Cyclo-cross Brake Cable Adjustment Hack

Okay, to start off I have no affiliation with Nationwide Insurance and they did not ask to be involved in this post, however I was reminded of one of their commercials when we received an email for WV Cycling.  The hack passed on has to do with adjusting a brake cable for a cyclo-cross bike and made me think about how many times I wish I had a third hand.

 

WV Cycling wrote to us and stated:  Easy trick for adjusting the straddle wire on a set of cyclocross brakes. Gives you a third hand and halves the time spent setting them up!

Setting up Cantilever brakes in the past was something I did not enjoy so I made the jump and saw the following picture on the site:

Photo and Italic Text Credit to WV Cycling

A simple bungee cord pulled over the seat actually provided two extra hands.  The following text sums it up:

I attached it to one side of the brakes, then over the seatpost for some mild tension, back to the other brake. Tadaa! The brakes were touching the rim, and I could eye things to an accurate adjustment.

Brilliantly simple use of a bungee.  Do you have third hand hacks?  Feel free to let us know.

Comments

[Lucas]

For my road bike, I use a 6 inch bar clamp through my spokes to hold my brakes to the rim. Works every time.

[Mark H]

I thought the traditional thing to use was a toe strap (remember those?) around the brake pads and tires.

[Alex]

Yep--spare toe strap around the entire rim/tire and brake pads for cross, touring, and hybrids. Run it diagonally over the pad securing hardware on the mountain bikes.