Front brake caliper not clear fork??

Tyxpx

I am installing a 6700 Ultegra brake set on a Giant Defy and the front brake caliper is not clearing the front fork for some reason. I can not figure it out! The old dura ace 7900 that came on the bike still fits it, and the bike (cannondale CAAD10) that the Ultegra caliper came off of worked on that. I did take the brake caliper apart to clean and re-grease it, but I do not think I messed anything up in the process, and I would imagine it would be pretty tough to bend anything that would make this happen.

Am I just missing something super simple here, or is something just not right??? Washer in the fork? Missing washing for the caliper? There is the same amount of washer on the front caliper as the front.

HELP, I'm lost and do not want to ride with only a rear brake lol.

3 by Kevin Edge, on Flickr

2 by Kevin Edge, on Flickr

thepainandsuffering

You need one of these to space the caliper away from the fork.

https://www.amazon.com/Tektro-Serrated- ... B001CJX4JM

Matthewfalle

yup - as above. just rob it off one of the two other brakes you have mentioned above.

#robbing

Tyxpx

I have one of those and took what’s on it off and it still didn’t fit. When I stack the washer that’s on it now with on of those it barely clears. The old caliper fits with just that one washer on. Odd. Maybe the calipers just have slightly different geometry’s?

jermas

Are you inadvertently pushing the caliper down slightly (with your thumb) angling it closer to the fork ? Try installing it with the spacer, then tighten the pivot nut (making sure it's long enough) . Adjust the height of the shoes and see if there's more clearance.

Tyxpx

jermas wrote:

Are you inadvertently pushing the caliper down slightly (with your thumb) angling it closer to the fork ? Try installing it with the spacer, then tighten the pivot nut (making sure it's long enough) . Adjust the height of the shoes and see if there's more clearance.

No. I did have it fully installed with the same washer that I have on the rear which is the same washer that was on it when the caliper was on the other bike.

Do some bikes just require more washers up front or vice versa sometimes??

jermas

No they shouldn't need extra spacers. I'd just install it (pivot nut on and tightened), set up shoe height and cable on. Check for clearance. It's a standard fork and caliper so it should fit.

Tyxpx

I can’t install it with just one spacer on it. It does not clear the fork for some reason. What you see in the pic is WITH the same spacer that is on the rear caliper which does clear the frame. I even tried swapping the caliper on the rear to the front and it does not clear either.

thepainandsuffering

The spacer I linked in the first reply is not what you have in the picture you posted, its wider giving you more clearance.

I have seen plenty of bikes with 2 of these required to fit a front brake.

As said above you might also need a longer nut to engage the threads after. See link

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/273462814410?c ... LAQAvD_BwE

Tyxpx

I’ll try it with a longer but too. I tried it with the spacer you linked. I have a set of those but it still did not clear with just that. I had to stack the one pictured AND the one you linked to make it clear. I just wanna make sure that that’s not a dangerous way to make a caliper fit. I’m new to cycling and probably shouldn’t have but got a bike and tore it down to every single nut, bolt, and even tore apart every bearing to clean and service it all. Been a learning process but it’s almost complete now.

thepainandsuffering

When the cable is attached, the brake under tension and the pads and holders set they sit closer to the rim give a bit more space. The dangerous thing is not having enough thread engagement with the nut as the spacer reduces this, hence longer versions of nut, 4 full turns before tightening when attaching for safety would make me happy, more if possible.

svetty

thepainandsuffering wrote:

When the cable is attached, the brake under tension and the pads and holders set they sit closer to the rim give a bit more space. The dangerous thing is not having enough thread engagement with the nut as the spacer reduces this, hence longer versions of nut, 4 full turns before tightening when attaching for safety would make me happy, more if possible.

This. Once the cable tension is set the calliper will likely clear the fork leg OK.

dj58

I have those brake calipers fitted to my Defy, they should fit without any additional spacers being necessary.

First thing you need to do is to slacken off the brake pad holders and slide them to the bottom of the height adjustment slot. As already eluded to, you need to attach the front brake cable to the attachment clamp, push the caliper arms towards the wheel rim, 3-4mm clearance each side between pad and rim, tighten the clamp bolt.

The pads should now be clear of the inside of the fork legs. Now you can centre the caliper and tighten the long tube nut, 5mm allen wrench, to the correct torque. Pad adjustments can be made using the cable adjustment nut on the caliper arm and fine adjustment using the centring adjusting bolt, 3mm allen wrench. Also make brake pad to rim adjustments as necessary.

Download the PDF files from here https://si.shimano.com/#/en/search/Comp ... &type=ROAD You want the 2 Files under the heading BR-6700
SI-8G60A-003 and EV-BR-6700-2921C