Brake Upgrade for Allez Elite (2015)

stephen7276

I bought a Specialized Allez Elite on the CTW scheme and am looking to make a few improvements. I tend to cycle 20-30 miles.

The current brakeset is the Axis 1.0 which has mixed reviews and the bike has Shimano Tiagra STI shifters. I know very little regarding compatability (or bikes in general..) but was thinking maybe the Shimano Ultegra 6800 at £35 each with cables @ £20 and a set of Swissstop Flashpro blocks @£22.50 . Its a few quid but you only get one head..

Am I onto the correct set up or do I have compatability problems ?

svetty

The 105 5800 calipers are functionally on a par with the Ultegra. I would just use them with the stock shimano pads - the R33C4s are excellent

vpnikolov

Well I changed the calipers of my Allez to 105 ones (with Swisstop on) and have kept the Claris shifters with the old cables. Now it might be due to the cables being quite old/a contamination or compatibility issue as the braking is abysmal... Still haven't bothered too much to fix it as I don't ride it that often. So yeah... would be good to hear what other people think the issue is.

keef66

Svetty wrote:

The 105 5800 calipers are functionally on a par with the Ultegra. I would just use them with the stock shimano pads - the R33C4s are excellent

I'd agree with this. I just fitted some nearly new 5800 calipers to my summer bike (bargain £30 from the classifieds on here!) Levers are older 5600. Braking is phenomenal. I hadn't realised how bad the previous Tiagra brakes were.

So good in fact I've bought some 5800 cartridges / blocks for the winter bike.

keef66

vpnikolov wrote:

Well I changed the calipers of my Allez to 105 ones (with Swisstop on) and have kept the Claris shifters with the old cables. Now it might be due to the cables being quite old/a contamination or compatibility issue as the braking is abysmal... Still haven't bothered too much to fix it as I don't ride it that often. So yeah... would be good to hear what other people think the issue is.

Are you talking about the newest, 5800 calipers?

bmxboy10

5800 are great but set up is very important regardless of the calliper

Bobbinogs

Yepp, pads and maintenance should also be kept on top of. I have checked a few bikes where the owners have complained of poor braking only to find worn/cheap/nasty pads or decent pads where the surface desperately needed cleaning up/refacing and then the pads adjusted for optimal performance.

Wet weather is where the differences in quality seem to be accentuated, with good pads like Swisstop Flashpro or Koolstop Salmon/Duals shining above the also rans.

keef66

solboy10 wrote:

5800 are great but set up is very important regardless of the calliper

Because mine had been taken off a new bike I just bolted them on to mine and the blocks lined up with the brake tracks perfectly. CIamped the cables, adjusted the clearance a bit and off I went. Nearly over the bars when I first used them!

vpnikolov

keef66 wrote:

vpnikolov wrote:

Well I changed the calipers of my Allez to 105 ones (with Swisstop on) and have kept the Claris shifters with the old cables. Now it might be due to the cables being quite old/a contamination or compatibility issue as the braking is abysmal... Still haven't bothered too much to fix it as I don't ride it that often. So yeah... would be good to hear what other people think the issue is.

Are you talking about the newest, 5800 calipers?

Yup, the 5800 ones.

SME

My Trek came with all 5800 except the chainwheel and brakes. I upgraded both to complete the groupset and agree that the calipers are very good - like keef I nearly went over the bars on first use.

I was lucky - I'd been looking out for a set for a short while. I came in from work one night and opened up an e-mail from CRC... the 5800 calipers were £17.99 each - got a pair for what one caliper normally cost! (wish I'd have got another pair now for the winter bike!).

There can be incompatibility issues when changing to the SLR-EV brakes with the pull on some levers, so beware. Shimano do have a compatibility chart somewhere.

mostly

I popped some 105 5800 on my old allez with claris to replace the bloody tektro calipers. There was a small improvement in performance but the biggest benefit was the ease of adjustment.

iPete

That's a good price for the 6800 brakes with cables. It's very much splitting hairs in terms of performance over 5800 and it comes down to how they look, weight and adjustability (not that I've ever used the extra adjustment available!).
http://handsonbike.blogspot.co.uk/2015/ ... 0-and.html

You could save a few quid by looking at Koolstop Salmon pads.

ayjaycee

Sorry to chip in so late but I have got the Allez Elte 2015 which came with the same cr4p Axis brakes. When I first rode it, I found the lack of stopping power a bit alarming (although it didn't help that I had also grown too used to discs) and therefore swapped the stock pads for Swissstop BXPs (the blueones) which improved things. I then fitted 105 5800 brakes and the combination of them and the Swisstop pads was a major improvement over the original configuration - my advice would therefore be to make the change ASAP.
FWIW, I have also got a bike with Ultegra 6800 brakes which I tried on the Allez. I don't think there is much difference in actual performance between them and the 105 version. However, where they do differ is that there is plenty enough room in the 105s for my chosen mudguards on the Allez but not in the Ultegras on the same bike.