Sticky bicycle lever?

Question

I noticed that my rear brake lever is a bit sticky, in that after braking, it doesn't rebound back to it's standard position. I can compensate for this on my rides by just giving it a little flick into the open position and continue on my ride. But it's kind of annoying, and I was curious what the best way to fix this was.

Answer 1

Hum...

You may have a sticky lever, but you may also have a bad brake cable, a broken or worn brake spring, or too much friction in a cable housing.

To isolate the problem you need to start by loosening the brake's pinch bolt so the lever and cable are isolated from the brake.

Now, does the brake work correctly?  Does the brake resist when you squeeze it by hand and pop open correctly when you release it?  If it is working freely, then the problem is in the cable or lever.

Does the cable slide freely inside all of the housing?  If it feels sticky you need to pull the housing back to make sure it isn't frayed and getting ready to break.  If it is sticky, but the cable is not frayed you may be able to clean and lube the cable and get it working freely.  I've always found it best to replace cables and housings when they get gunked up and sticky.

Next inspect the cable end inside the brake lever.  Sometimes cables get frayed inside the lever and cause stickiness.

Finally, if your bike is equipped with brake/shifter levers and the stickiness is actually inside the lever, I'd take the bike to your local shop.  Brake/shifters are very complicated devices and not easy to work on.  If it is under warranty, you don't want to mess with it.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

There are three parts to look at unless you're positive that it's the lever.  Disconnect the cable from the lever and see if it moves freely and the return spring brings it back home.   If not, use some light oil on the lever pivots and inspect the return spring if you can see it to be sure that it hasn't been knocked loose.  Some levers use nylon bushings on the pivot, too...they don't usually have any problems but take a look at it too.  

My guess is that it's your cable binding in the housing.  This can happen from using a housing that's too small for the cable, or from tight bends in the routing, or from housing that is worn out or rusted/gritty inside.  When you install a new cable don't use any lube or grease if it's a lined housing....it will degrade the lining over time and cause sluggish movement.  If you positively feel like you need to use lube, then use a synthetic grease/silicone and smear an ultralight coating on the cable before you insert it.  Really though, with most systems on the market now, running the cable dry is the best thing.

Third, remove the cable from the brake and the wheel from the bike, and see how the arms move.  They should be snug with a teeny amount of slop that is designed into them, and they should move freely.  If they don't, then take them off, clean up the post mounts and put a little fresh grease on them.  Clean any grime from the arms and mounting holes and put it back together.  

If none of that fixes it, then you might try cranking down the centering screws that are on the outside of each brake arm.  Tightening them will slightly increase the spring tension and might help pull your lever home without having to flick it.  Just be sure to adjust the screws so that the pads are centered and hitting the rim at the same time.  

Hope this helps.   :o)

Answer 3

Are they centre pull brakes side pull or the older style with the spring in the middle, either way try using wd40 on them and sqeeze the brake lever a couple of times as you do it, it also wouldn't hurt to spray some up the cable tubing as well after a while they get filled with grit and dirt give that a try and see how you go. hope this is of some help