Bicycle Mechanics - Front brake instability

I picked up a set of Jet2000 wheels for a tri next month. I am riding them a bit to get the feel for tubulars and the wheel. Everything is great, except one thing.

During moderate braking the front end shakes/lunges. It feels like my headset is loose, but I just made sure that was not the case last night.

Could having to much toe on the brake pads do it?

TIA

Sounds like your rim may have some inconsistency in the braking surface. Try scrubbing the brake track with an sos pad or cleaning it with some alcohol. Be careful with the alcohol since your tires are glued on - it could dissolve the glue causing a weaker bond than it needs which could spell rolloff during a corner. Also try sanding the brake pads a little to give them a new surface. One other thought, I am not familiar with the particular set of wheels you have but if the rims are carbon (with no aluminum brake track) then you need special pads in many cases to get optimal performance with the brakes.

-Ryan

Thank you sir, I will try that.

No, a major thing for my wheel purchase was to have a non-carbon braking surface.

I am getting down there as far as pad goes, so I might pick up a pair tonight and swap them out and see. I have a bike race this weekend so I need to do it soon to make sure everything is great. Might have to run the regular spoked wheel for the race.

Scrubbing the braking surface helped, but it is not perfect. I am going to try adjusting my brakes a bit more and see if it will go away. It did not do it before, so I imagine I just need to realign the pads.

It was so bad on the ride home the other day that my hands fell off the bars. It just shook the bike like crazy.

Definitly check the toe-in and the orientation of the pads (direction)
You could try asking your LBS mechanic.

Brendon
:beer:

If you are experiencing the shudder at a certain part in the wheel and once a rotation, the wheel probably has a weld that isn't smooth at the rim joint. I had, in fact still have this problem on one of my training wheels, but due to it's age, I"m not able to do anything about it, but if this is your problem, you might want to look into warrenty. If however the shudder is inconsistant, and your headset is tight, I agree with everyone else, check the brake pad set up.

Good luck.

Brake pads are facing the right direction, unlikely they would be wrong since the are the orignal pads from when I got the bike last October.

I have not tried out the wheels since cleaning off the braking surface. I did not want to chance having a braking problem during a hilly race.

Bike shop is the last option, but might be the only choice.