Brake upgrades from Axis 1.0

jlowdo
jlowdo Posts: 48
edited December 2014 in Road buying advice
Hi

My wife's lovely new bike has arrived, and we are very happy with it. Although the stock axis brakes are my only concern. they seem overly grippy ( maybe just break in ) but i have had a go myself, and am not overly convinced. The rest of the drivetrain is 105 ( apart from the FSA chainset, which actually seems quite good ). So, thinking of buying some 105 callipers to replace them, relatively cheap... any reason not to go ultegra as i have full confidence in them and have been using for a long time.. pretty much twice the price, so would be interested to know if anyone thinks they are worth the extra money, i did have 105 brakes on a bike a couple of years ago but upgraded them immediately as the rest of the group was ultegra, and just wanted a match...and sadly passed them on.

I am initially thinking the 105 will be perfectly adequate, and an obvious match for the rest of the bike. no real reason to spend any more right?

cheers
J

Comments

  • jlowdo
    jlowdo Posts: 48
    just as an addendum, she is riding clipless for the first time now ( speedplay light action ). so i guess this is why i am concerned about this issue so much.
  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    Reads like you are pretty experienced which is why I am surprised not to read that you have changed the pads as a first option. In most cases changing to Koolstops (or Swissstop) makes a huge difference over OEM pads; often all that is needed.
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    Stock Tektro calipers are very poor but not sure about axis. For the tektro's the calipers and pad's are poor and replacing both with 105's or r650's for long reach makes a big difference. There was a post on here where someone changed the pads first to swisstop greens which helped and they found better calipers also made a big difference afterwards as well.
  • lesfirth
    lesfirth Posts: 1,382
    Do a bit of searching on this forum. We do this subject every few weeks. Lots of people will tell you that cheap calipers are no good but no one can explain why.

    It is the pads that make the difference.
  • roubaixtom
    roubaixtom Posts: 316
    I upgraded from some stock brakes on my Roubaix to 105 5800 brakes and the difference was very noticeable. Much smoother action and increased modulation. Better in the wet too. I have Sram force on one of my other bikes and there is no difference in it, wouldn't say ultegras would be a whole lot better than 105.
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    Roubaixtom wrote:
    I upgraded from some stock brakes on my Roubaix to 105 5800 brakes and the difference was very noticeable. Much smoother action and increased modulation. Better in the wet too. I have Sram force on one of my other bikes and there is no difference in it, wouldn't say ultegras would be a whole lot better than 105.

    I found the very same thing.
  • juanerasmoe
    juanerasmoe Posts: 91
    We do see this topic every few weeks and the opinion seems to be either to change the blocks for 5800 or just the pads for swisstop/etc. Now, given that a set of swisstop cost basically the same as the 5800 blocks, I'll go for the 5800 calipers
  • jlowdo
    jlowdo Posts: 48
    well, Santa decided to get her some 5800s, replacement calipers... stick with what you know, i guess.. they aren't exactly expensive, and it finishes off the bike quite nicely.

    ordered some koolstops too, as my 12 year old niece is getting into triathlon and we are building her a cheap bike around a Dolan frame so the stock brakes will sit nicely on that for her with the koolstops i reckon... just need some cheap narrow handlebars, but thats a different story.. :)

    cheers, and happy Xmas to you all.

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