Just been out on new road bike.. confused :/

rhysyd

Just received my new road bike, B'twin Triban 500 SE. After being on a mountain bike for 2 years I agree the swap is really different. But I was just wondering when you press the brakes should they be stopping you dead? I cant seem to grip the brake levers with enough pressure from the top? Ive gotta grab the bottom bars to squeeze the lever really hard to stop dead? Or is the idea not to skid like on a mountain bike?

Also the chain rattles along the front derailleur? Surly is isn't meant to be like that? I'm from north wales and the Decathlon store is in Warrington so im not really too keen on travelling down there.

Cheers

Rhys

Wigster

You'll eventually find the right place to place your fingers/hands to brake "from the hoods" as it's called, but on the drops is where you'll get the most stopping power. I ride on the hoods 99% of the time, and have no trouble stopping, but stopping dead/skidding is generally a lot harder than on a mountain bike with disc brakes etc.

If it's rattling on the front derailer you can adjust the cable tension slightly, or crank the front gear up/down a little bit, as if you were trying to change gear, but only move the lever a few "clicks".

CiB

Don't skid - look ahead, try to keep momentum going. MTBing is all about dashing from crash to crash as far as I can tell; on the road it's about maintaining speed and avoiding the need to stop suddenly. With little practice you'll soon learn how to generate enough braking power from the tops of the hoods.

roux_guy

Hi from another noob. I too ride on the hood 99% of the time and agree the braking is not up there with disc brakes. I found replacing the Tektro pads with good aftermarket ones made a real difference.

apreading

I found that it is better not to have the brakes adjusted so that they start to apply pressure as soon as they are pulled. If you have a little slack in the system before they touch the rims then you can pull the levers a little bit before they need the force applied to stop the bike. This means that when you are applying force the levers are closer to the bars and its easier to apply that force from the hoods. Hopefully I have described this well enough to understand. Oh - and dont go riding with too much slack, obviously!

simon_masterson

Road braking is about technique. A lot of MTB folk find this when they try road riding initially, but the answer is not over powerful brakes, as that would just lock the wheel.

StillGoing

Brake feel is a personal thing. I like them to work as soon as I touch them from the hoods or drops, so set them up with very little gap between the blocks and rim. If I'm sucking someones wheel and they ease off, I want to be able to slow down immediately rather than a delay and plough into the back of them. I find a hard bite of the brakes allows me to feather the brakes in descents and have a better idea of what braking effect I'm getting wet or dry. A heavy fisted effort easily sees the wheels lock up.

monkimark

Road bike brakes are nowhere near as good as mountain bike brakes, wait until you try them in the wet!

Cheapest & easiest upgrade is better pads - I found that kool stop salmon pads helped a bit with the braking (and they're designed to work better in the wet too) and once I had them set up how I wanted them they were fine in the dry. In the wet there's always going to be a moment when the pad first hits the rim and it has to clear the water where you get almost no braking for a few wheel rotations, just something you have to get used to.

I've moved on to disc brakes on my road bike now - lack of wet weather braking and south London drivers/pedestrians is not a good combination.

Remember that the tiny contact patch for road tyres doesn't have as much grip as a you're used to either so grabbing a fistful of rear brake will probably lock up the wheel.

StillGoing

monkimark wrote:

Road bike brakes are nowhere near as good as mountain bike brakes, wait until you try them in the wet!

Cheapest & easiest upgrade is better pads - I found that kool stop salmon pads helped a bit with the braking (and they're designed to work better in the wet too) and once I had them set up how I wanted them they were fine in the dry. In the wet there's always going to be a moment when the pad first hits the rim and it has to clear the water where you get almost no braking for a few wheel rotations, just something you have to get used to.

I've moved on to disc brakes on my road bike now - lack of wet weather braking and south London drivers/pedestrians is not a good combination.

Remember that the tiny contact patch for road tyres doesn't have as much grip as a you're used to either so grabbing a fistful of rear brake will probably lock up the wheel.

