Help: first time replacing brake pads and adjusting brakes by myself

Okay, I figure this is one of those maintenance tasks that I *should* be
able to do by myself and not have to pay a LBS to do.

The brakes in question are the rear brakes of Trek 850 I just picked up for
cheap. Front breaks pads are pretty new while the rear are almost
non-existent. I figure if I can successfully do the rear then I'll do the
front to give the bike new pads all the way around.

The rear brakes are cantilevered from the side. I've already released the
cable from the quick-release deal on the left caliper and I removed the
cable altogether from the right caliper. When I push the calipers towards
the rim I find that when I get each caliper to the point where they engage
the spring that they're not both equidistant from the rim. I'm assuming
this isn't optimal.

I've read some online articles about optimal pad placement, but I'm
wondering if it's common (or just good practice) to make caliper adjustments
FIRST and then install and place the pads SECOND. How far from the rim do
you want the calipers before they meet resistance from the spring? Would I
really need to have the pads installed first to know this? By the way,
these pads aren't the kind where you can adjust the distance from pad to rim
while on the caliper.

Hopefully that's made some sense. Any and all suggestions welcome. If I
need to provide more info, just ask and I'll find out what I can. Thanks!

--
=================================================
The creative act is not the province of remote oracles or rarefied geniuses
but a transparent process that is open to everyone.
-Greg Kot in Wilco Learning How To Die-

42N83W wrote:
Okay, I figure this is one of those maintenance tasks that I *should* be
able to do by myself and not have to pay a LBS to do.

The brakes in question are the rear brakes of Trek 850 I just picked up for
cheap. Front breaks pads are pretty new while the rear are almost
non-existent. I figure if I can successfully do the rear then I'll do the
front to give the bike new pads all the way around.

The rear brakes are cantilevered from the side. I've already released the
cable from the quick-release deal on the left caliper and I removed the
cable altogether from the right caliper. When I push the calipers towards
the rim I find that when I get each caliper to the point where they engage
the spring that they're not both equidistant from the rim. I'm assuming
this isn't optimal.

I've read some online articles about optimal pad placement, but I'm
wondering if it's common (or just good practice) to make caliper adjustments
FIRST and then install and place the pads SECOND. How far from the rim do
you want the calipers before they meet resistance from the spring? Would I
really need to have the pads installed first to know this? By the way,
these pads aren't the kind where you can adjust the distance from pad to rim
while on the caliper.

Hopefully that's made some sense. Any and all suggestions welcome. If I
need to provide more info, just ask and I'll find out what I can. Thanks!


http://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html