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just wondering how to centre my rear brake on my new bike?
the rear brake was both squealing and juddering when i went on a night ride,and today could see one of the pads a lot closer to the rim than the other.
also how can i bring the brake levers in a bit as it is quite a stretch for my hands to use them when on the drops.
thanks in advance 👍🚴
To centre the brake, loosen the retainer nut on the back (recessed 5mm Allen key) pull and hold the lever whilst retightening the nut.
Check that the QR isn’t open on the brake if its too wide.
To take slack out of cable, unwind the threaded adjuster by a turn or two, hold the pads against the rim and slacken the cable clamp screw, pull and slack in the cable through and retighten the clamp. Screw in the adjuster until you have the right amount of rim clearance 1-2mm.
There should be a small bolt ontop of the calliper arm to turn which will alter the centre point of them. Note that the pads don’t move equally iirc, so operate the brake lever so the pads are almost touching the rim and adjust the bolt on the calliper to make sure they are equal side to side.
Regarding your second question, this sounds like lever reach adjustment you want instead of just wind the brakes closer to the rim. I can’t quite remember how to do it, I think you pull the hood back at the top and there’s a small bolt which will be labelled, turn it one way, levers closer to the bars, turn the other way and levers move further away. I don’t recall the adjustment being massive but it should help.
Thank you all 👍