Caliper upgrade

SirUlrich

Hi guys and girls, been browsing these forums for a while and thought I would ask your thoughts on something...

I've recently noticed that the brakes on my winter/trainer bike seem to be lacking in ultimate power since I started to do some hill training (still a little nervous on the descents due to having 2 bigish offs whilst descending this year) The bike (09 spez allez - full sora) still has its original sora brakes and pads that untill now have been adequate on the flats but my riding speed is starting to increase I would like to have a bit more stopping power.

Having read through the forums, the concensus seems to be to upgrade the stock pads to swissstop greens (already ordered). But seeing as it is going in for a full service next week - is it worth getting the calipers upgraded to less flexy 105's? I only ask as I'm sure I can see the caliper arms bend when really pulling on the brakes hard (need something to look at whilst praying I stop :shock: )

I'm not expecting to get near the stopping power of my race bike, but would like to stop when I want and not 30ft further down the road. Cheers for any advice

Berk Bonebonce

Caliper upgrade? Upgrade is a word invented by marketing men and the people who put Cycling Plus magazine together.

Some things on a bike are worth changing, but I do not know if it much applies to brake calipers.

flasher

Try changing the pads first, Koolstop salmons are my personal choice.

dmch2

My callipers aren't even branded on my otherwise all tiagra bike and they're massively better with Swissstop pads. I'm sure the better callipers will be a bit better but the pads are cheaper and will give you a missive improvement.

Spend the calliper money on a set of new wheels or tyres instead

gregster10217

I asked the same question a couple of weeks ago about the unbranded, but thought to be Tektro R580 ?, calipers on my Boardman. I've upgraded the pads to Koolstop black, salmons ordered for the now wetter weather, and got the response that it was not worth it. The Koolstops made a massive difference and gave me the confidence I needed to go faster on descents knowing that I would slow down/stop as I needed. I'd say save your money and get something else.

the_prophet

i'd go with my own view, not tried changing the pads, but i swapped out a set of sora calipers on my defy 2, to a set of 105's i'd bought for my other bike and then changed my mind.

lever feel was better and they seem to work alot better than the sora's. if i swapped out the pads aswell im sure it would be even better.

if you've already ordered the pads, id wait and see how they perform on there own as said above, but then if your still not happy pick up a second hand set from on here or ebay or something and fit them yourself. takes ten minutes.

rake

the thing is more expensive calipers can only be lighter or have a better feel for the most part. they can only press the pads in with the force applied at the lever regardless of how much they flex. its the pads that generate the friction. they are the first piece to look at.the pads and rims need to be kept clean as well.

Butterd2

^^^ Wot they all said.

rich164h

rake wrote:

the thing is more expensive calipers can only be lighter or have a better feel for the most part. they can only press the pads in with the force applied at the lever regardless of how much they flex. its the pads that generate the friction. they are the first piece to look at.the pads and rims need to be kept clean as well.

Indeed. You can lock up the wheels on the cheapest of calipers assuming the pads/rims are any good so the limit of braking performance is really on the grip of the tyre and the ability to feel when the tyres are just under the limit of adhesion.

I'd suggest that brake feel is more down to how the brakes have been set up and the quality/condition of the brake cables/levers than the actual calipers themselves.

Disk brakes would be different however as heat dissipation and risk of boiling brake fluid becomes a problem.

I honestly don't belive that anyone has managed to flex the metal parts of the calibers by using the brake leavers either. I'd expect the wheels to lock and the brake cables to snap long before the calipers themeselves flexed.

andy46

interesting read this

there i was thinking i would need to upgrade the calipers on my Trek 1.1 as they didn't seem that good, looks like pads are all thats needed

mind you, when i say they don't seem that good, i am comparing them to the hydro disc's on my mtb

going down the big hill out of my village for the first time on my roadie was an eye opener, much faster with brakes not quite as good :shock: