Help Requested With Late-90's Record Brake Caliper

David White said:

I have what appears to be a late 90's Record dual pivot caliper (rear).
If you look at the diagram shown at
<http://www.campagnolo.com/pdf/spares99-B.pdf> (about mid way down the
page) you will see an exploded view of this unit (BR-44RE).

Please note the BR-RE104 bolt assembly which holds the caliper to the
frame. This assembly contains an odd part that has a set screw in it. On
my front caliper, a similar piece sits with the set screw in a true,
vertical position. This piece has two flat sides which permits centering
of the caliper using a 13mm cone wrench.

For some reason, this piece on my rear caliper is positioned so the set
screw is not oriented vertically. Therefore, the flat sides are
positioned so that I cannot place a cone wrench to center the caliper
(the elements around the part BR-RE015 get in the way).

So: Is it possible for me to change something that will permit the set
screw to be oriented vertically on the rear as it is on the front? If
so, what do I need to do?

I tried loosening the set screw hoping that the unit might easily turn.
But it did not. I have not tried to force it in any way.

The "odd part" is a nut, specifically a lock nut. The bolt it fits on
is a dual purpose, dual threaded bolt. In addition to holding the
caliper to the frame/fork, this bolt is also the pivot for the "Y" arm
of the caliper. Turning this bolt adjusts the bearings of the "Y" arm,
and the locknut gets tightened snugly against the body (BR-RE015) to
secure the bearing adjustment. The sestscrew is an additional locking
measure to secure this critical adjustment.

You should not be using a cone wrench to adjust the centering of a
dual-pivot brake caliper.

My preferred approach is to loosen up the Allen mounting nut that holds
it to the frame, squeeze and hold the brake lever to engage the brake
with the rim, then tighten the Allen nut while holding the brake engaged.

In most cases this will result in correct centering of the caliper.

If you need to make a minor tweak to the centering after that, this is
the purpose of the small setscrew labeled BR-RE018

Sheldon "Stop!" Brown
+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Patriotism is your conviction that this country is |
| superior to all others because you were born in it. |
| -- George Bernard Shaw |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

David White said:

Hello and thanks in advance for any insight you can offer...

I have what appears to be a late 90's Record dual pivot caliper (rear).
If you look at the diagram shown at
<http://www.campagnolo.com/pdf/spares99-B.pdf> (about mid way down the
page) you will see an exploded view of this unit (BR-44RE).

Please note the BR-RE104 bolt assembly which holds the caliper to the
frame. This assembly contains an odd part that has a set screw in it. On
my front caliper, a similar piece sits with the set screw in a true,
vertical position. This piece has two flat sides which permits centering
of the caliper using a 13mm cone wrench.

For some reason, this piece on my rear caliper is positioned so the set
screw is not oriented vertically. Therefore, the flat sides are
positioned so that I cannot place a cone wrench to center the caliper
(the elements around the part BR-RE015 get in the way).

So: Is it possible for me to change something that will permit the set
screw to be oriented vertically on the rear as it is on the front? If
so, what do I need to do?

I tried loosening the set screw hoping that the unit might easily turn.
But it did not. I have not tried to force it in any way.

Thanks,

David

This is not technically the way to center a dual pivot brake. Use the
small allen head on the side of the caliper. One is for centering, one
is to increase spring tension.
As for centering, the easiest thing to do is just push the caliper to
center by hand.