Brake Issue
 

I brought this problem up in a previous post but couldn't find the answer. Building a steel frame fixed gear bike I'm putting a set of brakes with the same reach on front and back. The rims are the same size . The back brake contacts the rim perfectly but the front brake doesn't fully reach the rim and I'm out of adjustment. It hits the tire. Is it common for the distance between the center of the two hubs to the mounting holes for both brakes to be different? Should the reach of the two brakes, front and rear, be different? Forks are made with different dimensions from hub to mounting hole. Will I have to find one that works or does the front brake have to be changed to one with a longer reach? Any help appreciated.

you could find a brake with longer reach or depending on how much of a reach you need you can file the opening longer for the brakes to make the reach .

It's fairly common for there to be some small discrepancy in brake reach for front and rear. But it should not be such that it forces you to get a mid-reach front caliper and a short reach rear. That much difference usually sounds like you have a 27 inch fork mated to a 700c frame or something like that.

That's what I suspected so I bought a fork from ebay. The seller says he thinks it's made for short reach brakes which is what I have. I hope he's right.

I remember your earlier post (or one very similar). Yes, it's common for front and rear brake reach to be different, though it's more common for the front to be shorter.

As for what to do about it, that's one of those "raise the bridge, or lower the water questions". One or the other is necessary, and either is fine. Usually, I'd expect to change the brake before the fork, but there might be reasons to do the opposite.

Don't understand a manufacturer producing a frame and fork with different brake reaches unless their outsourcing the fork. Don't most people buy brakes in sets and don't most sets include brakes of the same reach?
I decided to keep the brakes since I thought that they would fit the bike better than others, and go hunting for the proper fork.