Brake Upgrade For A Moda Tempo

Highlander43

Hi Everyone,
I am looking to upgrade the stock Barelli brakes on my Moda Tempo and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction. I have been looking at Shimano 105 calipers would these be a direct replacement? Are there any things I should be looking out for i.e. are all calipers the same size? Forgive the ignorance as this is my first road bike and I'm not very up to speed on road bike components.

Many thanks in advance
Highlander

Yossie

All road calipers should fit ok, the only issue that you may have is compatability to lever - some earlier Shimano calipers don't work that great with later levers, but do a search on here and you will see so many varying opinions that eventually your head will spin round on its own axis and explode into a cloud of molecules leaving you only a handful of purkinje cells to complete your everday tasks. Which can be a bit frustrating at times.

Also, you'll find some differences if you mix 'n' match brands - for example the little buttons to open Campy calipers are on the levers, whereas they are on the calipers for SRAM and Shimano, necessitating letting tyres down or loosening the cables each time you want to take the wheel off if you use this combo (as an aside, I do use this combo and although it was pointed out to me that having to do this would be a crime akin to having to rape my pet goat it actually hasn't affected me at all as I don't take off my wheels unless I have a puncture (so they let themselves down for me by themselves, which is nice) or for some other major disaster )which fortunately hasn't struck yet).

HTH

Y

ADIHEAD

It's got '105 shifters I think? Just go for either '105 (5700) or Ultegra (6700) to keep things simple.

k-dog

That would keep it simple and they're very good brakes. You'd definitely know the difference.

If you want black to match it will have to be one of the newer models - just a bit more expensive. The older grey ones can be had for less.

Yossie

Tektro are also a cost effective option - essentially copies of Shimano, but work very well and can be had for peanuts in the sales (I have some of the R750 carbon ones on the summer commuter/fast trainer - used to the standard fitment on the top of the range Boardmans - and they work very well. Come with Swisstops as standard which is always nice .... They were £125 and I git them for £40. Which is also nice).

Throw on some new inners and outers when fitting the new brakes and all will be nice.

Monty Dog

Biggest improvement would be to swap the one-piece blocks for cartridge-style holders and replaceable pads. Go for a soft compound pad like Koolstop salmons. Also make sure your cables are kept clean and lubed.

Yossie

Agree with Monty - ali rim purpose Koolstops (I go for the salmon/black mix as these are meant to better for all round use) are better than green Swisstops - brake btter in wet and dry and in my experience, last longer too. Much cheaper as well (£6 ish offhand I think)

Bizarrely, I bought a set of ali rim purpose Clarks brake pads and holders for a fiver or so from CRC for a one weekend trip to France and they were brilliant - lots of feel and braking power: I can't comment on longevity as I only did about 300kms on them before puttimng the yelow Swissies and carbon wheels back on, but I was shocked at how good they were.

Worth a look for a fiver.