brake caliper drop

stevie coles
Posts: 37
hi all.
i currently have a pair of no name calipers on my trek 1.2.
they have a drop of 57mm.
measured from fixing bolt to bottom of brake block groove cutout.
i would like to up-grade them to 105 or similar, but most of the calipers onsale are 49mm drop max.
will they still fit my bike?.
will their fitting preclude the use of mudgaurds?.
many thanks!
i currently have a pair of no name calipers on my trek 1.2.
they have a drop of 57mm.
measured from fixing bolt to bottom of brake block groove cutout.
i would like to up-grade them to 105 or similar, but most of the calipers onsale are 49mm drop max.
will they still fit my bike?.
will their fitting preclude the use of mudgaurds?.
many thanks!

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Comments
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No, standard road brakes (105, Ultegra etc) won't fit as the brake block won't reach your rim but will just rub on your tyre!
Shimano do some deep drop brakes - e.g. R650
Alternatively, since brakes are only forged bars and not that sophisticated, try some better pads. They will probably make a world of difference. You want some with metal shoes and replaceable pads. I recommend koolstop salmon dura type.0 -
if you want to change them for more braking power, might be worth fitrst trying different pads, the standard pads supplied can be poor - koolstop and swissstop are both worth a try
otherwise, the shimano r600/r650 brakes are long drop, really a long-drop version of the 105
btw to see how much drop you actually need, measure from the centreline of the pivot bolt to the centreline of the braking surfacemy bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny0 -
is this a trek Pilot 1.2?
I have one of those (a 2007 model) and it also has deep drop brakes - and came with unbranded items.
I swapped them for Shimano 'series' units - the R650's like this:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-r650-du ... e-caliper/
These are the same(ish) dimensions of the unbranded units on your bike (think they are tektros) and will still allow the fitment of mudguards. they are the only ones which will fit your bike - the 105 / ultegra etc are too short to reach the rim.
To be honest, other than having calipers which matched the rest of the groupset - they probably didn't make that much difference to the bike - it looks better, they might be a little lighter and a bit stiffer (to give better braking) but the difference is marginal. A bigger improvement was made by changing the pads to Koolstop 'salmon' pads (which are on all my bikes) but there is strong debate on here as to whether aftermarket pads are any better than OE.0 -
I bought a new Trek 1.2 at Xmas and found the same problem with the brakes and the drop. Resorted to fitting some Shimano brake blocks and holders (DA 7800 I think they were) and they improved the braking no end. Cool-stop salmon also recommended, got some on my Winter bike.Jens says "Shut up legs !! "
Specialized S-Works SaxoBank SL4 Tarmac Di20 -
ok cheers for clearing that one up!.
i did have my eye on some deep drop tektro items.does anyone have experience with these?.
i am in the process of upgrading other bits and peices, in black and as the stock calipers are silver, i would still like to change em.
a bit poncy i know, but there ya go!!.
as for pads, well i will deffo give sum a try.
the bike is a black/red 2010 trek 1.2 by the way.0 -
Tektro are OK but the Shimano (R650) are better (Ultegra level). These look even nicer
http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/ ... rakes.htmlM.Rushton0 -
The ones you currently have are Tektro, so not much point in getting those. Try swapping you pads first, you should be able to just buy cartridges.0
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I upgraded from Tektro deep drop to Shimano 650.Say... That's a nice bike..
Trax T700 with Lew Racing Pro VT-1 ;-)0