How to Toe In Shimano 600 brakes.

[Trebz]

Hi all

New to the forum and to road bikes. I just bought a little gem of a 2nd hand road bike to get myself back fit again, i have been trying to get the brake pads set up correctly but have hit a stumbling block. I am unable to Toe In the brake pads.

The calliper brakes are Shimano 600. There does not appear to be any Toe In adjustment at all, should the brake pads have some Toe In adjustment. Can you advise.

Thanks in advance.

Trebz

Pics:

 

[Smokin Joe]

If you're not experiencing brake judder just leave them. Within a short while they will have worn square to the rim anyway.

Bikes a real beaut, BTW.

 

[Nantmor]

Put a stout screwdriver in the block slot and twist in the appropriate direction, if you really need to toe them in.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Lovely bike. Agree with Smokin Joe - why bother. I have Shimano Exage 500 on the 'old' bike - no adjustment, no problems. If you start twisting them with a screwdriver you'll end up with a mess.

 

[Trebz]

Hi Guys

I understand what you are saying about 'Leave them alone' but to do the job correctly, in my opinion, the pads should be correctly Toe'd In. Setup as they are the right hand pad is perfect with the front leading edge of the pad being toe'd in ok, 1mm at the front, 2mm or so at the back (Will need to check this measurement), this will provide a more progressive braking process as opposed to an 'On/Off' process provided by a flat, non toe'd in setup. As I’m sure you know when the front edge of the toe'd in pad hits the wheel the force of the wheel and the brake pull combined drag and force the rest of the pad into action, hence the progressive feel.

In my situation the left hand pad is in negative toe, the back of the pad hits the rim first, this means that only the last few millimetres of the pad actually touch the brake, this will leave to an Inefficient braking process. Maybe I need to look at buying a set of brake pads with built in Toe In adjustment. All of my mountain bikes have this. I have run many bikes in the past and all have been toe'd in correctly, I’ve been an MTB guy since 1987.

The rest of the pics, the colour of the bike does not come through very well, it's more Day Glo than it looks hehe:

 

[PpPete]

Rather than a screwdriver in the slot, I use a adjustable spanner snugged up tight around that part of the caliper (with the blocks removed). Twist gently until you have enough toe-in on the pad that you consider not right.

 

[fossyant]

You can't toe them in. Got the same brakes on my ribble and the same pads. You don't need to ! Pads look new, so I'd take an adjustable spanner to the calliper arm and gently re-allign the arm if they aren't square !

You rarely get fully adjustable pads, and I've never needed to use them on my road bikes. Sounds like one of the arms isn't quite square on.

 

[Trebz]

Ok, i got the brake pad's toe'd in correctly. Simple method really, based partly on advice recieved on this forum. The caliper arms needed bending in order to achieve the correct level of Toe In.

I removed the brake calipers from the frame and removed the brake pad from the side that needed attention, i then sandwiched the brake pad mount area in an old towel and then clamped it securely in a vice, twisting the caliper arm in the direction needed to achieve proper Toe In.

The back brake worked perfectly first time, the front brake took four attempts as i kept over compensating and bending it too far in the wrong diraction. Hehe.

All ok now, brakes working perfectly.

Ta Daaaaaaa !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the nudge in the right direction.

Regards

Trebz

 

[youngoldbloke]

Does toe-in diminish anyway as the pads wear?

 

[I like Skol]

Congrats on sorting the problem. I am sure I saw this bike (or one alot like it) in Stockport one morning last week. Bottom of New Zealand Road about 7.15am in the rain. I don't suppose it was you was it?

 

[Trebz]

Erm... no.... due to the fact that i live in Doncaster. :0)

As an aside, i can't find any information on this bike or the manufacturer anywhere. As far as i can tell Fulmar only made classic english motorbikes !!!

Can anyone shed any light on the history of this make of bike?

 

[Trebz]

Does toe-in diminish anyway as the pads wear?

I'm guessing not, although it may, once the pads are set correctly they won't be moving much... so i guess the answer is 'No'.... although due to normal wear i can see them flattening out a little...

I do know that toe in removes any kind of brake squeal, which i hate. That mixed with the more progressive braking action always makes me want to Toe In.