Brake pad holder hits the fork when opening.

[Bernard Duhon]

Mates,

After a decade I am tired of letting the air out of my tire to remove the front wheel. .

It is a 650b conversion 42 mm tire. The brake opens enough but pad holder his the fork to prevent complete opening of the brake. 

The brake bolt is long enough that I can move the brake 1/2-3/4 inch from the fork. 

I would screw a couple of nuts unto the brake bolt to act as spacers.  Problem solved.

However, I am concerned about the extra torque on the brake bolt due to the additional "leverage"  

My first thought was that the bolts screwed unto the brake bolt solves the issue.  

What say ye?   

[Benz Ouyang, Sunnyvale, CA]

Are you using so-called V-brake brake pads like these?

If so, you may want to switch to so-called Cyclocross brake pads (that use normal road refills) like these:

In my experience of using them on my Atlantis, these will clear the fork blades, provide plenty of braking power, and won't require you to deflate the tire.

[Bernard Duhon]

No these are Paul center pulls

What appeared to be standard road brake shoes

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From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Benz Ouyang, Sunnyvale, CA <benzo...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2026 7:39:10 PM
To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [RBW] Re: Brake pad holder hits the fork when opening.

 

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[Bernard Duhon]

For the tip thank you I have a V brake bike with the same problem the amount of severe I'll try it

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From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Bernard Duhon <ber...@bernardduhon.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2026 7:54:31 PM
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [RBW] Re: Brake pad holder hits the fork when opening.

 

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[Dan]

A word of caution - spacing the caliper out from the fork (which is what I think you are proposing) introduces more leverage and hence more flex into the system. In practice, this means that in hard braking the brake caliper flexes more at the mounting bolt and is more likely to swing the pads up into the tyre.

At least - that is what I experienced on my Roadini with Paul centrepulls! Brake feel was much improved and propensity to rub the tyre much easier to adjust out by mounting the brake as close to the crown as possible.

Before:

After:

You'll note I am using the pad types that Benz is using! They work great.
If they hit the fork it doesn't bother me, I don't remove the wheels often at all.

[Garth]

The Kool Stop pads that the brakes use have an internal backbone. While I don't use that version of pad, the Eagle Claw type backbone only extends about 3/4 of the pad, the rear 1/4 is pure rubber and can be chopped/snipped off to expose the end of ther internal aluminum metal backbone. If that is not quite far enough use a quality metal file to remove what you need to and smooth off the edge. Shortening the pads doesn't effect braking at all. You pads will now clear the fork blades. 

[Bernard Duhon]

Thank you Dan,

In flatlands there is little hard braking. But it occurs.

Your detailed description will have me letting the air out of my front tire from now on.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Dan
Sent: Saturday, May 30, 2026 9:20 PM
To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [RBW] Re: Brake pad holder hits the fork when opening.

 

A word of caution - spacing the caliper out from the fork (which is what I think you are proposing) introduces more leverage and hence more flex into the system. In practice, this means that in hard braking the brake caliper flexes more at the mounting bolt and is more likely to swing the pads up into the tyre.

At least - that is what I experienced on my Roadini with Paul centrepulls! Brake feel was much improved and propensity to rub the tyre much easier to adjust out by mounting the brake as close to the crown as possible.

 

Before:

After:

 

You'll note I am using the pad types that Benz is using! They work great.
If they hit the fork it doesn't bother me, I don't remove the wheels often at all.

On Sunday, 31 May 2026 at 05:53:23 UTC+9:30 ber...@bernardduhon.com wrote:

Mates,

After a decade I am tired of letting the air out of my tire to remove the front wheel. .

It is a 650b conversion 42 mm tire. The brake opens enough but pad holder his the fork to prevent complete opening of the brake. 

The brake bolt is long enough that I can move the brake 1/2-3/4 inch from the fork. 

I would screw a couple of nuts unto the brake bolt to act as spacers.  Problem solved.

However, I am concerned about the extra torque on the brake bolt due to the additional "leverage"  

My first thought was that the bolts screwed unto the brake bolt solves the issue.  

 

What say ye?   

 

 

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