Cantilever brake question

[voice3]

I recently installed new Shimano CT91M cantilever brakes to replace old CT90's. The brakes seem to work fine, however when I depress the brake lever slowly one pad hits the rim before the other pad. Once I depress the brake lever a bit more both pads engage and press the rim and stop the wheel. When the lever is released both arms of the brake retract to about the same position without a problem (in other words it seems to be centered properly). Is this normal for a cantilever brake (for one pad to hit the rim before the other)?
Thanks,
Matt

[cyclerUK]

There are centering screws on the sides of the arms.
Check out Alex's tutorial video - it's near the end where he shows adjusting the screws.
You may have to do other adjustments first before centering?

[voice3]

(03-31-2011, 06:41 PM)cyclerUK Wrote:  There are centering screws on the sides of the arms.
Check out Alex's tutorial video - it's near the end where he shows adjusting the screws.
You may have to do other adjustments first before centering?

I didn't actually measure the distance of each pad from the rim, but by sight it seems pretty much centered. I've also adjusted the screw you're referring to. It's just that when I depress the brake lever one side starts moving towards the rim before the other. It's not really a centering issue. It's a bit hard to explain...

[DaveM]

Probably the side that stays still has a tiny bit more friction on post or the cable routing resists it moving as easily. I'd double check to make sure everything is moving smoothly. But if so, this won't create a problem and isn't unusual. With two independent moving parts, it's hard to get everything moving exactly the same. But it won't affect brake operation in any way I can think of.