new brakes for a newbie with no clue

mr_sj

im very new to road cycling and just starting to get into it but im needing some new calipers for my bike and no idea about whats suitable/compatible etc.

ive got a 2nd hand orbea aqua enol and the calipers on at the moment im guessing are the standard ones that came with it but they are unbranded and im looking to upgrade them with something better.

apologies for the stupid question, but do all calipers fit all bikes ? or do i need to know specific measurements before buying anything to ensure they fit ? as i say the current ones i have are unbranded but the bike has shimano sora groupset and pro-lite como wheelset (no idea if that helps or not !!)

im hunting ebay and the classifieds on here as im on a budget, any advice appreciated to stop me wasting my money on something that doesnt fit !

sungod

wouldn't expect any problem fitting new brakes, looks like a typical road frame

unless the brakes are knackered, a lower cost alternative worth considering is new pads, koolstop salmon for instance, these can be way better than the default pads

otherwise i'd look for some shimano 105 or ultegra brakes, any lower down the range and they might not be any better than the current ones

andy_wrx

Agreed.

Unless the brakes are actually damaged or massively corroded, then simply replacing the pads with Koolstop or Swissstop should improve braking performance.

'Upgrading' the callipers could be a spend-lots-achieve-little exercise, equivalent to putting a spoiler on the back of a Corsa...

cougie

I have some very cheap tektro brakes on my winter bike - they work nearly as well as my Dura Ace. Like the others say - try new blocks or maybe you just need to adjust them to run closer to the rim ?