Giant propel brakes
Tovey9
Posts: 6
I bought a giant propel advanced pro 2 in June and whenever I take the wheels out I have been unable to stop the brakes rubbing on the rims after putting the wheel back. I took the bike back to the retailer and their fitter took longer than half hour to align them before being able to brake without this happening. After reading up on this I found it was a common issue. I have discovered that Fourier BRDX005 brakes are much better but cost about £200 a huge outlay on an expensive bike. Does anyone know if the Fourier brakes also have alignment problems or if there are any other, cheaper, but adequate alternatives ?
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V-brakes aren't that hard to set up. I don't see different brands being any easier or harder.0
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I was under the impression that the Fouriers although better than the standard Propel brakes (TRP?), were only really a relevant upgrade in the first year or so of the Propel, the last models and this years are different to the originals if that makes sense?
I'm hopefully picking up my '16 Advanced Pro 2 this week and when I was chatting to the guys in the shop the other day they were saying that the newer brakes are so much easier to adjust than the earlier ones. I know this doesn't really help, but if yours is a '15 model then the brakes should already be the decent variety and the upgrade to Fouriers to try and remedy this problem might be an expensive way of doing it as they're surely going to release from the noodle in the same way?
Without sounding sarcastic, are you definitly doing it right!?0 -
Have you adjusted the spring tension? There is a little screw you can turn to increase / decrease it. Guide to setup here https://www.giant-bicycles.com/_upload_in/Propel%20Brake%20Setup%20Tips.pdf
With the original brakes i think the problem was that the spring was made of titanium but it wasnt strong enough, that was remedied so it should be ok now if you follow the set up guide0 -
Is it just the springs that were changed? I thought I'd read somewhere that the earlier models had plastic arms?
Going back to the titanium thing, last years Advanced Pro 2 had the Speedcontrol SL Ti brakes, this year they are just Speedcontrol (one of the changes that undoubtedly reduce the price down by £350). What did the Ti part refer to? My LBS weren't entirely sure!0 -
I bought a giant propel advanced pro 2 in June and whenever I take the wheels out I have been unable to stop the brakes rubbing on the rims after putting the wheel back. I took the bike back to the retailer and their fitter took longer than half hour to align them before being able to brake without this happening. After reading up on this I found it was a common issue. I have discovered that Fourier BRDX005 brakes are much better but cost about £200 a huge outlay on an expensive bike. Does anyone know if the Fourier brakes also have alignment problems or if there are any other, cheaper, but adequate alternatives ?
I would love to know the answer to this too. I have a 15 Propel Advanced Pro 1 which has the Speedcontrol SL-Ti brakes. The front caliper shudders at slower speeds (I have checked the Torque's) and the rear rubs on climbs. I'm not massively annoyed with this but it would be nice to find a remedy. The old SL calipers were plagued with issues (apparently), hence the introduction of the Fouriers caliper.
I can find loads of posts on how good the Fourier caliper is over the old SL one but haven't found anything about whether they are worth the £200 upgrade from the SL-Ti. All I can think is that the pro team use the Fourier's so must still be better? Can't confirm that as they mostly use the TCR!
I was gutted when I saw the 16 range of Propels released with significant price reductions, but then noticed lower wheel specs and that they had gone back to just Speedcontrol calipers (surely not?!) so I did manage to get some sleep that night!0 -
I bought a giant propel advanced pro 2 in June and whenever I take the wheels out I have been unable to stop the brakes rubbing on the rims after putting the wheel back. I took the bike back to the retailer and their fitter took longer than half hour to align them before being able to brake without this happening. After reading up on this I found it was a common issue. I have discovered that Fourier BRDX005 brakes are much better but cost about £200 a huge outlay on an expensive bike. Does anyone know if the Fourier brakes also have alignment problems or if there are any other, cheaper, but adequate alternatives ?
I would love to know the answer to this too. I have a 15 Propel Advanced Pro 1 which has the Speedcontrol SL-Ti brakes. The front caliper shudders at slower speeds (I have checked the Torque's) and the rear rubs on climbs. I'm not massively annoyed with this but it would be nice to find a remedy. The old SL calipers were plagued with issues (apparently), hence the introduction of the Fouriers caliper.
I can find loads of posts on how good the Fourier caliper is over the old SL one but haven't found anything about whether they are worth the £200 upgrade from the SL-Ti. All I can think is that the pro team use the Fourier's so must still be better? Can't confirm that as they mostly use the TCR!
I was gutted when I saw the 16 range of Propels released with significant price reductions, but then noticed lower wheel specs and that they had gone back to just Speedcontrol calipers (surely not?!) so I did manage to get some sleep that night!
Ah, you see I was over the moon when I saw the price drop!
I wanted an Advanced Pro 2 for ages and by the time I decided to go for it there were no Larges available, this was back in August and my dealer had the brochure for the new range which hadn't been launched yet. At first we thought it was just the brakes and the saddle that had changed, it was only recently when I was studying the specs and comparing that we realised they wheels are different too...
apparently they have Formula internals now instead of DT Swiss.
I'm hoping I don't have any issues with the brakes on mine when I get it...0 -
I have had the original aluminium Giant brake levers and then switched to the Fouriers.
Braking power wasn't a huge improvement - I know others who switched from the carbon ones and they did feel an improvement.
I did find the improvement in fitting. The original Giant levers used an open style spring that was of questionable strength. Being simple and open meant that they collected grime and dirt and then were a pain to reset. Constant retuning to prevent rubbing. The later Giant ones and the Fourier ones have sealed spring units and were much better to set up.
I have had no issues with clearance of both 23's and 25's either using Enve's, Giant wheels of Shimano C24's. My frame size is a L/57.5. Is the clearance an issue on smaller frames with narrow wheels?0 -
So this sort of answers the original posters question a bit then. The newer Giant ones are similar in set up to the Fouriers?
Interesting to hear from someone that actually has a Propel and has run 25mm tyre's, rather than a lot of people that haven't arguing that it can't be done!
I'll be popping into the bike shop tomorrow to see if they know which day this week mine will arrive, can't wait!!0 -
Thanx for all posts. It seems the expensive upgrade would be unnecessary as May manifest similar problems. It is only the front brakes I've had prob with and the giant fitter did say it could be just a dud brake . He did in fact take the spring out and bend it slightly to give it better tension. In fact the brakes stop the bike reasonably well and as I bought it to do time trials on and only ride when dry ( I have 2 other bikes ) as long as they work without rubbing the rims stopping power is not a big issue. I may pester the giant shop to replace the front brake under warranty.0
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So there is a braking system on the market called Propel?
And people buy this?
Propel?
Really?0 -
So there is a braking system on the market called Propel?
And people buy this?
Propel?
Really?
No.
Well, maybe, but that's not what's being discussed here.0 -
The secret I've found to these Propel brakes is maintenance. There were some early brakes with carbon bodies and some coil springs that didn't perform well... but the metal bodies and linear spring appear to have solved flex and improved spring function.
What remains an issue is the spindle that moves ever so slighly in the body of the brakes. It is the part that has the pins that go into the fork and what the brake bodies spin on... or don't spin which is a problem.
It tends to get rusty and seizes and then the brakes work like garbage. I took my rears off this morning as one side was binding and the other not... guess which side was all rusty and the other shiny?
So you have to take the brakes off, press the spindle out and I remove rust, polish it and when I put it back together I use a marine wheel bearing grease to help it not get rusty.
Simply put you have to maintain the brakes and once one or both sides start to seize the brakes don't work that great.0 -
A 4 year old resurrection.......Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0
