[Sparticus]

I've always wondered… does the little tab on the shoulder of the spring go toward the front of the bike or the back of the bike?

Not that it's ever seemed to matter in the past.

Anyway, TIA
=sparty

 

[SleepeRst]

View attachment 1941071
I've always wondered… does the little tab on the shoulder of the spring go toward the front of the bike or the back of the bike?

Not that it's ever seemed to matter in the past.

Anyway, TIA
=sparty

How old are these? I just checked all my shimano 2 pistons and none have that tab

 

[acer66]

How old are these? I just checked all my shimano 2 pistons and none have that tab

Not sure if I ever saw that tap too but my memory is worth sheit these days.

 

[Sparticus]

How old are these? I just checked all my shimano 2 pistons and none have that tab

This spring came off a worn out pair of MTX red pads that I put on about a year ago IIRC.
That said, I have a bag of "old" springs (most of them brand new) that came with new pads but when I installed those new pads, I reused the old spring and threw the new spring in the bag. So I may have reused the old spring on those MTX pads, too. Anyway I rarely (ok, never) buy Shimano stock pads or anything other than Truckerco pads, so maybe the tabs only come with Truckerco pad springs. Dunno.
I've honestly never paid any attention which way I install the spring so I'm confident it doesn't make any functional difference. I just wonder why those tabs are there.
=sParty

 

[acer66]

This spring came off a worn out pair of MTX red pads that I put on about a year ago IIRC.
That said, I have a bag of "old" springs (most of them brand new) that came with new pads but when I installed those new pads, I reused the old spring and threw the new spring in the bag. So I may have reused the old spring on those MTX pads, too. Anyway I rarely (ok, never) buy Shimano stock pads or anything other than Truckerco pads, so maybe the tabs only come with Truckerco pad springs. Dunno.
I've honestly never paid any attention which way I install the spring so I'm confident it doesn't make any functional difference. I just wonder why those tabs are there.
=sParty

What are you saving these new springs for if I may ask?

 

[Sparticus]

What are you saving these new springs for if I may ask?

It's compulsive. I can't seem to throw away a perfectly functional spring, so I've built up a backlog.
Maybe I should sell them through MTBR's Classifieds. Given current COVID related bike parts shortages, I might get rich.
=sParty

 

[Aglo]

As far as I remember all my Shimano pads come with R and L pressed into the spring.
I don't pay attention to how I install them because they are symmetric, but I do try to reinstall them the same way whenever I remove the pads for some reason.

 

[wschruba]

As far as I remember all my Shimano pads come with R and L pressed into the spring.
I don't pay attention to how I install them because they are symmetric, but I do try to reinstall them the same way whenever I remove the pads for some reason.

The front of the springs that have R/L embossed on them is wider than the rear, effectively toeing in the brake pads. Shimano no longer does this for their current brakes, so you can imagine that it must not have made a big difference. I'm assuming the tab on @Sparticus spring performs a similar orienting function.

 

[749800]

It's compulsive. I can't seem to throw away a perfectly functional spring, so I've built up a backlog.
Maybe I should sell them through MTBR's Classifieds. Given current COVID related bike parts shortages, I might get rich.
=sParty

I've got a huge pile of used pads. I have no clear idea why.

 

[hoolie]

That tab is the minimum brake pad material thickness, letting you know when to replace pads, according to my 3rd IPA. Im totally making that up. (Not the IPA part). This is really challenging to figure out What that tab is for.