# Giant propel brake rust problem.



## FasterStronger (Jun 6, 2014)

My propel has been in use for one season. The rear brake - left side will not move - the spring has rusted and now the brakes need to be replaced. 
Anyone else have this issue?
i occasionally wash my bike - nothing crazy - more often than not wipe it down with a micro fibre and some spray - so this would have to be sweat dripping. 
Shop owner -giant shop told me he has never seen this issue. Doubts they will warranty it and I will have to purchase new breaks. Seems like a road bike should be able to withstand some sweat and still function.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

Have you tried to disassemble the brake to clean, lube and reassemble it?


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## FasterStronger (Jun 6, 2014)

Hi velodog,
yup - the owner did this with no change. 



velodog said:


> Have you tried to disassemble the brake to clean, lube and reassemble it?


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

FasterStronger said:


> Hi velodog,
> yup - the owner did this with no change.


That sux.


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## carlosflanders (Nov 23, 2008)

Which generation brake are you using? If by chance it's an older gen you would be entitled to a new set of brakes anyway as giant recalled them.

I have the replacement brakes with the linear ( not coiled) spring. Both left and right rear arms have seized up. I took them apart and cleaned them but no go. Then the mechanic at my lbs showed me how to press out the bushings - something I wasn't aware of. Once I cleaned and regreased the bushings the brakes were good as new.

Not to disrespect your lbs, but it's easy to miss pressing out and cleaning the bushings if you dont see those type of brakes often.

Just a couple of suggestions on the off chance it could save you from new brake purchase.

Could also be worth contacting trp or giant to see if replacement springs are available.


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## FasterStronger (Jun 6, 2014)

Hi Carlosflanders - thanks for your reply.
Bike is a 2016 Propel SL1.
I don't think the LBS sees this bike or brake often and quite frankly I don't think he is too motivated to be helpful since I bought the bike from another Giant shop several hours away on a heavy discount.
Is this the same brake you are referring to ?
Thanks


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## carlosflanders (Nov 23, 2008)

looks like the latest gen brake.

I personally doubt that the spring is rusted, would have to be very extreme. Not impossible though.

It's easy to take off the arm. Try pushing on the bushing with a tool to see if it comes out. It should come out quite easily. If it doesn't I would suspect the interface is contaminated. Push a bit harder to get it out. Either way, clean and regrease and see if that solves the problem.


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## FasterStronger (Jun 6, 2014)

Thanks Carlosflanders.
Dealer sways bushing cannot be replaced - must buy a new brake - do you know if this is accurate or not?


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## carlosflanders (Nov 23, 2008)

You'd probably need a new brake. If so, buy a Fouriers on ebay.

However, I wouldn't give up on the brake just yet. If the bushing is stuck, soak it in WD40 or similar and try to tap it out and clean. It all seems very odd but I'd have to see it myself to say any more. 

There's some very useful info and comments on this page. It's for a different gen, I think (edit: after comparison it appears to be the same gen), but the comments are good and relevant.

Propel summer service - Dubai Cyclist

btw, Many Giant shops have loads of replacement brakes lying around. These were for replacements for previous gens, but many Propel owners just went ahead and bought Fouriers instead of warrantying the old ones. My old LBS in Illinois had a shelf full of them.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

FasterStronger said:


> Thanks Carlosflanders.
> Dealer sways bushing cannot be replaced - must buy a new brake - do you know if this is accurate or not?


It seems odd that a bushing would be permanently installed, but even if it might be it would be worth it to try and press it out. Even if replacements couldn't be had the removed bushings could be cleaned up with a bit of emery, lubed and reinstalled. 

You may be able to fashion a puller, of sorts, with a socket that buts against the bushing and a larger socket, or piece of tubing\pipe of a larger diameter to but up against the brake arm. run a bolt through the center of the sockets and tighten. I've done this on Mafac center pulls and the bushings came right out.
This is if the shop guy is wrong and there are bushings.


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## carlosflanders (Nov 23, 2008)

Yes there are bushings. They're not permanently installed but may appear to be if they seize. Under normal circumstances they slide out easily. The question is if the bushing is permanently seized or not and if this is what caused the brake to malfunction. Shop guy claimed that the problem was with rusted spring. I'm not sure if he checked the bushing or not or whether the problem has been blamed on the bushing now.

I do know that the bushings are the most common cause of any sticky propel brake problems and they need regular maintenance.


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## xeon (Dec 21, 2008)

carlosflanders said:


> Yes there are bushings. They're not permanently installed but may appear to be if they seize. Under normal circumstances they slide out easily. The question is if the bushing is permanently seized or not and if this is what caused the brake to malfunction. Shop guy claimed that the problem was with rusted spring. I'm not sure if he checked the bushing or not or whether the problem has been blamed on the bushing now.
> 
> I do know that the bushings are the most common cause of any sticky propel brake problems and they need regular maintenance.


Can someoone illustrate this please.... post some pics?

My front brake is only half working... last time I took it into the shop they warranteed the rear for like the third time but didn't replace the front... which was the same model they were replacing on the rear. I digress.. my front is only half working right now.

It seems to stick and not open, so spring or bushing? I took it off but can't seem to figure out what exactly is supposed to slide out. The housing the bolts connect the brakes to the fork seem to be part of the brake.


