Carbon rim brakes

ttd

After seeing Ciamillo Lekki8 brakes I started wondering why there are no other top-end carbon brakes options (except THM's Fibulas). Record/SR, Dura Ace, Red, etc. are all alu, not carbon. Why is that so? Is alu more reliable?

fenix

I'm more than happy with alloy brake calipers. If people wanted carbon brakes - there would be a bigger industry for it.

And those brakes arent as sexy as Modolo Kronos.

super_davo

I've got some carbon Tektros that came with my Boardman Pro.

My take is there is no point. Brake parts are fairly intricate and you can machine alloys to those shapes far more easily. The difference in weight becomes tiny when you're comparing hollow alloy arms Vs carbon with metal inserts for pivots etc. Brakes are definitely something people care much more about functionality than weight. You can't really make much advantage of carbon weaving so it's stiff one way not so much another - brakes need to be stiff everywhere. And now with disk brakes there are other factors like heat dissipation etc.

joe_totale-2

I get the whole weight weenie thing and admit to having done a bit myself. However, when it comes to brakes surely any sane person would care more about the performance than a 100g weight saving?

Also with regards to the Ciamillo Lekki8 brakes, there's a big thread on WW about the dubious business practices of the guy who runs them with regards to previous products.

ryan_w-2

The new THM brakes are f-ing awful. Both in build quality / design and actual braking performance.

I have EE brakes but Dura Ace are still 100% the best you can buy from a performance perspective.

Matthewfalle

super_davo wrote:

I've got some carbon Tektros that came with my Boardman Pro.

i've got two sets of those carbon tektros and one Boardman Pro and really like them both - the brakes work as well as ultegra, light, look cool, got them at a silly price in the sale.

the boardman pro is and riciculously good bike for pennies as was the rrp back then

sungod

TTD wrote:

After seeing Ciamillo Lekki8 brakes I started wondering why there are no other top-end carbon brakes options (except THM's Fibulas). Record/SR, Dura Ace, Red, etc. are all alu, not carbon. Why is that so? Is alu more reliable?

limited market, most people will stick with the original brakes

as above, ciamillo has reports that are really off-putting

fibulas have had issues with the cf spring

alloy ee brakes are light, work extremely well, waaaaaay better than sram red, and craig gives excellent support (even post-cc acquisition)

thegreatdivide

Ryan_W wrote:

I have EE brakes but Dura Ace are still 100% the best you can buy from a performance perspective.

Although if you ride Super Record they're 100% the best you can buy from a performance perspective.

trek_dan

super_davo wrote:

I've got some carbon Tektros that came with my Boardman Pro.

I could be wrong but I had some similar ones and I think they are carbon wrapped alloy, not full carbon like the OP is asking about.

fenix

I did think it'd be unusual to get carbon brakes so cheaply.

Matthewfalle

Just in case anyone cares, have just weighed the carbon Tektro vs 2017 Ultegra

Ultegra 210g
Tektro 190g

Both weights inc pads and pad holders, nut, spacer and adjuster, so as you would fit to your bike.

ugo.santalucia

Joe Totale wrote:

However, when it comes to brakes surely any sane person would care more about the performance than a 100g weight saving?
.

Bit optimistic... the density of aluminium alloy is around 2.7 g/cm3... the density of carbon fibre composite is around 2.1 g/cm3... the only way to save 100 grams on something that weighs as little as brake calipers do is to redesign them to reduce the actual amount of material.
Carbon fibre allows you to save a little, given it's stiffer and stronger than aluminium alloy, so you need less of it for equal performance, but I suspect you can't save much before you enter the "underengineered" territory... and of all parts that can be underengineered, brakes should probably be towards the bottom of the list.

joe_totale-2

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Joe Totale wrote:

However, when it comes to brakes surely any sane person would care more about the performance than a 100g weight saving?
.

Bit optimistic... the density of aluminium alloy is around 2.7 g/cm3... the density of carbon fibre composite is around 2.1 g/cm3... the only way to save 100 grams on something that weighs as little as brake calipers do is to redesign them to reduce the actual amount of material.
Carbon fibre allows you to save a little, given it's stiffer and stronger than aluminium alloy, so you need less of it for equal performance, but I suspect you can't save much before you enter the "underengineered" territory... and of all parts that can be underengineered, brakes should probably be towards the bottom of the list.

The Ciamillo Lekki 8 brakes have been independently weighed as being 166g with pads:

http://www.roadbikereview.com/reviews/c ... kes-review

For comparison Dura Ace are 326g and Sram Red is 262g so it's actually a 160g saving from Dura Ace to the Ciamillo brakes. The article above claims there's good braking performance, however they sound a pain in the backside to set up.

cycleclinic

very light weight brakes tend to have braking performance compromise except for EE. I'll stick the to the campagnolo brakes i have. They are not lacking so why change.

First.Aspect

I save a similar amount of weight by only filling my water bottles 80%. The bigger the bottle more weight you save.

MisterMuncher

I picked up some magnesium TRP979Eq brakes for very little money a while back. They neatly spilt the difference in weight between DA and Ciamillo/EE brakes after some minimal tuning, and you can pick them up cheaply if you're patient on eBay.

MiddleRinger

First Aspect wrote:

I save a similar amount of weight by only filling my water bottles 80%. The bigger the bottle more weight you save.

Use a 5L bottle, save 1kg in weight! Winning!


If some sexy carbon brake calipers were in the same performance and price range as Dura Ace, I'd probably buy a set. But then again I'm a bit of a sucker for that sort of stuff...