simple brake adjustment

[handlebar]

The assembly manual that came with my Radrunner said nothing about putting the front wheel on. I couldn't get the rotor between the pads until I backed off on the inner pad adjustment dial. With the wheel on, I tightened the dial until it seemed about right. That was about 1500 miles ago. The brake has always worked well.

Lately, I found that the rear brake had no effect against forward motion. It still worked fine to keep the wheel from rolling backward when I turned the bike upside down. I ordered new pads. One old pad was worn away at one end. The other pad was fine. Except the cable, I hadn't adjusted the rear brake because the Radpower instructions weren't clear to me. It must have come from the factory off center and misaligned.

I installed the pads and went to the Radpower site for adjustment instructions. They're for the birds. How could I see the pads well enough to know if the caliper was centered and aligned? Visually, how was I supposed to judge the right spacing? I didn't understand how to use the adjustment tool.

The instructions say to loosen the pinch screw on the cable. Why? You just have to be sure the lever on the caliper can open all the way to the stop. I loosened the bolts just enough enough that the caliper could slide. With an allen wrench, I tightened the dial until the pads clamped the disk, then backed off a couple of clicks so that the wheel would turn freely. That seemed a good spacing. Now if I used the lever on the caliper or the one on the handlebar to clamp the pads onto the disk, the disk would keep the caliper aligned and centered while I tightened the bolts.

It was quick and simple and the brake worked great. Since the bike was new, I'd assumed the drag on the back wheel was from the gears and motor,  but now the drag was gone. The next day, I adjusted the front brake the same way. It went from working well to working better.  I still don't know what the adjustment tool is for.