 Evening all, helping a friend sort out his and his wifes new bikes, supplied by halfords in boxes  . Budget end of budget, the front brake on his is a tektro mechanical disc which doesn't seem possible to adjust (constant rubbing and lots of lever travel whatever I do to the cable tension and static pad adjuster) AND a shitty return spring. The wifes bike is graced with a tektro rear v brake that won't stop squealing, even with plenty of toe in on the pads. Thought I knew a bit about bikes but these brakes are causing a severe loss of face, so help me please!
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 i had Tektro mechanical disc brakes for a little bit, nothing but trouble! Hard to near impossible to get a tidy adjustment and stop brake rub or else they just didn't work at all. They are best binned in my opinion - safest option. It's not your brake skills that are at fault here, it's shit brakes supplied by a shit shop lol
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 Sounds like you've tried all the usual things. For the VBrake have a look to see how much the brake arm can twist on the pivot and also check whether as you tighten the nut to hold the brake pad on it moves to a toed out position no matter how firmly you hold the pad. These will allow the pad to hit the rim wrong regardless of how careful you are. You may need to face the disk mount to get the disk running cleanly on the bike - check whether there's some side to side adjustment (If the caliper is post mount) and use this to set the fixed pad a fraction of a mm from the disk, so the moving pad flexes the disk towards the fixed pad when the lever is pulled. There is also a possibility that the disk mount/fork was welded incorrectly - these bikes sound like sub £200 items and it's bloody hard to spec a brand new bike for that without some major compromises. Check the crank bolts for tightness and make sure the wheel, BB and headset bearings aren't too tight or more rarely too loose - while I worked in a bike shop rear wheel bearings were forever failing on people who bought bikes at this level and actually rode them...
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Thanks for the above, nice to know its not just me. Went back for a second stab at them today, the v brakes flex (well, rock around on the pivots) like a mad thing, toe in to the tune of a cone spanner under the end of the pad and thick grease on the pivots made the squeal bearable. With the aid of daylight I spotted the disc caliper was so off centre it rubbed the disc, once shimmed over adjustments to the pads made a difference! I will NEVER complain about my hydraulic brakes again, the cable ones combine wooden feel with complete lack of power, how people don't get put off cycling by equipment like this I don't know .
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 how people don't get put off cycling by equipment like this I don't know. That'll be because most of 'em don't know any better and think that's how it's meant to be.
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Not all cable disks are rubbish though, Avids BB5 and BB7 brakes are extremely popular with trials riders who often choose them over hydraulic disks for their bite and hold.
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Not just the brakes, the whole thing. Wobbly forks, rear sus that serves no purpose except adding weight, bottom bracket so low you hit the pedals on the ground on the gentlest corner, horrible horrible horrible!
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