Alluminium rim brakes are as good as any MTB brakes if set up correctly. If I can endo a road bike with little effort, then there's nothing wrong with the braking effort. Admittedly, they're less effective in the wet, but then so are all brakes. Try carbon rims in the wet to really see what delayed braking action is. :shock:

monkimark

If rim brakes are as good as hydraulic discs, why do motorbikes & mountain bikes have hydraulic disc brakes? They are just better, no doubt about it.

I have no intention of 'upgrading' my bike to have worse braking , non-disc carbon rims are definitely not for me.

StillGoing

monkimark wrote:

If rim brakes are as good as hydraulic discs, why do motorbikes & mountain bikes have hydraulic disc brakes? They are just better, no doubt about it.

I have no intention of 'upgrading' my bike to have worse braking , non-disc carbon rims are definitely not for me.

Nobody has mentioned anything about a difference between rim and disc brakes?

rhysyd wrote:

Just received my new road bike, B'twin Triban 500 SE. After being on a mountain bike for 2 years I agree the swap is really different. But I was just wondering when you press the brakes should they be stopping you dead? I cant seem to grip the brake levers with enough pressure from the top? Ive gotta grab the bottom bars to squeeze the lever really hard to stop dead? Or is the idea not to skid like on a mountain bike?

Also the chain rattles along the front derailleur? Surly is isn't meant to be like that? I'm from north wales and the Decathlon store is in Warrington so im not really too keen on travelling down there.

Cheers

Rhys

monkimark

You said rim brakes are as good as any mountain bike brakes. Pretty much any mountain bike you could buy in the last 2 years would have disc brakes.

markhewitt1978

Road brakes aren't as a good as MTB brakes, that much is a fact. But also, the bike you have isn't an expensive model so in order to cut costs manufacturers tend to spec poor quality brake pads, poor quality brake calipers and poor quality rims to brake on! Not to mention poor quality STI levers.

In general it's a matter of getting used to it, you'll get much more braking from in the drops, get used to being in the drops when on any sort of downhill then you'll get much more powerful braking from there.

sniper68

rhysyd wrote:

Or is the idea not to skid like on a mountain bike?

Are you saying your brakes cause you to skid on the mtb?The idea is not to skid on any bike.If you're skidding you're not in control.I've been an MTBer for 25 years and have seen the advance in brakes over the years and Hydraulic Disc brakes really are far superior to rim brakes.The idea behind them is the same as a Motorcycle..Power and modulation.Used correctly you can stop in wet or dry near enough dead without skidding.They also have knobbly tyres which helps.Skidding might look "cool" but it just rips up the trail and you stop quicker if you're not skidding.
Good quality rim brakes,whilst not as powerful as Hydraulic brakes,can still be very effective in the dry.I'm 92kg and my Ultegra brakes stop me perfectly.In the wet they take a bit longer but as with any mode of transport on the road it's all about anticipation and planning ahead.
I also ride 90% on the hoods and once you get used to it braking from there is really quite easy.It'll take a bit of practice to find the sweet spot but when you do it'll become second nature.
I ride both Road and MTB(more road though) and I can switch from either discipline without any issues 8)

lostboysaint

And exactly how effective is skidding as a braking method on either bike? If you're skidding an MTB then you're not stopping it efficiently either. Get your weight further back as you brake, digging the back wheel in as you brake hard (without skidding)and then you'll find you'll stop far more effectively. You need to learn to modulate your brakes far better.

Road brakes are rubbish by comparison and your front brake is far more effective as it won't wash away as it does on an MTB, so you can share the braking load far more effectively. Braking from the hoods works, but not if you're in a hurry to stop, but if you're in a hurry to stop you've either read the road really badly or someone's changed the circumstances very quickly (pulled out in front of you!).

StillGoing

monkimark wrote:

You said rim brakes are as good as any mountain bike brakes. Pretty much any mountain bike you could buy in the last 2 years would have disc brakes.

But as disc brakes hadn't been mentioned and the OP was referring to the brakes on his road bike not being as good, rightly or wrongly I assume we're talking of comparing the same with same. He or she has bought a cheap road bike unlikely to have disc brakes as standard.

roux_guy

If is bike is anything like mine, it will have Tektro brakes. The Tektro pads are fairly hopeless. I replaced them with Aztec Road System Plus and the difference, especially in the rain, is fantastic.

rhysyd

What about this annoying chain noise on the front derauiler lads, the bikes brand new so surly shouldn't have this problem?

apreading

Blimey - didnt you start enough trouble about the brakes...!

