gbaldwin

Hi,

I purchased a Trek 1000T road bike back in 2007. I only recently began to ride it, and I've gone through 3 tires in <50 miles. The issue is clear: the brake caliper reach is too high, and is riding the sidewall causing sidewall blowouts. I've tried manipulating the pads and putting them in the lowest possible place, but it still rides too high. There seems to be others who have had the same problems:

https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-606670.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-652449.html

It seems I have two options: 1) file down the lower end of the caliper to get the pads lower or 2) Try and get Trek to replace the calipers with long-reach calipers for free.

My question is: Has anyone gotten Trek to address this problem for them? Has anyone gotten their calipers replaced for free?

ct-vt-trekker

I've got a 2008 Trek T1000 tandem, it came with Shimano BR-A550 Long reach calipers.(see link below)
I've got them adjusted so the pads are at the bottom of the adjustment and they clear fine. Are these the calipers that are on yours? The part number is embossed on the back side of the caliper.
Are you using the stock pads or some aftermarket pads?

https://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.a...+REACH+CALIPER

You would probably get more attention if this was posted in the tandem forum

Bianchigirll 

Since the bike is 5 years old I doubt trek will have much intrest in replacing your brakes. It might be worth a trip to trek dealer to see if perhaps there was a recall or something.

Is this issue occouring on both wheels or just one? It is always possible that the brake bridge is not placed correctly but the assembling mechanic should have noticed something was amiss.

Pics?

skiph

If that bike is a 2007 and has the original Tektro clone brakes on it…that was a common problem on that model.

I had a 2006 T-1000 and on the FRONT brake, one side (left I think?) was always too high when it came up against the rim (again, stock rim still?).

Two solutions:

1. carve off the top edge of the brake pad that is rubbing the worst on the tire sidewall (or both of them if necessary).

2. FILE out the slot where the brake pad clamp/adjusting bolt goes through the caliper arm.

I used both methods during the time I owned the bike. I bought the smallest diameter rat-tail file I could find, took off the front wheel, and started filing the bottom of the adjusting slot. A chain-saw sharpening file works fairly good, you just have to keep clearing the aluminum chunks out of the file teeth to keep it cutting.

Various brands of brake pads have a slight impact on how bad they might rub. If it still has the original hard-as-a rock brake pads on it, ditch those and get some Kool-Stop pads , and carve off the top edge if you get scared by how much you might have to file out the slot. With some Kool-Stop pads on the front and back, the brakes actually work pretty good.

EBay link to one seller, I’m sure there are more:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-KOOL-STOP-...item58908f7d07

Even after filing and carving, I still had to be very careful when adjusting the pads up against the rim, and tightening the pad clamp bolt, as it was still a close fit.

This was never a problem on the back brake for some reason, just the front.

Other than that, new calipers might fix it, but be sure to measure how far they can lower the pads to the bottom of the adjusting slot compared to the stock calipers.

ct-vt-trekker

The stock pads aligned fine on my 2008 but I did file the inside edges of the Shimano BR-A550 calipers so I could install standard KoolsStop holders with Salmon pads. There's plenty of metal on the caliper arms so no harm in taking off less than 1 mm.

Retro Grouch 

A tandem with long reach calipers?

skiph

I the OP is talking about a T-1000SL regular Trek road bike, not a 1000T (tandem), see the 1st link he posted to a similar problem on a T-1000, probably one of these:

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/2007/archive/1000#

gbaldwin

Yes, it is actually the 1000SL. The calipers are Promax RC-452 (are these the Tektro lones you speak of?). The front is too high on the left, and the rear is too high on the right. I'm using after-market Kool-Stops, but I believe the problem existed before I installed these because 2 tires blew before installing the Kool-Stops.

I tried emailing Trek, no response yet.

My local Trek dealer said I could bring it in, they could take pictures, and then talk to a Trek rep to see if it is covered. It is not listed as an official recall on the website, so I doubt they would actually do anything for me. It seems like its going to be a lot of work to get anything via Trek. I bought a file set off Amazon. I guess I'll start with filing the brakes and then perhaps the caliper arm slots. Thanks you guys!

skiph

I don't have that bike any more, but the brakes were pretty cheap. Putting Kool Stop pads on them made them work lots better.

I don't remember having too much problem with the rear right pad, I could get it to track the braking surface on the rear wheel and not hit the tire OK but it was close.

The front was the real problem, since when the front brake was applied hard, the caliper would twist some, letting the front part of the brake pad get closer to the tire sidewall. I just kept filing the slot lower and carved some rubber off the top edge of the pad until it didn't touch the tire any longer. Carving off some of the pad did not seem to have any bad effect on the braking power of the Kool-Stop pads. I used to switch to the Salmon-colored ones in the winter, then back to the black ones in the summer. I always kept my eye on that area, watching for any rubbing to the sidewall just off the rim. I never blew out any tires or had any damage.

I'm about 100% sure Trek won't do anything, especially since the bike is so old, so just learn to fix it your self and keep your eye on the problem areas now that you know what's going on.

Sax777

I tried emailing Trek, no response yet.

My local Trek dealer said I could bring it in, they could take pictures, and then talk to a Trek rep to see if it is covered. It is not listed as an official recall on the website, so I doubt they would actually do anything for me. It seems like its going to be a lot of work to get anything via Trek. I bought a file set off Amazon. I guess I'll start with filing the brakes and then perhaps the caliper arm slots. Thanks you guys![/QUOTE]

I actually had this problem just recently, and the Trek store in Charlotte fixed it for me, they said there is an adjustment that can be made for the brakes to reach by dropping down. I will let you know how it works!!
Sax777

DCB0

Before you do any adjusting at the brake, make sure the wheel is fully seated in the dropouts. I know it is unlikely that you replaced multiple tires and had the wheel improperly installed each time, but you do need to check. Another thing to check is that the conical springs on the quick release skewer are oriented so the smaller end is pointed inward toward the axle on both sides - if the springs are on backwards they will ride up over the axle and not allow the wheel to be properly mounted.

Duble pivot calipers like yours can be set so one arm of the caliper is higher than the other. THe correct solution, if both pads are not touching the tire, is to loosen the bolt holding the caliper to the brake bridge or fork crown and rotate the caliper so that the to-high pad moves down and the other one moves up. THen adjust the centreing screw on the brake so the pads are equidistant to the rim. If you can adjust the brake so that both pads are above the top edge of the rim then you need longer pull brakes, or you can modify your existing brakes. Keep in mind that moving the pads toward the bottom of the slot will decrease braking power for any given amount of force put into the brake lever.