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## xeon (Dec 21, 2008)

The above referenced site at Dubaicyclist appears to no longer be an active site so I found a cached copy of the page on WayBackMachine... below is the text and photos from the section about the brakes. Looks like the part I was thinking about CAN and SHOULD be removed and maintained. Mine is seized as I've tried to push it out before with no luck... will go after it now that I know it does come out... text and pics from Dubaicyclist below... 



> The final thing to service on the Propel is the Aero SL brakes which are made by TRP. This is one of the reasons I suggested the service to Sara, as if Propels have one weak spot, it is the bearings on the Speed Control SL brakes. These need regular servicing, as with heat and sweat the Cadmium plated bearing caliper pivot can seize up and is an utter bu**er to disassemble when it has seized.
> 
> The way to identify if you have a problem with these brakes, is if there is any stiction or drag, when they are meant to spring back from the rim. If you find yourself adjusting the spring tension on one side to balance the gap, then you may also have a problem.
> 
> ...


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## xeon (Dec 21, 2008)

To tag onto this thread after my repair of my front brakes... the pics from the Dubai cyclist page were a huge help. 

Earlier posts on this thread speak to maintenance of the spindle and the bushing in the brake housing. After tearing mine apart and dissassembling them I have a much better understaning on how they do/don't work. 

In a nut shell they should probably be taken off and cleaned of rust, polished, greased, etc. so that they stay moving. Once that pin seizes the brakes don't work well. 

I had earlier versions of the brakes initially with the coil spring but as it turns out had some linear springs put on there twice... last time they replaced only the rears... I digress they gave me my old rears so I had some spare parts as it turns out. Everything but the actual brake housing will work as they are cut ever so slighlty different. 

Initially when I pulled my front brakes the pins were seized pretty bad, so I tossed them into my Ultrasonic with some water/Deep Purple cleaner... bad idea. The Deep Purple remove some finish from the brakes... so they're splotchy now. 

So I soaked them with rust penentrator and tapped the parts out... they actually pulled the collars out of the brake housings they were so stuck. To tap them out I used some t handle metric allen heads... work well. 

It took some work to separate them and I noticed one of the pins has a ever so slight hump/bend in it that makes it stick pretty bad and more difficult to press out. I thought about grinding it or trying to straighten it but I've got extra parts from a previouse shop replacement. So I replaced it with one I had from the parts I had from my 'old' rear brakes. 

I pressed the bushings back in, removed rust and polished everything nice and smooth... put a light coat of marine/bearing grease on the moving parts for good measure. 

Put everything back together and adjusted the brakes... they work amazing now. They just are a little splotch from me tossing them in my Ultrasonic with cleaner... ooops. 

All of my brake complaints with this linear spring version of the brakes are most likely because I/or the bike shop was not aware that these things are an item that require maintenance. 

IMO you need to take these things apart every so often and maintain them so the pin spins in the bushing.


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## flanman (Jul 7, 2006)

xeon said:


> All of my brake complaints with this linear spring version of the brakes are most likely because I/or the bike shop was not aware that these things are an item that require maintenance.
> 
> IMO you need to take these things apart every so often and maintain them so the pin spins in the bushing.


Yep. Almost always the bushings. It's a pity that we all had to learn this the hard way. 

Eventually got sick of mine and replaced the rear brake with fouriers. Works better and now have clearance for 29 mm tires.


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## Dricnic (Apr 23, 2021)

I know this thread is basically a year and a half old, but I just wanted to thank you guys for taking the time to explain how you did it.

The bushings were so stuck that I was really doubting I could push them out. But I did it !
To add on your methods, I'd say that the most effective way to push them out with as little tools as possible, is using a socket (or anything really) that has the same diameter as the bushing (not bigger, otherwise you'll push against the copper-like thing that is part of the brake arm and you don't want to push that out) and just hammer through it. It should push the bushing out relatively easily. Don't do like me and make sure that the brake arm is resting on a very solid surface or you'll damage it.
Then I used a file to polish the very dirty bushing, put some grease on it, and it slid right back almost flawlessly. Ideally I would have used some sandpaper to file the inner part of the brake arm that supports the bushing but I didn't have any unfortunately.

I hope this message will eventually serve someone, though I doubt much people are still using these bikes. Mine is a second hand Propel Advanced Pro 2 2016 that had stayed 2 years without riding. After 9 months of use, or roughly 15000km, sometimes in pouring rain, the brakes were really struggling but now they are like new.


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## smoczysko88 (May 10, 2021)

Hello everyone! 
So I hope this post will help me as I just got back to my Propel Advanced frame (2016) and noticed that rear brake is not working well and when I saw the prices and that TRP nor Giant are not providing any spare parts I was a bit let's say surprised . 

Now with your instructions I hope I will manage to clean this brake up. 
And @Dricnic in Poland a lot of people are still riding on Propels... but now they are moving to the ones with disc brakes.

On the other hand - if any one reads this post (and I am not breaking any forum rules - if so sorry just inform me I will create new topic) I am looking for Speedcontrol SL leading pipes. I noticed ones on giantspares webpage but they are quite expensive when I convert to PLN, and am still looking for some replacement (at the moment with standard vbrake pipe the bike doesn't look good . Thanks in advance.

Cheers everyone I will let you know if I will manage to clean my breake


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## smoczysko88 (May 10, 2021)

So I did clean the brake and it seems it works  hopefully I will test it today  thanks for this everyone  

Have a good day!


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## MattPropel (Jun 3, 2021)

Cheers for help. Just found this after I thought my brakes were beyond repair.
dismantled, cleaned and now moving again
View attachment 479702
View attachment 479702


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