When do you get the chain noise - all the time? In all front cogs? In highest or lowest gear at the back? Only under power?

simon_masterson

monkimark wrote:

Road bike brakes are nowhere near as good as mountain bike brakes, wait until you try them in the wet!

Cheapest & easiest upgrade is better pads - I found that kool stop salmon pads helped a bit with the braking (and they're designed to work better in the wet too) and once I had them set up how I wanted them they were fine in the dry. In the wet there's always going to be a moment when the pad first hits the rim and it has to clear the water where you get almost no braking for a few wheel rotations, just something you have to get used to.

I've moved on to disc brakes on my road bike now - lack of wet weather braking and south London drivers/pedestrians is not a good combination.

Remember that the tiny contact patch for road tyres doesn't have as much grip as a you're used to either so grabbing a fistful of rear brake will probably lock up the wheel.

You really ought to try some '70s Weinmanns on steel rims.

rhysyd

apreading wrote:

Blimey - didnt you start enough trouble about the brakes...!

When do you get the chain noise - all the time? In all front cogs? In highest or lowest gear at the back? Only under power?

It's a triple front cog thing (which I believe is rubbish) when it's in the middle and then a couple of rings on the back cog it's just hitting the front derauiler when it's spinning really annoying!!

simon_masterson

That's just a simple matter of setting up your front mech. You won't get full cassette range on the big and small rings though, and you may need to trim your front mech as you go.

monkimark

I used to ride a 90's rigid steel framed cheapy mountain bike with super flexible u-brakes & chrome rims round rivington and down this http://www.pinkbike.com/video/324750/ when I first started mountain biking.

Not sure how I managed it but I guess it had something to do with being 15 and believing I was immortal.

Simon Masterson wrote:

You really ought to try some '70s Weinmanns on steel rims.

ai_1

rhysyd wrote:

apreading wrote:

Blimey - didnt you start enough trouble about the brakes...!

When do you get the chain noise - all the time? In all front cogs? In highest or lowest gear at the back? Only under power?

It's a triple front cog thing (which I believe is rubbish) when it's in the middle and then a couple of rings on the back cog it's just hitting the front derauiler when it's spinning really annoying!!

There's nothing rubbish about triples.
The cause is most likely one of the following:
1 - Your derailleurs are set up badly.
2 - You're riding with the chain at a steep angle without using the trim function to adjust the derailleur to avoid chain rub.

There's no reason to ride with the chain at a steep angle, i.e. large front chainring and large rear sprocket or small front and small rear. There is overlap in the gear ratios so that you can get a similar ratio elsewhere with a smoother operation. For example on a 50-39-30 triple with 12-27 cassette if you found yourself in 50/27 (i.e. the two biggest cogs and an awful chainline) you'd be better off going to the middle chainring and moving towards the middle of the cassette to use 39/19 instead. Almost identical gear but a much smoother chainline. It's an easy habit to get into to select gears that give you smoothest operation rather than just changing at the rear every time until you run out of sprockets and only then considering a chainring change.

Moonbiker

Tribans like all bikes with triples are rubbish i'd just sell & it, and get a proper bike with a standard double.

I'll give you £75 for it cash on collection, as could do with a clunker to run about with during winter etc what size frame is it?

rhysyd

Moonbiker wrote:

Tribans like all bikes with triples are rubbish i'd just sell & it, and get a proper bike with a standard double.

I'll give you £75 for it cash on collection, as could do with a clunker to run about with during winter etc what size frame is it?

go on then, 57inch mate whereabouts are you based I can drop off before weekend if you want?

dcroke77

monkimark wrote:

why do motorbikes & mountain bikes have hydraulic disc brakes?

Motorbikes have disk brakes because they travel at 70mph legally or much more illegally and the bike itself weighs 180kg. I would "enjoy" trying to stop my motorbike from 70mph with a cable operated brake and two rubber pads on the rim!