Brake not very brake-y

SimonAH

Because I'm a tart and I'm riding fixed I've only got a front caliper fitted - so it needs to work well.

The (presumably) Bontrager pads are pretty poor - especialy in the wet - I keep hearing mention of Koostop and Swisstop, what's the skinny folks? Recommendations (apart from de-tarting and putting another caliper on the bike) much appreciated.

Wrath Rob

Disc brakes. Job done

SimonAH

Would love - bit tough to retrofit to my carbon forks though.

Butterd2

Spent the last week riding down Pyrenean Cols at up to 70kph in the wet with Swissstop Green's. F*cking expensive and f*cking good, especially teamed up with Conti GP4000's.

Same prob now with my FG, I've got some avid shorty's on the front and compared to the 105's with Swissstop on the Roadie they feel really poor.

UpTheWall

Ey up SimonAH.

I switched the front blocks from shimano to the red koolstop as I heard they were good in the wet, and one mate swears by them.

i was dissapointed. i didn't notice any difference, and in fact found them rather dangerous.

I shall explain: the koolstops aren't flat against the rims, but taper to a point at the end. There was some claim on the packaging about this cleaning the rims for you. In practice this means that you get f-all brake block surface onto the wheel, so they don't give you any stopping power until they've worn down to be flat against the wheel. That takes quite a lot of miles without decent stopping power. Grr.

You do sound very cool. Single speed, beard. Have you got nice orange rims too? if so the koolstops will set them off nicely. ;-)

but I reckon it's best to get brakes at the back too. If you get a snapped cable, or other technical mid ride, it's rather nice to have the fallback of a spare brake. I've been there!

Simon

SimonAH

You do sound very cool. Single speed, beard. Have you got nice orange rims too? if so the koolstops will set them off nicely.

I am wounded. Yes :oops: Well, I like 'em. (Beard isn't a trendy hipster one though, more a trimmer version of Captain Haddock) Also haven't had a pair of skinny trousers since I was in school in the early 80s.

And you'd be mortified to know that I'm using the left hand lever too because it gives a sweeter cable run to the front caliper.

TBH though I'm not too worried about a brake failure as a) I have the fixed aspect to slow me and b) I'm fanatical about maintenance (bike goes up on the stand at least two or three times a week on average and c) pretty comprehensive tool kit carried with me including a cable inner coiled up next to the spare innertube.

I get your point though.

UpTheWall

sounds like your bike gets a lot of loving attention.

i notice belt drive in your bike list.

is that one of those cool looking ones with a plastic "chain"?

How do they differ, particularly in ride quality and efficieny?

Blue Meanie

Grr, i get tired of reading 'fit a rear too - just in case' Just in case what? Do you fit a coaster to supplement you disc-equipped mtb in case the fluid boils?

I've had a 105 caliper with original b-blocks on my fixed for 4 years now. Used occasionally, when I'm tired, when I get surprised, when my chain falls off/snaps.
I can stoppie on it from 20mph, or alternatively skid rear wheel at 20mph as required.

Yup, if you're gonna fit a brake, fit a good one.

I find it best to have all my road-use bikes set up with the front brake on the left hand side.
When turning right into a road, it's useful so you can still indicate with your right hand, and you do get a neater cable routing.

Clever Pun

beards are cool yes

rhext

I've used Koolstop and Fibrax pads: difficult to tell the difference between the two T.B.H, but both a major improvement over the pads which came with the bike! Never tried Swissstop because I baulked at the outrageous price. And now I've tried the other brands, I'll not be bothering. It's possible they're better but there's a limit to how much better they can be and since both Koolstop and Fibrax are quite capable of locking up the wheel, why pay more?

Wrath Rob

Clever Pun wrote:

beards are cool yes

Strangely its only people who sport one who state that

il_principe

Butterd2 wrote:

Spent the last week riding down Pyrenean Cols at up to 70kph in the wet with Swissstop Green's. F*cking expensive and f*cking good, especially teamed up with Conti GP4000's.

Same prob now with my FG, I've got some avid shorty's on the front and compared to the 105's with Swissstop on the Roadie they feel really poor.

Plus 1, just been riding in the Alps (in the blazing sun, ha!) with Swissstop Green's and Chorus, epic stopping power. Much needed as I appear to have morphed into a descending pu$$y.

tgotb

I currently have SwissStop Blacks, which were quite expensive, and are totally and utterly rubbish.

Disco Brakes (the three colour ones) are as good as any I have ever used, and dirt cheap...

