Fitting Brakes (carbon frame ???)

PedalMonkey

Feeling like a real novice today

I am building up a Giant TCR Advance SL, and I've bought some TRP SL 950 Brakes (yay for me) Now all my bikes have spacers on the brake hardware .. on the image on the bellow link, the black spacers onthe bolt that attaches the brakes to the frame

http://www.trpbrakes.com/category.php?p ... 3&subcat=0

Now the brakes seem to fit best without these on (infact the rear one had about 2mm of thread engagement if the spacers on) so my question is, do I just leave these off ??????? What are they for ???? Help ???? And can somebody really put such an expensive frame together without knowning what they are doing !!!!

Wirral_paul

They are a serrated washer and should be used. Do you not have different lengths of nut to allow for different frames and forks with your brakes?

Basically the serrated washers grip the brake and frame and stop them turning when tightened. This means once you centre the brakes, they shouldnt move.

Local Bike Shop should be able to sort you longer retainer nuts if you dont have various ones included. My Campag brakes had two lengths included.

PedalMonkey

Don't mean to doubt you, but that doesn't seem entirly right (what you say about the washers yes) but the bolt is a part of the brake, I have two lengths of bolt, one for the front and one for the back, these fit the recess of the frame and fork perfectly ... just not leaving a lot of reach if I use the supplied washers

Wirral_paul

Not sure what you mean really - the bolt is part of the brake assembly yes - essentially the centre spindle extending into becoming the mounting bolt. The longer one is the front brake and the shorter obviously the rear.

What i mean is the nut that bolts the brake assembly to the frame / fork. My most recent brake package came with 4 nuts of differing lengths to allow for the correct one to be picked to suit the frame. It the nut is only just catching the brake assembly then you simply need a longer nut.

Does this make it clear what i mean?? Its seems that you should have more than one option of these with your brakeset....
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=17557

PedalMonkey

Yeap, but the the Advanced TCR the whole that the nut fits into is recessed into the frame, push just the nut into the wholes the head (lip bit sits flush with top of the whole) and the bottom of the nut, shits flush(ish) with the inside (looking out) of the frame .. so the only way to place a longer nut, would be to break a whole in the fram for the nut to pass through, what I don't understand is the rear brake, with two spacers (4 in the pack) has about 5mm head showing of the bolt, pass this through the frame (2mm) and you only have 3mm of thread going into the nut ..... does that make sense

PedalMonkey

If you look at this image of the rear

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28391697@N04/2720457208/

Put two 3mm spacers on, place the bolt through a 2mm frame, there isn't going to be a lot of bolt to go into the nut ..... so are the spacers really required, or is the frame acting as a spacer

Wirral_paul

You will only need 1 serrated washer between each brake and frame, rather than 2. The nut should be recessed and sit flat with the frame so thats fine - every modern frame has a recess for the brake retaining nut.

With 1 serrated washer, how many turns do you get on the nut to tighten?

PedalMonkey

Thanks Paul

You just confirmed where I sort of got to, I've now got one spacer rather than none (didn't like two so went straight down to 0) ... and I get about 8 rotations, I think you have to 6 ? So I presume that I'm ok

Chris

Wirral_paul

8 sounds just fine - I'd be worried at 3 or 4 but 8 will give you no problem. There should be blue loctite already on the bolt but if not then if you have some....