Hi,

I'm a bit confused about which way to toe-in the Kool Stop Eagle Claw 2 pads.



According to Kool Stop instructions the longer portion of the offset pad should be facing the rear of the bike. I'd imagine that due to the offset of the pads that this longer, rear-facing portion should be toed-in (or heeled in), to provide the most even rim contact.

However, according to the Park Tools, the toe-in should be at the frontward facing end of the brakepad. This is what I've traditionally followed for other brakepads.

Should the Kool Stops indeed be installed the opposite way (heel-in)?

The arrow indicates the direction of wheel rotation, or should point to the front of the bike. So long section to the rear.

Like with people and all animals, the toe is always in front, and heel in back. So when we say toe-in, it implies that the shoe touches first up front.

Current production KS shoes have the "plow" wedge in back, which also acts as a toe-in gauge, so if you install so the shoe touches front and back together that's correct. It may squeal for a while until the back corner wears off (happens pretty quickly) establishing the correct toe-in. If you want less squeal immediately you can put a piece of cardboard under the heel when installing to increase the toe-in slightly.

those are the 'eagle claw' plain post shoes ..


no clue about what brake caliper you are using .. old Mafacs had no toe in adjustment.

only rotation .. we bent the holder post on the shoe..

then there is the Tektro racing division's adjust in place cantilever shoe , which I got
then replaced the tektro insert with a Kool stop Dura Ace type .
whole different set of products.

I was told by my shop to install them so that the plow tip and the front touch at the same time. The plow tip is used to clean the rim after riding through mud. To clean the rim, you apply the brake very lightly, the plow tip cleans the rim and braking is supposed to improve. Good in theory, but you have to remember to clean before you actually need to brake.

when standing over the bike, the arrow on the pad points forward, the same direction the wheel rotates when moving forward. if that post is straight and fixed directly into the pad without the little swivel do hickey like dura type road calipers, then you might not be able to toe it in.

Just as with your feet, the "toe" is in the front and the "heel" is in the back. You want the toe to hit the rim first as the rotation of the wheel will pull the "heel" of the brake pad down towards the rim. If you do "heel" in first, the "toe" will lift off the rim and start a skip/grab/skip/grab action. This will be rather high frequency and will result in chatter of the brake pad on the rim. What you will hear is "SQEEEEEEEAAAAALLLLL", especially if the rim is dirt or wet.

likebike23 got pretty good advice from his shop but it may not be perfect. You should try to set up Eagle Claws so that the toe and the plow on the heel hit at the same time. But if the brake squeals, you will need to put more toe on the pad.

if the mounting scheme is adjustable , like old Shimano MTB calipers , with a wedge shaped washer
, you rotate that washer to get the contact angle right.

there are a variety of ways different Mfg chose to make the adjustment of that angle .

I've found that brakes shoes of any brand almost always need more toe-in than would result from doing it that way.

Here's how I set up canti-brake pads. Cut a business card in half long ways and then bend what's left in half. Form that into a "u" and place it around the rim and up between the rim's sidewall and the back end of the two brake pads. Squeeze the brake handle slightly and while holding pressure, loosen the fixing nuts on the pads, position the pads, pull the brake handle in to toe-in the pads, and tighten the fixing nuts. Both pads will be properly positioned and toed-in. It takes a bit of a deft hand and patience but this approach works well.

And yes, in my experience and has been mentioned, more toe-in than less is better.