Rear brake problem?

[Owlie]

Looking from the back of the bike, there is significantly more space between the left brake shoe and the wheel than between the right brake shoe and the wheel when the brakes are released. Applied, they both hit the wheel. The left hits the rim where it's supposed to. The right hits both the rim and the tire. It's either a brake problem, or the wheel isn't centered properly. The wheel seems okay, though. How do I fix this, or is it a "take it to the shop" job?

[Becky]

Remind me again....what kind of bike do you have? Road or hybrid or something else?

If they're road calipers, you can just manually rotate the calipers until they're centered. You may have to re-adjust the brake pads so that they hit the rim and not the tire after re-centering it. Always check that the wheel is properly centered in the drop outs and it's reasonably true before making too many other adjustments.

If they're either linear pull brakes (v-brakes) or cantilevers, it's a little more complicated, but not difficult.

[Owlie]

Remind me again....what kind of bike do you have? Road or hybrid or something else?

If they're road calipers, you can just manually rotate the calipers until they're centered. You may have to re-adjust the brake pads so that they hit the rim and not the tire after re-centering it. Always check that the wheel is properly centered in the drop outs and it's reasonably true before making too many other adjustments.

If they're either linear pull brakes (v-brakes) or cantilevers, it's a little more complicated, but not difficult.

It's a road bike. Wheel appears to be centered. I've tried manually rotating the calipers on BF's advice, but they rotate right back.

[DebW]

Do your caliper brakes have little screws or allen bolts on the top of the calipers? Those bolt are used to center the brakes.

[Owlie]

Not that I can see--I think the head's on the other side. So, of course, it's somewhere I can't reach it without serious wrist gymnastics.