A customer's simple note about my brake work made me change my whole process

A regular brought his road bike in last month and wrote on the work order, 'front brake still rubs a bit after last tune-up.' I checked my work and sure enough, the pad was just kissing the rim. I used to just eyeball the centering with the barrel adjuster. Now, I always loosen the mounting bolt, squeeze the brake lever to center it, and re-tighten before I even touch the adjuster. It adds maybe 30 seconds per wheel but the brakes are dead silent every time. Has anyone else picked up a small trick like that from a comment?

3 comments

3 Comments

young.jamie7d ago

Had the same thing happen with derailleur indexing.

charles_kelly435d ago

Yeah, the whole "had the same thing happen" line is too real. Indexing can be such a pain to get just right, feels like you fix one gear and then another one starts chattering. Riley's right to be surprised it's a common thing, but it really is. Makes you want to just ride a single speed sometimes.

rileyp497d ago

Wait, you had the same problem with indexing too?