Campag Skeleton caliper.

[bigjim]

I've somehow ended up with my son's old bike. Fitted with these brake calipers. The front is just on or off. I've removed it to see what is going on. There is no resistance in the spring when you squeeze the arms together, so it does not spring back. Everything looks intact but I can't figure out what the problem is. Anybody any ideas or experience of this?

[Brucey]

is one of the pivots adjusted too tightly, or do the arms move completely freely in both directions? Is the brake spring the correct one?



is the problem one a SP or DP caliper?

cheers

[bigjim]

Original equipment on the bike. Never adjusted or messed with. Not particularly well looked after though. The seatpost was well and truly stuck for example. These are the ones. Rear is ok.

[Brucey]

if the centre pivot is seized, the arm with the pinch bolt on can be completely free (i.e. floppy) because it is only sprung via the centre pivoted arm.

cheers

[foxyrider]

Not much help I know, i've got a couple of pairs of these, SR quality with the full ceramic bearings, not been touched in 4 years and sweet as a nut still.

Which quality are yours? The lower spec models do, I understand, use steel bearings which may have corroded. They aren't like other brakes in that they have actual bearings in the pivots rather than just compression washers.

In the first instance i'd be looking at getting some sort of penetrating oil into the bearings, not sure i'd want to strip one down, the bearings are tiny!

[Brucey]

IIRC the layout of the bearings is like they are in shimano ultegra etc, i.e. the balls are captive in a retainer.

Record and SR are similar in layout. The main difference between those and other models in the campag range are the thrust bearings in the centre of the illustration (the ones without pns, yes those.... )



on the other side of the centre pivot there is just a washer, not a fancy bearing, and that can be where it seizes up. With all DP calipers if the nut and the back is slightly seized when the brake is removed from the bike, the centrebolt can turn and that can instantly cause the centre pivot to nip up.

Part BR-SR030 is a locknut and it contains a locking grub screw too. That is designed to prevent the centrebolt from turning. If it has failed to do so then it needs attention. If the centre pivot needs to be serviced it has to come undone anyway. You need to remove the grub screw and then unscrew the locknut. A similar arrangement is used on nearly all DP brakes, and it almost invariably causes trouble, because the grub screw is usually corroded solid and if you unscrew the locknut without removing it first, it will chew up the centrebolt threads. If in doubt, practice on some cheap junk DPs first, instead of wrecking your posh brakes. IIRC the campag locknut has special problems because the locknut is often aluminium (not steel) and it can crack up.

BTW you can buy shimano centrebolts with ball bearings in quite cheaply; even tiagra ones have the bearings these days I think. You may be able to transplant the shimano bearings into the campag caliper.

cheers

[De Sisti]

I've somehow ended up with my son's old bike. Fitted with these brake calipers. The front is just on or off. I've removed it to see what is going on. There is no resistance in the spring when you squeeze the arms together, so it does not spring back. Everything looks intact but I can't figure out what the problem is. Anybody any ideas or experience of this?

Get rid of them. I have an unused pair (still boxed) in my spares box if you'd be interested.

[Mick F]

I have these brakes, and previously Chorus ones.
If the spring is there and correctly anchored, the calliper must be tight.
They are adjustable, but IME they never need adjusting.

I have stripped them down in the past, and so long as they are left alone, they work perfectly.

If it were me with the OP's problem, the first thing I would do is to give it a good squirting of WD40 and exercise the calliper in and out to free it up then lubricate it with loadsa oil.

[bigjim]

Thanks for all the info. Now sorted. The spring was not even moving. So that was released, greased and sprung back. Big adjustment screw removed, cleaned and greased before replacement. Now all working. Still not impressed with this design. Seems old fashioned, as there is no quick release lever.

[Samuel D]

Do your Campagnolo brake levers have quick releases?

[bigjim]

Do your Campagnolo brake levers have quick releases?

Not checked that. New bike to me. Still, limits you to their levers if so. I expect that's the idea though.

[cycleruk]

Do your Campagnolo brake levers have quick releases?

Not checked that. New bike to me. Still, limits you to their levers if so. I expect that's the idea though.

You probably know but Campag' levers have a button at the top of the lever. Pull lever a bit and press button from one side to the other.
Best of both worlds using Campag' levers with Shimano callipers.

[foxyrider]

Do your Campagnolo brake levers have quick releases?

Not checked that. New bike to me. Still, limits you to their levers if so. I expect that's the idea though.

The Campag lever 'QR' weighs a lot less than a dodgy cam on the caliper!

I guess it's what you get used to, all my bikes bar one are fully Campag'ed the other one has Campag calipers with Shim Exage levers that use a similar lever 'qr' to Campag!

[cycleruk]

The Campag lever 'QR' weighs a lot less than a dodgy cam on the caliper!

What's dodgy about the cam on a calliper. ?

[Mick F]

What's dodgy about the cam on a calliper. ?

The fact that you may forget that you've released it and your brake(s) won't work.
Having a QR on the brake lever is better, because if you forget to reset it, your brakes will still work.