I feel like the stock brakes of my hilt 120 are not strong enough, the rear one is the one giving me trouble, I thought about changing them, but is it worth it?
Does anyone have suggestion?
STOCK photo of brakes from https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/tilt-120-folding-bike/_/R-p-120068:
Those pressed steel brake arms probably have a lot of flex and could be greatly improved with decent (if old school) XT level V brake with parallelogram. New quality cables would also help a lot to reduce friction in the cables. New brake pads (Koolstop or similar quality) would be much better than the ones that come with a bike at that price point.
One thing to check carefully is the brake cable does not have any small radius corners and comes out of fittings in a straight line.
Based on the stock photo, you have V brakes. The photo shows some aluminium rims and generic brake pads.
First thing to try is cleaning the rims and inspect the pads.
Wipe down the rims with a damp cloth and see all the dirt come off. I dunno what it is about folding bikes but they seem to get dirtier faster.
Check the brake pads for wear. There should be braking material only in contact with the rim. Also look for debris that has embedded itself in the brake pad's face over time. Its not unusual to find metal fragments, and they can be removed with a pick or any pokey-tool.
Then check the rear wheel for trueness. The rim should not wobble side-to-side as it spins. This means the brake arms have to be wider to allow that wobble through without rubbing. Ideally the rim should be completely flat / planar.
At rest, the brake arms should stop so the pads just clear the rim. A large gap means the hand lever has to take up all the slack before the pads bite. But you don't want the pads to touch the rim while not-braking.
Squeeze and release the brake lever, the arms should pull back about the same distance each, and about the same speed. There's a tension adjust at the bottom of most V brake arms, where tightening makes the arm pull-off harder.
If your brake pads are hardened, just replace them. The rubber hardens with exposure to UV, and braking suffers. It may be that any new pad works better, but I have a preference for Kool Stop or similar.
Replacing the brake arms, probably won't do a lot for your braking performance, but if the brake lever is plastic then swapping to a metal one can help remove flex from the system.
