Stock Chainset & Brakes on Secteur Elite

Mr. Andy
Mr. Andy Posts: 12
edited March 2011 in Road buying advice
Hi All

First post on here after many months of lurking, so hoping that somebody will be able to help with my question.

Just wanted to know if anyone out there could give me some advice on chainset that came as standard on my 2010 Secteur Elite.

The bike is fitted with a Shimano FCR-553, and I am trying to work out exactly where that sits in the pecking order of the Shimano range - rest of it is fitted with 105 components, and wanted to know if this was comparable. Tried doing google search to get some info, but not really come up with any results.

Also, would there be any benefit to upgrading the brakes? Does anyone have any experience of updgrading to 105 (from the stock Tektro brakes) and did it have any significant benefit in terms of performance?

Any advice or info would be very welcome

Andy

Comments

  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,531
    if you compare fc-r553 with 5600 series 105 and tiagra, it comes out looking like it's a 10-speed tiagra-like model (tiagra is 9-speed)

    you'll find the info at http://cycle.shimano-eu.com and http://techdocs.shimano.com

    so comparable with tiagra, but that's nothing to sniff at, prefectly good

    if you ever feel driven to upgrade, i'd ditch the triple and put a standard double (and new bb and double front mech) on it - 105 5600 series components should be getting cheaper once the new 5700 series gets established

    can't help with the brakes, i'd think as long as they are adjusted correctly the tektros are gioing to do the job ok, cheapest upgrade would be to fit some decent pads, such as kool stop
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • Mr. Andy
    Mr. Andy Posts: 12
    Many thanks for your help - never crossed my mind to look at the shimano site :oops:

    Probably not planning to upgrade the chainset in the immediate future, as the bike is still reasonably new and current chainset performs perfectly well for my level of riding (road newbie). Think I need to stick to the triple for some time to come if my recent performance on the hills is anything to go by!

    I'll have a go at making adjustments to the brakes and see if it improves their performance - in all honesty there is nothing genuinely wrong with them. Problem is that I am used to hydraulic disks on my mountain bike, so although not comparing like with like it's hard not to feel that the brakes on the road bike are under-performing.
  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    I have the same bike and yes coming from hydraulic brakes it will feel underpowered but you tend to use the brakes as speed adjusters than jam them on at the last minute devices liek on mountain bikes, it also teaches you to manage your speed so you don't waste energy braking when you don't have to.
  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    Hi Mr. Andy.

    I also have the same bike and, like Sungod says, the Tekros can be made a tad better with Kool stops (less than £7 a set).

    Sorry if you know this already but you should ensure you use the front as the default brake set (see Sheldon). I grew up thinking that touching the front brakes would automatically result in a triple somersault but it actually does make for better braking once you have mastered feathering.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,531
    Mr. Andy wrote:
    ...

    I'll have a go at making adjustments to the brakes and see if it improves their performance - in all honesty there is nothing genuinely wrong with them. Problem is that I am used to hydraulic disks on my mountain bike, so although not comparing like with like it's hard not to feel that the brakes on the road bike are under-performing.

    i know what you mean, i was used to disk brakes on my bike, but it got pinched and the next one had rim brakes, terrifying, especially in the wet

    aside from the difference in stopping power, watch out on long descents, if you drag on the brakes you can heat the rims enough to blow the tube, alternating front/back, and doing short hard bursts of braking, can help manage the heat build up
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • Mr. Andy
    Mr. Andy Posts: 12
    Thanks again for all your advice - will certainly give the Koolstops a try, and see if I can master my technique over the coming weeks. As there are a couple of speedy descents within a few miles of home I've certainly got somewhere I can practice on! :lol:
  • cooper.michael1
    cooper.michael1 Posts: 1,787
    sungod wrote:

    if you ever feel driven to upgrade, i'd ditch the triple and put a standard double (and new bb and double front mech) on it - 105 5600 series components should be getting cheaper once the new 5700 series gets established

    What rubbish advice... you have no idea about where he lives, what his fitness and style of riding is.

    Around where i'm from you can quite easily find roads which kick up at 20%+ try riding those with a standard double.
  • bother
    bother Posts: 31
    Mr. Andy - I've just swapped the stock tektro calipers on my Secteur Comp for Shimano 105 (5600) calipers.

    I'm not sure there's a huge difference in stopping power but I would say the following
    - they look and feel much higher quality. They move more freely and the adjustment bolts/screws etc are better
    - they braking action is more progressive and controllable

    I think I paid about £70 for both calipers

    I'm glad I did it.