Bicycle Mechanics - Is it ok to remove brake pad spacers?

My brake kept on rubbing agianst my rim. I removed some spacers and placed them on the other side of the brake arm. Now my brakes do not rub but I can still stop good. Is this ok to do?

short answer: no

long answer: there's probably something else wrong with the bike if the brakes didn't rub at one point and recently started to. are you sure it was just spacers you moved and not the concentric washers? concentric washers are sorta concave washers designed to let the pad be secured in a variety of positions. they're meant to be installed on the rim-side of the brake arm, in the proper order.

On some types of V-brakes, certain washers/spacers can be reversed, but not removed or moved around. It sounds like your problem may be that your brakes are not aligned properly. You can fix this with the small tensions screws on the sides of each caliper. Turning the screw clockwise will make that brake arm move farther from the rim, therefore increasing the tension. Turning the screw counterclockwise will release some tension, letting that particular caliper move closer to the rim. Always do this in equal increments on each caliper to avoid excess tension on onoe caliper. After a few tries, you will find be able to align the brakes so that there is equal distance between both pads and the rim. An easy way to see this is to squeeze the lever while looking at the brakes. If both arms appear to move the same distance before striking the rim, then the calipers are sufficiently centered. (This whole paragraph assumes that you are talking about V-BRAKES).

-Moab

Edit-You might also want to make sure thay the wheel was centered in the drop-outs correctly in the first place.

Well.. it had been a long long time since i have rode it due to an injury so I cannot remember if it rubbed before or not. i haven't ridden it in over 2 years.

same thing happened to me... at first i tried the removing washer thing, but then i just redished my wheel to fix the problem.