Poor Brake Performance

solarflash
solarflash Posts: 102
edited July 2010 in Road beginners
My girlfriend has recently taken up triathlons (she's joined a local club) and bought her first road bike for training and events. After several training rides and a duathlon she has no confidence in the brakes at all. She has come from mountain biking and is used to hydraulics, obviously there is going to be a massive difference but at the moment she is struggling to go over 30mph on descents because the brakes are so weak. She rides an Orbea Onix Dama with Tiagra brakes. I've only ever ridden mountain bikes myself so I'm struggling to offer any advice. Is there anything she can do to improve the performance of the brakes, perhaps different brake blocks etc? Also is there a certain position or technique to using road brakes that could help a beginner. And lastly I don't suppose there is reach adjustment on tiagra brakes to bring the lever closer to the bars?

Comments

  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    Is she braking from the hoods? She'll get more power braking from the drops.
    More problems but still living....
  • solarflash
    solarflash Posts: 102
    Yeah, she's been braking from the hoods, she tried from the drops on a long descent today and think she was a bit wobbly. :) Do most people brake from the drops on speedy descents then?
  • Weejie54
    Weejie54 Posts: 750
    I would reckon most people are ON the drops on speedy descents!
  • solarflash
    solarflash Posts: 102
    Ok thanks! :D
  • Mike67
    Mike67 Posts: 585
    Yes, there's much more leverage from the drops.
    It's the only way I brake when descending at speed, I've managed to stop OK so far :D .

    I have Tiagra brakes but have changed the pads to Koolstops which improved the grabbing power.
    They still won't be up to the power you get from disc brakes though.

    If I remember rightly my Tiagras came with little rubber inserts that go inside the top of the lever that allowed the reach to be adjusted...you may have these lying around somewhere.
    Mike B

    Cannondale CAAD9
    Kinesis Pro 5 cross bike
    Lots of bits
  • solarflash
    solarflash Posts: 102
    Oooh, thanks Mike, it was bought from the LBS so I'll to enquire about that. Don't think we got any inserts but I'll check just in-case.
  • Mike67
    Mike67 Posts: 585
    Just had a root around and found my original ones.
    There are two sets which offer a 4 degree or 8 degree inboard change to the angle of the levers.
    They fit into two little holes under the hood (after removing the plug that's in situ).

    If you get no joy at the LBS (they should have loads knocking about) or in your parts bin then drop me a PM and I'll pop them in the post to you.
    Mike B

    Cannondale CAAD9
    Kinesis Pro 5 cross bike
    Lots of bits
  • Stuy-b
    Stuy-b Posts: 248
    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Swiss ... erformance)_Pads/5360042711/?referid=frogoog&source=googleps
  • solarflash
    solarflash Posts: 102
    Thanks Mike, that's very kind indeed! I'll have a look see what I can find first. Thanks Stu, I take it the stock Tiagra blocks aren't up to much?
  • Butterd2
    Butterd2 Posts: 937
    I switched out my 105 pads for Swissstop green's which are much better (if a little pricey). Still no match for the Magura's on the Pace though.
    Scott CR-1 (FCN 4)
    Pace RC200 FG Conversion (FCN 5)
    Giant Trance X

    My collection of Cols
  • soveda
    soveda Posts: 306
    solarFlash wrote:
    Thanks Mike, that's very kind indeed! I'll have a look see what I can find first. Thanks Stu, I take it the stock Tiagra blocks aren't up to much?
    I found that just getting 105 cartridge blocks improved things from the stock Tiagra blocks.
  • skyd0g
    skyd0g Posts: 2,540
    As well as correctly adjusted pads and better compounds, it may well be worth reading this article on braking. http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html#frontuse
    ie 95% of braking comes from the front wheel.
    Cycling weakly
  • racingcondor
    racingcondor Posts: 1,434
    +1 for SwissStop Green or Cool Stop Salmon being a big improvement on stock Shimano pads.

    As for getting the levers closer to the bars I've found that the best way to do this is usually to remove the bar tape, loosen the brifter and move it down the curve of the handlebar. Once you've done that you'll need to loosen the bolts on the faceplate of the stem and rotate the bars to raise the brifters again.

    Easy to do but annoying as you'll need to rewrap the bars and I've always found it takes ages to get the glue off from the old tape.

    I have no problem lifting the back wheel while I'm in the saddle (not that I'd advise it!) even from the hoods.