Upgrade tektro calipers or not?

starbuck
Posts: 256
I have a 2013 defy 1 which has TK-R540 calipers (levers are 105's).
I'm fairly new to riding road bikes (having ridden mountain bikes for about 20 years) and am finding that I have less confidence on the bike than I would on my mountain bike because of the brakes (I have hydraulic discs on my mtb).
I've already changed the brake carts to koolstop salmon which improved the power of the brakes a lot. Being fairly new to road bikes, I ride on the hoods, even going downhill and so I want my braking to be as good as it can be from there (I know it will be better when I become more confident and start using the drops).
My question is, is it worth upgrading the tektro calipers. Would I notice much difference with something like 105 calipers (or others)? Is there anything I can do to improve the braking performance with the existing calipers?
I rode the london to brighton ride last week and found myself not going above 30mph (even coming down ditchling), and I'd really like to be able to make the most of the defy.
I'm fairly new to riding road bikes (having ridden mountain bikes for about 20 years) and am finding that I have less confidence on the bike than I would on my mountain bike because of the brakes (I have hydraulic discs on my mtb).
I've already changed the brake carts to koolstop salmon which improved the power of the brakes a lot. Being fairly new to road bikes, I ride on the hoods, even going downhill and so I want my braking to be as good as it can be from there (I know it will be better when I become more confident and start using the drops).
My question is, is it worth upgrading the tektro calipers. Would I notice much difference with something like 105 calipers (or others)? Is there anything I can do to improve the braking performance with the existing calipers?
I rode the london to brighton ride last week and found myself not going above 30mph (even coming down ditchling), and I'd really like to be able to make the most of the defy.
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Comments
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Notwithstanding how you can improve your brakes, as a general point descending on the drops is safer and should inspire more confidence; your centre of gravity is lower, you can exert more leverage on the brake levers, and it is less likely that your hands will jump off the handlebars if you hit a hole or lump in the road.0
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I don't think you'd notice a difference. They do a decent job - your tyres are so thin that their grip on the road will be a limiting factor. I've done 50+ on my bikes but you only do that speed on open roads where you can see there's no reason to brake. If your brakes are set up properly then the Tektros will do the job.0
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Afraid I have to disagree with cougie. I have the same wheels and pads on both my bikes. The only difference is the calipers. The stopping power and modulation / feel of my Shimano 105 calipers is noticeably better than my Tektro calipers. This translates into shorter stopping distances on identical roads and a much more confident approach to corners and junctions. I'd recommend upgrading your calipers to 105s.
Regards, EarlyGo0 -
I've had my Tektro 539's for 4 months and they are starting to rust. You'll probably have to swap your calipers soon as they will be just a pile of rust.Oh and please remember to click on my blog:
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I had the same issue with my Trek 2.1 with tektro brakes. I changed them to 105 calipers and it did make a noticeable difference. The tektro calipers are junk IMO0
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Swap the pads to something better like Swisstops. It's more effective and cheaper.0
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Pads are the main thing but some calipers are better than others too, although the ones you have are alright. Might be setup? Anyway, if you do upgrade I'd go up one or two groupsets to feel the benefit even more. I'd stick to shimano or maybe sram. See:http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/road-parts/road-brakes/brake-calipers/shimano-ultegra-6700-silver-brake-calipers-pair.html'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.0
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Starbuck, I also have a defy1 and upgraded callipers to ultegra and there not £85 better to be fair but they do feel like they grip better when braking , probably more to do with the pads I guess, look a lot better tho ;-)0
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Sram Rival are a good upgrade, got mine for £70 from High on Bikes and come with Swiss Stop Black Pads, which with the holders costs about £40 on their own.0
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I found the tektro callipers I had on my fixed flexed a significant amount and so braking felt soft and didn't inspire confidence.
I swapped them for 105 callipers and the improvement was very noticeable.Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0 -
I've 105 calipers with these pads (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fwe ... s-ec040048). Probably not rated particularly highly but I've just spent a week in the Rhone Alps doing some decent descents and this combo of calipers and pads were great. I had a set of Coolstops with me as spares and I can't imagine they would perform much better than the FWE pads.0
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Yes. Swapped tektros for ultegra on my wife's bike without telling her. She immediately wondered why the brakes were much better0
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OnYourRight wrote:I have Tektro R510 callipers and Tektro P453 pads on my new 2012 Dawes Clubman (advertised as having Shimano BR-R450 brakes – a lie, like many of the other Dawes specification claims). They are absolutely dire. I’m honestly surprised bikes are allowed to be sold with brakes that work this badly.
Unfortunately the web is full of contradictory reports on all available road-bike brake callipers, pads, and levers, so I have no idea what to do. Some people report a massive improvement with Kool Stop Salmon pads, while someone else seemed unimpressed and quantified the improvement as “20 %”.
I’m going to need far, far more than 20 % improvement in braking force to make these Tektros worth keeping. A 100 % improvement would be needed at the bare minimum, and preferably 2–3 × improvement…
From expereince I can safely say that the regular Tektro pads are awful and almost any upgrade of pad is likely to be worth it. They are bad in terms of stopping power and rim wear. I would recommend the Kool Stop Salmon myself although Clarks and many other cheaper options would be better than the Tektro pads. The calipers themselves are pretty good in my expereince - not quite as sharp as 105 but not too far off.'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.0 -
When I first got my bike I thought it was normal, as my friends always said, watch out for road bike brakes as they aren't as powerful as those on a MTB or hybrid. But still, one of the first runs I did I was coming up to a mini roundabout on a very slight downhill, musn't have been doing more than 10-12mph, and I just couldn't stop, I was pulling the brake levers so hard I thought I was going to break them and my hands hurt, I still ended up sailing through at about 5mph, thankfully nothing coming! So yes; bloody dangerous things tektro brakes!0
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I took Tektra of my focus and put ultegra calipers on, massive differce!
Shop about on the internet, some very good prices about at the moment.0 -
OnYourRight wrote:Thanks, gents. I’m just wondering: which Kool Stop Salmon pads would fit my callipers?
The pads that came with the bike are these. Do I need to get cartridge-type pads from Shimano (or someone else) and then refit them with Kool Stop inserts?
By the way, the Tektro R510 callipers on my bike have a specified reach of 41–56 mm, and the pads are very near the long end of that, especially at the front (I’m sure this doesn’t help the stopping power…). They have loads of pad clearance – might be why they’re specced on low-end bikes, since the rim could be 3 mm out of true, or quite flexible, and still clear the pads.
I’d love to trade some of that excessive clearance for increased mechanical advantage, but perhaps I’ll try the Salmon pads first, especially since regular 105 or Ultegra brakes won’t reach the rim on my bike.
I put these on my long drop tekro callipers with good results, I think you'll need a couple but you will have s spare pari of inserts: http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... ake_Blocks
Shimano do make long drop brakes by the way, I think they are 650s. Anyway I was happy with my Tektro / Kools top combination whan set up right. I agree to thry this option first, and if you do ever buy new brakes you'll have some decent pads as spares - nothing lost.'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.0 -
As already mentioned, Shimano do long drop brakes. As I understand it the BR450's are Tiagra level and the BR650's are Ultegra equivalent. I have the 450's on my Racelight Tk with 105 levers and they are pretty good.0
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I've got R650s on my commuter and they are excellent. In a blind test I'd struggle to tell the difference between them and the Force, Apex and Athena brakes on my other bikes.Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
Sun - Cervelo R3
Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX0