105 Brakes

centrino

First post so please be gentle.
I have a bike with 105 shifters and brakes and it is more than powerful enough for my weight. my daughter who is probably 1/2 my weight has 105 brakes and shifters but they are nowhere near as powerful. she has put in the bike shop and they put new pads which made no difference. i have put on so called sticky pads and changed the cables and outers and still no better.any ideas gratefully appreciated

kajjal

Assuming you have tried both bikes yourself to compare the most likely causes are the wheel rims need cleaning as they may have oil or something similar on them. Wet weather brake blocks like swisstop greens work well in the wet where as standard 105 pads are great in the dry but very poor in the wet. Another thing is to make sure the brake blocks are lined up correctly when they hit the rims and are slightly toed in.

sungod

you say they're not as powerful, is that when you are on her bike?

if not, it may simply be that she can't apply enough force to the levers, if her hands are smaller, fitting adjudtment shims on the levers might help

as above, swissstop pads are very good, also koolstop salmon are close

andrewc3142

Ditto re Swissstops (green) or Koolstops (salmon). Shimano pads are pretty rubbish in the wet, albeit the latest are slightly better. Ditto also re making sure the rims and pads are clean.

Just a thought, are the shifters the new ones (5700, with cabling under the bar tape) mixed with older 5600 brakes?

When I had to replace the shifters I got the new ones and although the old brakes worked they were much weaker. Upgraded the brakes to 5700 and all good.

centrino

thanks for the replies.
yes I wondered if it was that she could not exert enough force but when I tried the brakes I also found them weak. probably what used to expect from my old rsx set up.i will try the swiss pads and if no improvement will look at the levers /brake compatibility.