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I noticed this week that the pads on my front brakes are resting on the wheel and (I think) causing some undue friction as I ride. Is this normal? It seems the bracket needs to be titled, but I am unsure how to do this. The bike is a Giant Rapid 3, I've included photos of the brakes as they rest now enter image description here

Attempting to fix this on my own before taking it into the shop, but really don't know what I should be trying. They are Shimano brakes

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    Does this answer your question? bicycles.stackexchange.com/questions/4432/…
    – David D
    Jun 4, 2021 at 20:07
  • @DavidD yes this is helpful, I wasn't sure if the hole behind the fork was for this or not (mine was full of a lot of gunk it seems, going to try this now). Thanks
    – doppz
    Jun 4, 2021 at 20:23

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Firstly you'll check the quick release skewer. Two things, one is that the springs are oriented correctly so not jamming up the drop out, the other is that the wheel is fully in the drop outs and not skewed, by loosening and then retightening the qr. Check these first before making any other adjustments.

Spin the wheel and make sure it's not just a localised point that touches the pads, i.e. out of true.

It would be good to check the rim is centred on the wheel, but you probably don't have the dishing tool needed. You could instead check the rim is evenly spaced from the fork legs and that the spokes are evenly tensioned left and right to estimate that the wheel is sound.

Finally you would think about repositioning the brake. Check that the fixing bolt is tight; behind the fork there is a 5mm Allen key nut that you can check is tight. to reposition the caliper, you can either loosen this fixing bolt to adjust the whole thing, or, because you have dual pivot caliper brakes, on top of the brake there is a smaller (3 mm?) bolt that you would turn once or twice and that dials in the balance of the two arms about the rim.

If and when you know everything is installed correctly you can turn that 'centering adjustment bolt' to dial it in, but check the other bits first.

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  • Thank you for the detailed write up (I am a relative novice at repairing bikes...). Seems the the qr is set up correctly and the pad rubs consistently as I rotate the wheel. Will try to reposition the brake now
    – doppz
    Jun 4, 2021 at 20:26
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    OK this was exactly what I needed, the 5mm bolt behind the fork was actually just loose it seems and needed to be tightened. Tightened that and was able to move it back to center. Thanks for helping a bike novice like me out
    – doppz
    Jun 4, 2021 at 20:50
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    Happy to, well done sorting it. Now you know where a very important bolt (nut) lives! Could check the rear one too while you're on a roll. Hopefully it's obvious why you check the other bits first, but in this case clearly the loose nut was the cause of the issue.
    – Swifty
    Jun 4, 2021 at 20:54
  • "but you probably don't have the dishing tool needed" - alternatively, flipping the wheel around and paying attention can be used to accomplish the task as well Jun 5, 2021 at 0:05
  • Dishing can be accomplished by resting the wheel on two soda cans and measuring the gap between the locknut and ground. No fancy equipment required
    – MaplePanda
    Jun 5, 2021 at 1:39

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