I'm not trying to open a can of worms...so we won't discuss short/normal/long reach.

As some of done in the past I am switching to 700c wheels. I know the typical routine for brakes...switch their respective location and drill the back of the fork crown with a 5/16" bit.

Well when setting the brakes up this way I am getting the reach I need up front, but in the rear the non-drive side brake pad is less than .5mm off. The drive side of the rear brake is not a problem, it contacts the braking surface without a hitch.

Now when I put the brakes where they belong, i.e. front in front, the reach for every brake pad is good. But this introduces a new problem, I would have to drill the brake bridge in rear and back of fork crown. Is this common? Has anyone done it?

Edit: I was thinking I could also use a longer bolt for the rear caliper. Does this work or make sense?

I could purchase new brakes, or an additional front but I'm building up with a shimano 600 tricolor group and want it to match (I sound like my wife...)

Any wisdom, suggestions from you guys?

.5mm (about .02": less than 1/16") could be filed out of the slot to which the left rear brake pad bolts.

I'm confused as to why you needed to swap your brakes. You're going from nutted brakes to recessed? The other way around?

Neal

Might mess up the finish but seems that it would work.


Nutted to recessed. I am swapping them to go with the remainder of the groupset

Drill the brake bridge unless it's a super special unobtainium frame. Works every time.

I'm not a big fan of the filing the brake arm option because it doesn't leave you with much adjustability in the future with pad wear or possibly different shoes. In general, I get suspicious of any configuration on a bike that just barely works by having parts at the limits of their geometry. Stuff like this that seems trivial in the home shop can sometimes then become a big problem in the field. Say you do file it down to make it work and then you have a problem on a ride a long way from home, either the pad wear is now demanding the pads be lowered, or you took a hit on the rear wheel that made a low spot. If you don't have a file, you have a big problem, unless you filed a couple of extra millimeters of play in advance. But maybe that isn't such a good idea, as at some point you start compromising the integrity of the brake arm.

I'd go with the drilling the frame if that is acceptable or pulling the brakes apart and seeing if it is possible to make some other non-recessed brake bolts work. Me, I would probably start with examining the brake bolt option, not being a big fan of drilling frames, but that is just a personal choice.

what brakes did you buy? if you were originally changing the brakse to go from 27" wheels to 700c wheels you should have simply gotten the nutted Tektro brakes of the correct reach.

personally I do like the idea of drilling either the fork or a brake bridge to accept recessed nuts. most bridges designed for recessed nuts are correctly reinforced for them. a bridge intended for nuted brakes depends on the two concave radiused washers for structureand support.

Thank you for the responses. The brakes I was trying to use were Shimano 600 tri-color. I think the 49mm reach just didn't make it. I ended up purchasing two front brakes with recessed nut so I will only have to drill the fork crown, cheapest option the LBS had.

I think the filing and extra drilling would bite me in the end...best to just do it the most correct way.