Tiagra 4700 STI levers w/ Long Drop Brake

cassettequestion

Wondered does anyone have the above setup and if so, which brake calipers do you use?

Having some braking issues (described here: viewtopic.php?f=40004&t=13065090&p=19881373#p19881373) with the Shimano BR451 calipers I bought as an upgrade. Been advised they aren't really compatible but not sure what else to try?

Bike came with Tektro R315 but when I put these back on the bike, they seemed even worse? It's a Genesis bike and I've seen their 2016 models have Promax calipers, does anyone have these?

Currently even considering replacing the fork so I can use a normal caliper on the front and living with the rear or mouting the caliper in front of the seatstays..

keef66

Although Shimano will say your 4700 levers are incompatible with the calipers I doubt that's actually the case. I have BR450 long drop calipers on the winter bike, initially operated by 105 5600 levers and more recently by Tiagra 4500 ones. I think the weakness is the all-in-one moulded brake blocks. I'm considering buying some 5800 cartridge holders / inserts for them, or possibly some SwissStop blue BXP ones.

cassettequestion

Thanks very much for the response. Do you find braking performance OK with your winter set-up? Or similar issue, hence purchasing new pads?

keef66

It's adequate, but after fitting 5800 callipers on the summer bike I realise how good rim brakes can be. Hence thinking that new cartridge holders / inserts might be a way of improving the BR450s

cassettequestion

OK cheers - I shall definitely try that. Perhaps getting the softest compound will help too.

I couldn't understand why shimano would say they're not compatible anyway - surely it's just a case of pulling a cable, which any and all levers do?

dj58

Looked at the Shimano compatibility chart again and it shows that you can use the BR-451 with your ST-4700 levers, though says "Braking power is slightly less than standard combination", so apologies for giving an incorrect answer in your other post.

As keff66 suggests buy some SwissStop Full FlashPro BXP blue pads and set the brakes up correctly.
http://www.swissstop.com/rimbrakes/fullflashpro/bxp/

cassettequestion

DJ58 wrote:

Looked at the Shimano compatibility chart again and it shows that you can use the BR-451 with your ST-4700 levers, though says "Braking power is slightly less than standard combination", so apologies for giving an incorrect answer in your other post.

As keff66 suggests buy some SwissStop Full FlashPro BXP blue pads and set the brakes up correctly.
http://www.swissstop.com/rimbrakes/fullflashpro/bxp/

That's alright - I checked the chart you mentioned myself and noticed it said that. I'm going to get those pads but was thinking of the black ones as opposed to the blue - seems more suited to my riding type going by the blurb.

Do you know why there'd be any compatibility issues at all? I don't understand as surely it's just pulling a cable?

keef66

It's to do with how much cable is pulled with how much lever travel vs the pivot arrangements in the caliper. The differences will be pretty small, and as you say it's just a lever pulling a cable moving a caliper.

The only time there's really an issue is when people try mix and match with levers designed for one type of braking system and try them with a different one. eg V-brakes / CX cantilevers / road calipers.

cassettequestion

keef66 wrote:

It's to do with how much cable is pulled with how much lever travel vs the pivot arrangements in the caliper. The differences will be pretty small, and as you say it's just a lever pulling a cable moving a caliper.

The only time there's really an issue is when people try mix and match with levers designed for one type of braking system and try them with a different one. eg V-brakes / CX cantilevers / road calipers.

So if anything, I'll just need to pull the levers more to for the same movement in the caliper. I suppose if I make sure the tension is as high as possible as well.

Anyway, ordered those pads today. Thanks for the responses.