Braking upgrade

aidso

I have a Giant Defy 3 with stock brakes (Tektro something) and in the wet they are next to useless. Going down anything steep I have to apply both and sometimes bounce the back wheel to get it to lock up - coming from a mountain biking background I expect things to lock up right away .

Anyway, a mate has suggested buying Mavic Kysrium SLRs as they come with a bumpy rim that helps him stop almost instantaneously, but I think an extravagant purchase at almost £1000/set. Is there anything else I can change, better brakes maybe rather than the wheels?

pinarellokid

new calipers which are dual pivot will improve things as will getting better pads. but road bike brakes are not ever going to be as good as MTB discs.

trailflow

i think his brakes are already dual pivot.

Without spending too much you could try Koolstop Salmon pads or Swissstop Green's. i like Koolstop's they feel softer on the rim.

Also the new Shimano 105 5800 brakes are out but not many reviews around (if they are anything like the Ultegra 6800 or Dura Ace 9000 they should be pretty good). The Shimano Ultegra 6800 have been out a while and receive glowing reviews. They both will work with your current levers.

Consider upgrading your brake inner and outer cables also. This Jagwire gear and brake cableset is currently on offer for £6.49
http://www.koo-bikes.com/jagwire-gear-a ... e-kit.html

There is also Shimano Tiagra below 105 but i doubt these will offer much improvement over your tektro's.

Regularly cleaning your rims with hot soapy water and a scourer helps too.

kajjal

I came from mountain biking and being 15st7 found road bike brakes to be a lot less effective than MTB disc brakes.

I upgraded my brakes to 105's which were much better. The major brands to save cost tend to fit poor brakes to road bikes even on £1,000+ bikes which is potentially dangerous.

aidso

Thanks guys. Gonna check out the Shimano 105's suggested above.

lesfirth

Do a bit of searching on this forum. We have this subject at regular intervals. With the same pads a pair of dura ace/super record calipers will not stop your bike any better than your tektros. So far nobody has given a technical reason to the contrary.

trailflow

With the same pads a pair of dura ace/super record calipers will not stop your bike any better than your tektros

All the pro's should be riding Tektro's then.

Read this
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum ... 3&t=125349

rolf_f

trailflow wrote:

With the same pads a pair of dura ace/super record calipers will not stop your bike any better than your tektros

All the pro's should be riding Tektro's then.

Read this
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum ... 3&t=125349

Correct - to quote from the article:

Our skilled test riders were able stop in an equal distance with any brake in the test and modulate each brake fine.

In terms of stopping power, they are (obviously) all the same - so if the Tektros are cheapest, the pro's can save some money with Tektros.....

kajjal

aidso wrote:

Thanks guys. Gonna check out the Shimano 105's suggested above.

For the wet you may want swisstop green or similar pads but wait to see if you need them.

lesfirth

Rolf F wrote:

trailflow wrote:

With the same pads a pair of dura ace/super record calipers will not stop your bike any better than your tektros

All the pro's should be riding Tektro's then.

Read this
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum ... 3&t=125349

Correct - to quote from the article:

Our skilled test riders were able stop in an equal distance with any brake in the test and modulate each brake fine.

In terms of stopping power, they are (obviously) all the same - so if the Tektros are cheapest, the pro's can save some money with Tektros.....

Why do pros want to save a few quid? The bike manufacturers sales and marketing want us to copy them and spend a fortune and that is what we do.

desweller

Pad material, in the main. Swisstop green work pretty well. Regularly clean your rims and check your pads for embedded hard objects; especially if you've done any wet-weather riding.

Also worth checking that the friction losses in your cables and brake pivots are not excessive.

IME the better brakes (from Shimano, at least) tend to better resist ingress of debris into the pivot, so over their lifetime I've had fewer problems with, say, Ultegra than 105. But that might be down to a better maintenance regime on my part.

cattytown

While an expert/skilled rider may well be able to brake as effectively with a cheap tektro as DA, for us mortals the feel and feedback from the better brake will make it easier for us to stop effectively.

