tiger1964 

I have a few sets of these and I find one thing irritating. They included narrow wrench flats (13mm?) on the base of the center bolt, so that implies you can hold the brake centered while tightening it down. Fine on the back (as I have some offset cone wrenches) but, in the front, how do you get at it? From above, invariably the headset is in the way and, below, the wheel. I was trying to visualize some convolutedly-bent wrench to get in there but ​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​. Alternatively, I imagine some gauge to attach to the fork blades to act as an indicator of where "centered" is while the wheel is out. Or is there something I am missing?

jamesdak 

I can normally get one of my thin hub wrenches in there from up top to hold it. The thin wrenches I use on the cones of the hubs.

oneclick 

Method a: Park brake spanner; flats are at 90 degrees to the length of the stamping.

Method b: loosen fixing bolt, squeeze brake HARD, tighten fixing nut enough to hold that position but not so much that the inner arm moves; release the brake and hold inner arm so it does not move while you fully tighten the nut.

satbuilder 

This might help for centering once the brakes are installed:

Dave Moulton's Blog - Dave Moulton's Bike Blog - Centering side-pull brakes

P!N20

You can throw a couple of spacers between the fork crown and caliper to get access to the flats as long as you have enough thread to engage the nut.

repechage

it is the design of the fork crown that can be a problem. On my Colnagos, yep, the 13mm cone wrench flats are not accessible from above. I did try a spacer which worked BUT, interestingly the brake bolt flexed when the brake was applied, with unacceptable performance, this was with a machined 7mm thick spacer.
‘it is a bit of extra effort to center the brake, I am assuming you are using the Campagnolo “star” washer, I forget the original Italian name, rotoden…
a gauge could be devised, I just did not wish to spend the time to design and fabricate one, might start with a unloved front hub.

mpetry912 

Rondella Dentata according the to the Velo-Retro timeline, introduced in 1971

Velo-Retro: Campagnolo Timeline

/markp

Homebrew01

That's how I've always done it when brake flats were not accessible or non-existent. We had a punch with a curve ground into it so it fit the spring better than a flat punch or flat blade screwdriver.

El Chaba

The front brake should *usually* have two rondella dentatas. That usually gives enough space to fit in a cone wrench, admittedly at a bit of an angle….which is fine. You should loosen the bolt when centering so that the teeth from the washers…er…um…rondellas don’t chew up themselves and the mounting surface as the whole assembly is moved in centering. Hold the wrench and tighten the mounting bolt. It’s not unusual for the washers to wear and everything will benefit from replacement at that point.

Bad Lag

If this is really a problem, try accessing the wrench flats from below. The front wheel comes off so easily.

Last time I did it, I lined it up loose and held it in place while tightening the bolt.

Mad Honk 

I have used this wrench for 30+ years to center the brakes. You may need to deflate the tires but the post can be accessed from the bottom when you deflate.

Offset brake wrench from Park inexpensive and the part is OBW-1. You can also remove some of the material from the wrench, so that it just fits into the post flats from the bottom with the tire still inflated.
HTH, Smiles, MH

repechage

always more tools to buy, very good.

repechage

‘not enough on a classic Colnago.

repechage

‘yeah, that is the Weinmann 500 way. But these are Campagnolo.

SwimmerMike 

I picked up a batch of tools last month. This was one of the ones in the box. When I saw it I thought "I wish I knew about this tool years ago", it's a great design and got rid of a lot of frustration.

Retoocs

Park OBW-3 tool hooks onto the loops on the spring to turn the caliper.

Homebrew01

Yeah, but they're still just bike parts. The concave recess in the punch prevented marring the spring.

mpetry912 

Till the punch slips and you gouge the paint job on your Craigslist Free Spirit, or Confente, Cinelli, Nago, whatever.

/markp

tiger1964 

Wow, lots of responses, too many to cite all of them!

After posting Post #1, I went for a club ride. At one stop I looked down and the NDS front pad was lightly agains the rim! Fortunately I could loosen the adjusting barrel on-the-fly and continue, and I'll convince myself that the slight drag was why I was struggling a bit in the pace line. This was on my Palo Alto, full Suntour Superbe and, again, with the brakes being somewhat Campy Copies, there are those wrench flats again.

OK, heading to finding the correct wrench, meanwhile "b" might help.

I did the tiptop thing countless times in the 1970's, working in bike shops -- but wrench flats are taunting me.

Hmm, I wonder if that would negate the benefits of the Campy Magic Washers.

Deflate! Brilliant! Anyway, apparently OWB-1 is no longer offered but I found one just now on eBay, so I bought it.

I found OBW-3, and apparently the wrench end is 14mm. I just checked and both the Campy and the Suntour are 13mm. There's an OBW-4 with four ends and I could get one and cut off the parts not needed to get more clearance.

JohnDThompson 

Campagnolo provided two star washers for the front caliper to move the centering flats out far enough for a 13mm cone wrench to reach them.

Road Fan

I suspect that translates to "toothy round thing."

SurferRosa

That's the tool I use to center many a caliper, Campy or not. And haven't ever needed to customize it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124889166994

​​​​​

sced

I do this too. Quick and easy.

Kabuki12

I use a cone wrench and that works. I don’t have one of the 90 degree offset type , just the regular Campagnolo ones. Make sure the wrench is held firmly when tightening the nut on the other end . Work the brakes with the lever a few times firmly before taking the bike off the stand to make sure they modulate evenly.

repechage

not enough spacing forward for a 70’s Colnago Super. On a Fischer crown or twin plate crown Masi, no problemo. Those crowns employ the shallow saddle washer to present a flat surface to the brake.
‘Colnago used a crown that presents a flat face, good, but the forward face of the crown is too close to the steering axis.