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How to Center your bike brakes ?

In most cases, your brakes should be symmetrical and an equal distance from the wheel rim. If one of the brake pads touches the rim before the other or, even worse, rubs on the rim while you’re riding, an adjustment to center the brakes may be needed.

Before you center the brakes, make sure that:

Your wheel is centered in the frame or fork.

Your wheel is trued.

Your wheel is spinning straight.

If your wheel isn’t centered, true, and spinning straight, what may appear like a brake being off-center may be the wheel wobbling toward one of the brakes.

The procedures for centering brakes may vary slightly depending on what type of brakes you have, but here are some strategies you may be able to try:

If the brakes have a small screw, try adjusting it with a screwdriver or Allen wrench and note the result.

In some cases, with center-mount brakes, you may need to rotate the entire brake caliper on the center mounting bolt to get the desired result. Try loosening the mounting bolt, rotating the brake, and then retightening it.

The brakes may have different spring tensions. If so, try removing one of the brake arms and changing the frame mounting hole in which the spring pin is inserted. Reinstall the brake and check the results.

You want to have the adjusting barrels unthreaded (counterclockwise) one or two revolutions when you’re finished with your brake adjustments. This allows you to thread them back in (clockwise) if your rim comes out of true on a ride so your brakes aren’t rubbing and slowing you down.

To center dual-pivot brakes with a quick-release lever, you can adjust the brake tension using an Allen wrench or screwdriver. First, open the quickrelease lever to remove tension on the cable. Then, using the Allen wrench or screwdriver, turn the adjuster clockwise or counterclockwise to make the space between the rim and the brake pads equal on both sides. You can also make smaller, fine-tuning adjustments by turning the barrel adjuster.

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