Front Caliper mounting bodge

Not the best place for a bodge

It’s been a tough day full of things going wrong. Everything else sorted. I went to re aligh my front caliper. When I loosened the bolts an alumium cup shaped washer fell apart.

As I can’t see what they achieved I tried to just not use them. But the bolts are too long with thin steel washer. So I’ve used a couple of nuts off of old innert ubes or tubless valves as spacers. I couldn’t find any other washers to fit or bolts short enough

They are important to hold the caiper in place but under braking the increaed force is resited by the adapter and fork

Have I missed something? Bike really really needed for Thursday

link to mage as i have no buttons to embed

The cups allow the caliper mounting surface or bolt (or both) to not parallel to each other. That top bolt is probably bending a bit the way you have it which could deform it and put undue stress on one side. I’d probably do what you’ve done in an emergency but then it would be new bolts (because they do don’t like being bent) and cups as soon as.

Yeah I’d do exactly the same thing in a pinch but I’d have the replacements on order.

I’ll try source parts tomorrow. But the bolts seemed pretty straight.

You must have some old v brake pads in the spares box? Nick the washers off them!

From the picture that bold looks pretty not straight.

I don’t think they go into the average fork post at that angle!

If you have a bike with rim brakes then they usually have the style of washers you need on the brake pad bolt. You might be able to borrow some for Thursday.

Have you got that adapter on the right way round? Looks like the mounting tabs on the caliper would be much more square on the faces if the fatter end was at the bottom.

I was expecting carbon fibre and a spoon

Have you got a local bike shop?

Or even, local riding group or FB page? I’ve got some of these in my spares box, sure I’m not alone

I hadn’t thought of taking them off v brakes. That might solve the problem

We all must have some conical washer things knocking around in the spares box.
Where are you? If anywhere near Whaley Bridge I can go check (pretty sure I have some) and you’re welcome to grab them from me.

Si

Ok so i now have some conical washers, from old v brakes. I think my bodge looked better. This looks terrible. But those bolts are straight I rolled them along a granite slab. I think it’s just the way the wahsers have compressed. They have an amout of freedom

+1 on the adaptor seems odd…? Wrong size and inverted?

Just been out and looked at my SRAM brakes MTB. Convinced that adapter is the wrong way up now.

I agree the adapter looks odd. It came of that bike where it has been for 3 years. Unless a bike shop swapped it.

It has an arrow on the other side which i don’t remember being on the outside. I think it shows rotation direction which is correct.

The pads look correctly postioned ralative to the rotor

But yes it looks wrong

My attempt to visualise the route of the bolt

The printing on the adapters is usually on the outside isn’t it – i.e. size etc.

That brake mount is a wedge, not a flat spacer, hence the cupped washers to allow the bolt head to clamp the caliper correctly.

Looks fine now, exactly as it should be.

I’m personally not a fan of those style +20mm adapters so I use a different one that bolts onto the fork and then the brake caliper separately onto the mount, it’s like an angled +40mm mount.

Thanks all. Got a Neuron owner on Facebook to post an image and it looks the same as mine. In terms of the adaptet

So I’m happy with the brakes. But I’m all the faffing i noticed play in the front wheel bearings

So tomorrow is either finding some one with bearings and time to fit them

Or doing KAW on my gravel bike, which is fine. But that needs a new rear derailleur, which i have. And a bleed which i don’t have to the tools for. But the lbs should i hope do that as they only fitted the brakes a few weeks back. I thought I’ll let some one else do it. I’ll never get the air fully out….

I will have a working bike Thursday. But I’d be more relaxed if i had a working bike at this moment

Forcast looks good though

So tomorrow is either finding some one with bearings and time to fit them

Get thee over to West Berks and i’ll do them FoC mate.

Let me know the bearings and i probably have some here already. I’m WFH all day and about tonight too. It’ll take 15 mins.

I just throw the comical conical jobbies away and use a shorted bolt.

Avoided hospital food / killing to death over a span of 40 years so far. They only made sense to me on V brakes that needed a bit of ‘toe in”

I just throw the comical conical jobbies away and use a shorted bolt.

Which is absolutely the wrong thing to do on those ‘wedge’ type +20 adapters, as the bolt is not designed to pass through the adapter perpendicular. Without the conical washers you are putting a massive bending moment on the bolts, as per the OPs top picture. Good way to have a bolt lose tension, and then fall out.

Or strip the thread in your forks too, which will be lovely.

I’ve had a text from the bike shop (Brink) saying the the breathing brains are done ?