brakes pads not aligning to rim - how to fix?

I recently got a Jamis Aurora frameset and am putting on Shimano's
Ultegra brakes. The wheelset is Ritchey's. The problem is the brake
pads do not go down enough to align properly on the rim in the front
or the back. I have pushed the pads down as far as they will go in the
slot on the calipers but the pads are still 1/16 above the surface.
I've tried a different pair of wheels and get the same results.
Because the bike is designed more for touring, my thoughts are the
brake bridge and bolt hole in the fork is a bit higher to accomodate
rims. However, it seems a bit too high. My options seem to be to make
some kind of modification to the brake or to the frame either by
slotting out the brake arm a bit more or filing the axle slot on the
frame to allow the axle to ride a bit higher. Neither is a good
choice to me.

Any other ideas on how to fix this problem?

Thanks,
Highwheel

Tom wrote:
I recently got a Jamis Aurora frameset and am putting on Shimano's
Ultegra brakes. The wheelset is Ritchey's. The problem is the brake
pads do not go down enough to align properly on the rim in the front
or the back. I have pushed the pads down as far as they will go in the
slot on the calipers but the pads are still 1/16 above the surface.
I've tried a different pair of wheels and get the same results.
Because the bike is designed more for touring, my thoughts are the
brake bridge and bolt hole in the fork is a bit higher to accomodate
rims. However, it seems a bit too high. My options seem to be to make
some kind of modification to the brake or to the frame either by
slotting out the brake arm a bit more or filing the axle slot on the
frame to allow the axle to ride a bit higher. Neither is a good
choice to me.

Nope. A wee bit of filing on the caliper slots, maybe, but definitely
don't mess with the frame/fork.

Any other ideas on how to fix this problem?

You bought the wrong calipers, that's the basic problem. The stock
Ultegra calipers have a 39-49 mm reach range, made for racing-type frames.

Shimano makes a couple of different models of calipers with 47-57 mm
range, that is what your frame was designed for. There are also some
quite nice Tektro units that will fit.

Return the Ultegra calipers and get the correct ones.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#calipers

It's also possible to get "drop bolts" to make the Ultegras work, but
the drop bolts are as expensive as calipers.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#dropbolts

Sheldon "Solutions" Brown
+--------------------------------------+
| I build my cars to go, not to stop. |
| --Ettore Bugatti |
+--------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Tom wrote:
I recently got a Jamis Aurora frameset and am putting on Shimano's
Ultegra brakes. The wheelset is Ritchey's. The problem is the brake
pads do not go down enough to align properly on the rim in the front
or the back. I have pushed the pads down as far as they will go in the
slot on the calipers but the pads are still 1/16 above the surface.
I've tried a different pair of wheels and get the same results.
Because the bike is designed more for touring, my thoughts are the
brake bridge and bolt hole in the fork is a bit higher to accomodate
rims. However, it seems a bit too high. My options seem to be to make
some kind of modification to the brake or to the frame either by
slotting out the brake arm a bit more or filing the axle slot on the
frame to allow the axle to ride a bit higher. Neither is a good
choice to me.

Any other ideas on how to fix this problem?

Your frame's designed to use the slightly longer next size
caliper, 47~57 from Tektro or Shimano. There are two
Shimano calipers A550 and R600 widely different in price.
They're essentially the same arms with a choice of simple or
ornate hardware.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On 18 Feb 2005 07:52:03 -0800, (Tom) wrote:

I recently got a Jamis Aurora frameset and am putting on Shimano's
Ultegra brakes. The wheelset is Ritchey's. The problem is the brake
pads do not go down enough to align properly on the rim in the front
or the back. I have pushed the pads down as far as they will go in the
slot on the calipers but the pads are still 1/16 above the surface.
I've tried a different pair of wheels and get the same results.
Because the bike is designed more for touring, my thoughts are the
brake bridge and bolt hole in the fork is a bit higher to accomodate
rims. However, it seems a bit too high. My options seem to be to make
some kind of modification to the brake or to the frame either by
slotting out the brake arm a bit more or filing the axle slot on the
frame to allow the axle to ride a bit higher. Neither is a good
choice to me.

Any other ideas on how to fix this problem?

Thanks,
Highwheel


The best solution is what has been mentioned- get brakes with the
proper reach. Or shave the caliper arm hole a bit.

Having been where you are, another option is to trim the top of the
brake pad. I removed about 1/16th inch from the top and made sure that
the pad was hitting below the top of the rim. I noticed no problems in
braking from the slightly reduced pad surface.

These were Matthauser brake shoes, the simple block shape.