Butterd2

Clever Pun wrote:

beards are cool yes

+2

Butterd2

Il Principe wrote:

Butterd2 wrote:

Spent the last week riding down Pyrenean Cols at up to 70kph in the wet with Swissstop Green's. F*cking expensive and f*cking good, especially teamed up with Conti GP4000's.

Same prob now with my FG, I've got some avid shorty's on the front and compared to the 105's with Swissstop on the Roadie they feel really poor.

Plus 1, just been riding in the Alps (in the blazing sun, ha!) with Swissstop Green's and Chorus, epic stopping power. Much needed as I appear to have morphed into a descending pu$$y.

To be fair we had some sunny days too but coming down the Aubisque/Solour was like riding down a river! Worst thing was the combination of rain and cow sh!t mixed up into a lovely ambrosia which we all got nicely covered in.

SimonAH

UpTheWall wrote:

sounds like your bike gets a lot of loving attention.

i notice belt drive in your bike list.

is that one of those cool looking ones with a plastic "chain"?

How do they differ, particularly in ride quality and efficieny?

I've got to say I'm totally won over (although this is a subject that's been hammered on here). I've used my bike daily (avg maybe 15 miles) since I bought it in November last year and have had to do zero maintenance on the drive chain bar washing it along with the rest of the bike.

No detectable wear as yet. Basically completely silent. Lighter than chain and sprockets and best of all no oil or grease. You could (if you were a very strange person) eat a sandwich off my bottom bracket and lick sherbert off my chainstays = cleaning is a damp cloth to remove road grime after a wet run.
Downsides - well if you want gears then you have to go alfine or similar. Can't think of anything else as yet.
As for ride quality then I'm beggared if I can tell the difference from a chain.
Power transfer - compared to a race prepped machine with a perfect chain leaving the start of a race? Probably a tiny bit less efficient, but a hell of a lot more efficient than the same chain after a couple of days of road grime would be my guess. Can't prove it though.
Yup, early adopter or not I'm a complete convert.

Canny Jock

I had black koolstops on my Tricross canti's and they were superb, would certainly recommend them.

SimonAH

Right then.

Due to somebody unkindly pointing out that Wiggle have a sale on I've just ordered a Dura Ace caliper. I'll see if that racks up the stoppage first and then go for a set of uber-pads if the Shimano ones supplied haven't got the oomph required.

I am however hopeful of now stopping so fast that my ears become relocated to the front of my head.

_Brun_

Your avatar already looks like your eyeballs have burst.

SimonAH

Those nice folks at Wiggle got my DuraAce callipers to me today. Oooo, shiny shiny.

Shot home for lunch and fitted it in place of the OE Bobtrager (i'm assuming) calliper and then shot back to the office.

I don't know if it's the pad compound or the stiffer calliper but I reckon at least a 50% improvement in sheer braking power and 150% improvement in feel and modulation.

Only downside is that it is so damn pretty I keep staring at it instead of the road :oops:

EKE_38BPM

SimonAH wrote:

And you'd be mortified to know that I'm using the left hand lever too because it gives a sweeter cable run to the front caliper.

Did I read somewhere that you really did this so that you could still indicate right and have full braking? Left hand braking is wrong like imitation cheese, but it does make sense. I'm now considering it for my fixie (which I still haven't finished building). I do worry about getting mixed up when I switch from my fixie to my geared bike though.

ride_whenever

for the levers you want a set of these:



so you can brake with either hand.

biondino

ride_whenever wrote:

for the levers you want a set of these:



so you can brake with either hand.

You'd have to be riding hipster-style both fists together to use the brakes properly though! Heaven forbid you should want any control over your bike

SimonAH

I think yoiu've misunderstood these ones Biondino, as I understand them they are for actualing one brake with either hand - but I agree with you on those super narrow bars - daft dangerous.

And EKE, three reasons I relocated to LH braking
1) Genuinely a much shorter and sweeter cable run.
2) It leaves my stronger hand free for the occaisional six pack in a carrier bag moment
3) My right hand lever got scuffed in my big off a couple of months ago.

Have to say though, I swap between my drop barred geared racer and the fisie regularly and have no adjustment problems - a bit like driving different cars and vans, things are in different places but takes you two secs to adapt.

ride_whenever

Yup, the idea is you rarely use your brake anyway, so have it so you can use it with either hand rather than both!

biondino

You're both right, I just leapt to a hipster-bashing conclusion

Though I always use my brake on my fixie. Leg braking is tiring and inefficient and makes my knees sore.