I recently installed Tririg’s Omega brakes on my '14 Cervelo P2. The front install went fine, no issues. The rear brake installed the same way but has a slight (aprox 2mm) toe in. I can’t bring in the pad using the set screw adjustment enough to mitigate this, it still doesn’t have enough stopping power. Tririg suggested possibly using a shim to eliminate this issue. Does anyone have a similar experience / recommended solution?
I have a LOT of Omegas on different bikes. I think I know the issue you’re talking about, but if you’re lacking stopping power, that’s probably not the reason. You probably have some slack in cable/housing setup somewhere. I know Nick says not to use Omegas on brake systems with in-line cable adjusters, but I disagree. On my TT rigs, I use the Bontrager XXX Lite aero brake levers with the built-in cable adjuster and it’s perfect for helping to get every bit of slack out of the system and making the brakes perform really well … even if one side is toe’d in a bit and very little pad is making initial contact. There’s also a bit of a trick to pulling the cable through the triangular wedge to get things snug and eliminate as much slack as possible. Once you’ve made sure the slack is gone, the slightest movement of the brake lever translates directly to movement of the brake and modulation and braking are excellent, even if the pads line up a bit askew.
But if you still have an issue, you might try shaving a brake pad to make more contact, rather than trying a shim.
Do you know which generation your Omegas are? Nick changed the brake pad holders and the lever arms a bit with the second generation and it’s a bit easier to get the brake pads set up properly with the newer ones.
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Agree w/ Bobby about making sure that there is no cable slack. I was about to bail on my front tririg brake until I discovered there was a bit of slack and the cable housing wasn’t fully pushed against the stop when the brakes weren’t activated. That took care of most of my braking issues. I did have one pad that seemed to have a bit too much toe in, not sure if that was from manufacturing imprecision in the brake or if the brake mounting hole in the fork is just a tiny bit off. I cut a small piece of aluminum from a soda can, folded it so that the total shim was two thicknesses, and put it between the brake pad holder and the brake arm. It does the job just fine. If I remove the brake pad holders I do have to catch the shim and then reinstall it. With these two changes my Tririg now brakes just fine, almost as good as the Dura Ace brakes on my road bike.
The Tririg brakes are definitely on the fussy side and if you like equipment you can just install and forget indefinitely you might be better with conventional brakes.
Interesting that he suggests not using an inline adjuster, I’ve thought about that as it would make it easier to get the cable fully pre-loaded. Can’t think of any reason not to.
But yeah, make sure the cable is fully tight, and make sure the excess cable is trimmed all the way down, if there is too much it will press on the cover and create slack.
I have a LOT of Omegas on different bikes. I think I know the issue you’re talking about, but if you’re lacking stopping power, that’s probably not the reason. You probably have some slack in cable/housing setup somewhere. .
I guess the reason I am saying that I am lacking stopping power is b/c I can only adjust the pads in so close b/c of the toe issue. I think my attempt at pulling the cable as tight as possible prior to locking down the set screw was sufficient, but I am going to recheck it just to make sure. I may go with the soda can for a shim. They have the Gen 3 lever in them, so they should have all the most recent upgraded parts.
I did have one pad that seemed to have a bit too much toe in, not sure if that was from manufacturing imprecision in the brake or if the brake mounting hole in the fork is just a tiny bit off. I cut a small piece of aluminum from a soda can, folded it so that the total shim was two thicknesses, and put it between the brake pad holder and the brake arm. It does the job just fine.
Thanks man I’m going to give this a try!
Interesting that he suggests not using an inline adjuster, I’ve thought about that as it would make it easier to get the cable fully pre-loaded.Our bikes have under/BB mounting and with the rear wheel removed, using a 3rd Hand Brake tool made ensuring the cable was tight with no slack much easier although there was a bit of trial an error involved before cutting the cable.
I love the Omega, but the lack of toe-in (as per std road brakes) is the one disappointment I have.