Brakes!

sketchley

I don't like the brakes on my bike, apparantly they are "3D forged linear pull brakes with cartridge pads". I would like to upgrade!

What I would like to know is what are the different types of brakes available and what are the pros and cons of each type?

Also is it possible to upgrade a bike to disc brakes or does it need to built for it?

davis

Is the bike in question the Sirrus in your sig? Are they V-brakes that look like this:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html

If so, you'll get better results by: fettling your brake cables so they're well-adjusted, cleaning your wheel rims, and changing the brake blocks. Something like Kool Stop blocks are well regarded, as are SwissStop.

Edit: And, your bike generally needs to be built with disc brake mounts available. They're not trivial to retro-fit.

Edit 2: And, by "fettle your brake cables", you might wish to clean/grease/change the cables, or trim the cable outers so they're clean and tidy (not rusty). That depends on how easy the cables slide in the housing

sketchley

Yes that's them and I agree with the fettling comment. Looked after they are fine, they just need a lot of looking after. This morning I found myself taking the the back brake apart to clean and lubricate the pivot on one side as it wasn't springing back properly, no amount of screw centering adjustment would fix it. Not what I needed at 7am.

They just look and feel cheap and could be better. I think a complete strip down clean and re assmeble coming on at the weekend.

On the plus side they do stop the bike very well when they are working.

Philcho

To upgrade to disc brakes you'd need new hubs on the wheels to make them compatible if not a new pair of wheels so if you don't mind v-brakes then the cheaper option would be to stick with them. On a side note i do have a pair of shimano deore m530 v-brakes which i've never used, i'd happily sell them if they're an upgrade from the ones you have currently.

ndru

Get rollerbrakes - work and are quiet in all weather.

vorsprung

ndru wrote:

Get rollerbrakes - work and are quiet in all weather.

Friend of mine had rollerbrakes and they caught fire during a prolonged ascent in Wales

jonginge

vorsprung wrote:

ndru wrote:

Get rollerbrakes - work and are quiet in all weather.

Friend of mine had rollerbrakes and they caught fire during a prolonged ascent in Wales

That's some hardcore training! #wheelsonfire

jzed

I enhanced my braking by using my feet as anchors yesterday - my overshoes are shot :shock: New brake pads have done the job.

davis

Sketchley wrote:

Yes that's them and I agree with the fettling comment. Looked after they are fine, they just need a lot of looking after. This morning I found myself taking the the back brake apart to clean and lubricate the pivot on one side as it wasn't springing back properly, no amount of screw centering adjustment would fix it. Not what I needed at 7am.

They just look and feel cheap and could be better. I think a complete strip down clean and re assmeble coming on at the weekend.

Yup. A thorough strip-down and clean, taking time to lube the pivots and adjust the blocks perfectly should be all you need, and you'd probably benefit from trimming and finishing the cable outers, too.

Hold on, this ain't the workshop!

Edit: you have to play with all brakes, eventually. They're a sacrificial part of the bike, after all. Mudguards help in stopping some of the yuck that would otherwise make things not work so well in the winter weather.

ride_whenever

Personally i'd put on some decent v-brakes, either a high end shimano offering or any of the avid ones, my preference is the avids. I'd also fit a sealed brake cable system.

I run this on my pompino through all conditions and very rarely have to adjust the brakes or replace the cables.

Good pads and clean rims do make a massive difference though.

dilemna

Deore V brakes should be more than sufficient. They are about £30 a set plus a little more for inner cables. This is what I have on my Specialised Sirrus Sport.

Initialised

I just installed some Shimano 951 V-Brakes from this guy in the US, took awhile to get here but well worth it, not the best you can get but pretty close.

ride_whenever

the reason I suggest avids is that they're a lot easier to live with IME than the more basic shimano stuff, plus they come with the best noodles!

sketchley

davis wrote:

Edit: you have to play with all brakes, eventually. They're a sacrificial part of the bike, after all. Mudguards help in stopping some of the yuck that would otherwise make things not work so well in the winter weather.

Starting to think mudguard are required too.... Maybe I'll fit some at weekend too. My early experiences of mudguards back when I was a kid is that they always ended up rubbing against the wheels so they where more trouble than they were worth. Still that was 25 years ago.....