and shifter cables stretch during the first couple of months of use). But they set it way too tight. This IS dangerous and you need to fix it by loosening the cable on the brake assembly.