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[Pecon]

I had the same thing happen to me only yesterday but in my case as far as I can see it is the front brake. The bike slowly ground to a halt so I loosened the adjuster at the bars a couple of turns and got moving again but with a noticeable bind. I just put it on the ramp with the intention of investigating during the week. I had replaced both wheels with a set of specials from Hitchcocks, the front a TLS to replace the original SLS and have only put up about 50 miles since. Perhaps something to do with the setup, time will tell.

[beamish]

Thanks all. I'll get the bike on the ramp and investigate in the next few days. TimNZ interesting stuff; I had intended to free off the brake having read on this site that this is the way to go. Shant bother now, the 20 yard skid rather suggests that the brake works fine!

[hagis]

The most likely reason for this is the fibre brake shoe material parting company with metal part of the brake shoe, this is caused by wear or old age.

[Gwilly]

Thinking aloud really but i think a sheared brake plate stud would be blatantly obvious, riding home would be out of the question..

Problem will be internal, could well be a shoe delaminating whereby the friction material has broken free from the rivets or adhesive bonding it to the metal..

Or maybe the linings are so worn that the cam is turning over the apex and cannot return, but then the pedal would be stuck in the down position, again obvious to see..

Interesting, let us know what you find beamish..

[Scalyback]

Maybe if the brake was rubbing slightly after turning the adjusting nut a little, then it would heat up and expand possibly causing it to lock on. I overdid the adjustment once and ended up 2-3 miles later with a hot hub, luckily it was a short trip.

[Rattlebattle]

It's not uncommon. It's a poor design. Unless the torque arm nut on the swinging arm is kept tight, play between the stud and the slot can develop leading to breakage, jamming the rear wheel and wrecking the swinging arm. Not what has happened here (it would be obvious) but something to keep an eye on. Hopefully the 2017 models with a disc rear brake will finally resolve this poor design issue.

[Count Johnny]

When in doubt:

[Presto]

One cause of brake locking up (not sure if anyone has mentioned this - I've not read all the postings on this question) is that the cam operating the shoes rotates further than it ought and locks the shoes at the widest point of the cam. This may happen due to incorrect adjustment and/or heavily worn linings.

[Count Johnny]

As appoint of interest, we've measured two brand new brake drums and the run-out was in excess of 20 thou in both cases.

[Count Johnny]

...a point of...