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Branton & Andette
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Step-by-step guides

The basics

Adjust rim brakes

Time 20 min Medium

Badly placed pads brake poorly, squeal or rub the tyre. Height, toe, clearance and centring: four simple adjustments bring back firm braking, on a V-brake as on a road caliper.

A V-brake: two upright arms and their pads against the rim
Photo Keithonearth, after ArnoldReinhold and Visor, CC BY-SA 3.0 licence · See the record

What you need

  • The hex keys that fit your brake (pads, cable, mounting)
  • A small screwdriver or hex key for the centring screws
  • A rubber band (optional, for toe)
  • A torque wrench (recommended for tightening)

Before you start

  • This guide covers V-brakes (the upright arms on city bikes and older mountain bikes) and road calipers (a single caliper above the wheel). Disc brakes are adjusted differently: see Replace disc brake pads.
  • Check pad wear first: if the grooves are gone, replace the pads before adjusting. See Check your brakes.
  • Clean the rim: a greasy rim sidewall, or one covered in black deposits, brakes poorly even with well-set pads.

How the adjustment works

1 2 3 4 5 6
1 tyre · 2 rim braking surface · 3 pad, flat, below the tyre · 4 the front of the pad touches first · 5 slight gap at the back · 6 direction of travel

Four adjustments, in this order:

  1. Height: the pad meets the braking surface (2) flat, without touching the tyre (1) or hanging below the rim.
  2. Toe: the front of the pad (4) touches the rim just before the back (5). It stops the brake squealing.
  3. Clearance: the gap between pads and rim, set by cable tension.
  4. Centring: both pads sit the same distance from the rim.

Steps

1. Position the pads

Loosen the pad nut just enough for the pad to move when pushed. Squeeze the brake lever: the pad settles against the rim.

  • V-brake: set the top of the pad level with the top of the braking surface, but never so high it touches the tyre. As it wears, the pad moves a little down the rim: check now and then that it doesn't drop below it.
  • Road caliper: the pad flat in the middle of the braking surface, clear of the tyre.

If the pad holder has a closed side and an open side, the closed side faces the front of the bike.

2. Set the toe

Toe is set together with height, before tightening the nut:

  • Rubber band method (V-brake): slip a folded rubber band between the back of the pad and the rim, squeeze the lever, then tighten the pad nut. Remove the band: a slight gap remains at the back.
  • By eye: angle the pad so its front touches first, and tighten the nut while holding the lever.

On a road caliper, if the pad won't angle, don't bend the caliper arms to create toe: Park Tool advises against it.

3. Set the clearance with the barrel adjuster

The barrel adjuster is the knurled knob where the cable enters the lever (or the caliper, on some road brakes). Set it by feel at the lever: the brake should bite firmly well before the lever reaches the handlebar.

  • The lever pulls too far: unscrew the barrel adjuster (anticlockwise): the cable tightens and the pads move closer.
  • The pads rub: screw it in to add slack.

Set front and rear to feel the same at both levers.

4. Centre the brake

Spin the wheel and look at the gap on each side.

  • V-brake: each arm has a small tension screw on its side. Tightening a screw stiffens that arm's spring and moves it away from the rim; loosening it relaxes it. Both arms move together: work in small quarter turns.
  • Road caliper: the centring screw, on top of or beside the caliper, moves both pads together. Turning it in moves the pads towards the screw side. Without a centring screw, loosen the caliper mounting nut, centre it, then retighten.

5. Tighten and check

Check everything is tight. Park Tool's figures, to be checked against your brake's manual:

Bolt Typical value
V-brake mounting on the frame 8 Nm
Road caliper mounting nut 6 to 7 Nm
Cable clamp bolt (road caliper) 5 Nm

On a road caliper, check that the brake's quick-release lever is closed. On a V-brake, that the cable guide tube is seated in its holder.

Check it's done right

  • Both pads touch the rim at the same time and flat, never the tyre.
  • The wheel spins freely, without rubbing.
  • The lever squeezed hard stays well clear of the handlebar.
  • The brake doesn't squeal, and a test at low speed stops the bike firmly.

Common mistakes

  • Setting clearance before height: everything has to be redone afterwards.
  • Tightening the pad nut without holding the lever: the pad twists as you tighten.
  • Screwing one centring screw all the way in instead of balancing both.
  • Forgetting to close the brake quick release after removing the wheel.

What next

Log the adjustment in your logbook. If the brake still feels spongy, the cable or its housing is probably worn or rusty: time to replace them, or to take the bike to a shop.

Sources

This guide was checked against the following documents:

Values vary between models: your part's manual always takes precedence.