I have a defy 2, and upgraded the calipers to Tiagra (£14 each end at chain reaction at the moment) and have much more confidence in the braking now.

Paul.

matt-h

i would recommend the 6800 Calipers with Polymer cables and Swissstop blue (BXP?) pads.
Always try and give the rims a good clean,
Exceptional in all conditions.

Do not feel the need for discs extra stopping power or modulation. Even on alpine descents

Matt

slowbike

I tried the replacement pads on my stock entry level Allez with Tektro brakes - there was an improvement, but replacing the callipers with 105's (and moving the pads across to them too) made a huge difference. This is still with the stock 2300 shifters and original cables & outers.

I would think that the Tektro brakes are not as solid as the more expensive ones and hence bend/give more when applying brakes thus reducing their effectiveness. That may not be true though, but there is some reason why they're not as good.

kajjal

Slowbike wrote:

I tried the replacement pads on my stock entry level Allez with Tektro brakes - there was an improvement, but replacing the callipers with 105's (and moving the pads across to them too) made a huge difference. This is still with the stock 2300 shifters and original cables & outers.

I would think that the Tektro brakes are not as solid as the more expensive ones and hence bend/give more when applying brakes thus reducing their effectiveness. That may not be true though, but there is some reason why they're not as good.

That was exactly what I found. I think it is more noticeable for heavier riders and also if you are used to hydraulic disc brakes. Most mountain bikers who get a road bike notice a marked reduction in braking power and control. My guess would be the cheap Tektro's come with poorer pads, lack leverage and are not as stiff as 105's or similar.

rolf_f

lesfirth wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

trailflow wrote:

With the same pads a pair of dura ace/super record calipers will not stop your bike any better than your tektros

All the pro's should be riding Tektro's then.

Read this
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum ... 3&t=125349

Correct - to quote from the article:

Our skilled test riders were able stop in an equal distance with any brake in the test and modulate each brake fine.

In terms of stopping power, they are (obviously) all the same - so if the Tektros are cheapest, the pro's can save some money with Tektros.....

Why do pros want to save a few quid? The bike manufacturers sales and marketing want us to copy them and spend a fortune and that is what we do.

Now you see I don't really like emoticons - I think really you should be able to convey the tone of a sentence without them. But this time, I thought I'd better play safe and bring out the wink emoticon - just to make it totally blindingly obvious that I was making a tongue in cheek comment.......... (see, I've used it again but for a slightly different reason this time).

rolf_f

cattytown wrote:

While an expert/skilled rider may well be able to brake as effectively with a cheap tektro as DA, for us mortals the feel and feedback from the better brake will make it easier for us to stop effectively.

Don't put yourself down! Ultimately, the function is the same and you won't be relatively less competent than the professionals using Dura Ace than you are using Tiagra.

Slowbike wrote:

I would think that the Tektro brakes are not as solid as the more expensive ones and hence bend/give more when applying brakes thus reducing their effectiveness. That may not be true though, but there is some reason why they're not as good.

Much of the stuff in the Weightweenies article is looking at the bendiness of the metal which, as long as it isn't excessive, isn't really important (though it probably is what determines peoples feeling of "modulation") - you may have to apply more force to achieve the same braking effect between different brakes but as long as you can do that (ie the differences aren't that great) then you should be able to stop the bike in the same distance.

It's worrying that they were surprised that the cable pull was pretty linear - it would be hard to see how it wouldn't be I'd have thought given the length of the levers and the small amount of pull - makes you wonder if they'd thought much about what they were testing. Anyway, neither the bendiness nor the pull have a significant impact on performance but they probably are the reason why different people prefer different brakes - one set just might work a little better with your hand size or finger length. That's fine but don't confuse it with a practical performance benefit because you'll get happily used to any of them given a few miles under your belt.

I'd have liked to see them do the same experiments with a small selection of the brakes and a variety of pads.