mountain bike brakes

[farm]

i have just bought a mountain bike in a box, when i put it together the front brakes are completely out of kilter and do not even vaguely stop the bike. iam a complete novice when it comes to this sort of thing and the misses is hassling me to fix it without paying thirty quid to the local bike shop

please somebody help me in plain simple english that an idiot like me could understand

[stoo_pid]

does this help? http://www.bikewebsite.com/brake.htm

[farm]

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP WILL READ IT LATER AND HAVE A GO