brake lever will not return My friend has a mountain bike that survived last years Queensland's floods (Australia, that is), but is all battered and bruised after not being ridden for a year. With my beginner's repair skills, I managed to make it almost roadworthy. The main problem now is the front brake lever: It will activate the brakes when pulled (and they work just fine) but the lever won't spring back into place when releasing it. 

Any ideas as to why that might be? Is there some spring that has can be replaced or does the lever have to go altogether? I have applied some WD40 inside the lever as I noticed some rusty parts there, but it didn't do the trick. 

 

Edit: I got some new cables and cable outers (cost me an arm and a leg here in Australia!), but it didn't do the trick. I dismantled the brake lever, only to see there is a spring inside the lever. (The spring resembles 2 circles of 5mm diameter with two 1mm vertical tips on either side. I presume that the tips serve to "hook" the lever &amp; possible return it to position.) 

This spring was rusty and fell apart when I tried to squeeze it. To conclude, since everything else is new, the issue is either: - This rusty spring that needs replacing, or - The 90o cable guide that was also rusty.
Some things to check and I'm assuming you're running V-brakes:


My first guess is that the brake cable inside the brake cable housing is sticking. Some light oil on the cable could help. (WD40 is a solvent, do not use it on cabling or chains and do not use it where you want to maintain lubrication on parts. Look for some light oil like TriFlow, or whatever your LBS sells.) If the brake cable does not travel smoothly, I would suggest a new brake cable.
If you unhook the brake cable at the front brake arms, the arms should travel smoothly and you should feel some spring action that will resist squeezing. If the brake arms have no spring to them, that's a problem.
With the brake cable unhooked, the brake hand lever should move freely. If it doesn't then oil it. Light oil should penetrate any rust, and that might take 20 minutes of sitting before it works in.


Keeping the brakes in good condition is worthwhile and important. If you don't feel confident about how they feel, seek some help. Having a front wheel misbehave can be quite dangerous. Best of luck!