Braking on the hoods.

rampage7110 · May 2017

I'm a new road biker and have a Sora group set, 18 speed.
I'm finding the braking quite difficult on the hoods, it's just hard to pull the lever enough to stop quickly.
Is this normal or is it down to setup?
Thanks.

Matthewfalle · May 2017

Maybe down to position, lever reach or just getting used to it. Or maybe a mixture of all. Try popping the small inserts you should have got with the levers in try change pull ratio and reach, maybe the levers are too high, maybe handlebars angled wrong.

Maybe even pads are shot or just rubbish.

Can you post piccies.

Must admit that I barely brake on the drops, 95% of the time am on the hoods. Even then, braking is frowned upon as it is for cowards.

keef66 · May 2017

I'm usually braking from the hoods, and I can stop pretty effectively. Only if I'm descending something really steep will I use the drops because I can squeeze the levers even harder that way. It doesn't feel a completely natural hand position, but I use it so rarely I'm not inclined to faff about to change it.

My bikes have a proper dog's breakfast of mis-matched Shimano components but it all works. Son has Sora on his Felt but with unbranded calipers, likely Tektro, and his brakes seem fine.

If you find it hard to stop when braking in the drops it sounds like your setup is wrong or the rims / pads need cleaning

craigus89 · May 2017

You'll likely have Tektro calipers (cack but they do work) and some poor generic pads. Also if you are used to riding a mountain bike for instance the feeling of braking in a completely different position will feel odd, and you may be braking from speeds higher than you are used to.

I suspect some getting used to it is needed, but you could look at getting some Shimano 105 calipers, they are a worthy upgrade for any beginner, but not necessary.

fenix · May 2017

Could even be that youre not used to the position.

Braking on the drops is usually the best. Can you brake ok from the hoods ?

davesnothere · May 2017

I can't brake very well on the drops due to my small girl like hands, fine on the hoods

rampage7110 · May 2017

Sorry I've got this wrong!

I can brake fine on the drops but on the hoods is difficult.

g00se · May 2017

You may find putting a bit of slack in the cables may help - so there's a bit of travel in the levers before the brakes bite (you don't want the levers to touch the bars though)!

That should allow you to close your hands a bit further before you need to start applying pressure.

Matthewfalle · May 2017

Rampage7110 wrote:

Sorry I've got this wrong!

I can brake fine on the drops but on the hoods is difficult.

Oh.

No idea then - hoods are so much easier to brake from

Wrap thumb around one side of hood, rest of fingers either over or around other side of hood.

Picture of hand position?

Matthewfalle · May 2017

Craigus89 wrote:

You'll likely have Tektro calipers (cack but they do work) and some poor generic pads. Also if you are used to riding a mountain bike for instance the feeling of braking in a completely different position will feel odd, and you may be braking from speeds higher than you are used to.

I suspect some getting used to it is needed, but you could look at getting some Shimano 105 calipers, they are a worthy upgrade for any beginner, but not necessary.

Nowt wrong with Tektro if set up properly.

Garry H · May 2017

You need these:

My recollection of the sora brakes is that they were shite

bobmcstuff · May 2017

Takes a bit of getting used to. Particularly if you're used to good MTB disc brakes.

kajjal · May 2017

bobmcstuff wrote:

Takes a bit of getting used to. Particularly if you're used to good MTB disc brakes.

This is what I found so eventually changed to a road bike with hydraulic disk brakes and braking is a lot easier.

On my previous Rim braked bike changing to 105 callipers (R650 if long drop) helped a lot as did changing to better pads. The Tektro rim brake Callipers and pads were really bad and dangerous in the wet.

LimitedGarry · May 2017

Mountain biker new to road cycling here. This was one of the first things I tackled on the second hand bike I bought. Ultegra 6600 or whatever I'm too drunk to remember right now.

Loosening the cable tension fixed it for me. You gotta mess around with it a bit. Enough tension to be able to reach the maximum braking power, but enough slack to be able to pull on the levers by a tiny bit without applying any noticeable braking power.
Put it on a stand (or on the ground or whatever) and pull on the lever. You want to be able to pull nearly to the bar using reasonable force, but not being able to easily pull it all the way. Just use common sense here. You need that extra bit for emergencies. Unlike shifting, where you generally want to have the highest possible tension that works perfectly, on brakes, I go as low as I can go without diminishing braking performance.

Don't forget to test whilst riding before going on any actual rides. Test both low and high speed. You may even want to have different tension on front and rear brakes.

Full disclosure - I'd still want to have hydraulic disc brakes on my road bike. If or when I get a brand new one, It will definitely have those.

Matthewfalle · May 2017

Cable tension is very personal - I like the brakes to be very tight - almost instant, so have a play and see what you come up with

craigus89 · May 2017

Matthewfalle wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

You'll likely have Tektro calipers (cack but they do work) and some poor generic pads. Also if you are used to riding a mountain bike for instance the feeling of braking in a completely different position will feel odd, and you may be braking from speeds higher than you are used to.

I suspect some getting used to it is needed, but you could look at getting some Shimano 105 calipers, they are a worthy upgrade for any beginner, but not necessary.

Nowt wrong with Tektro if set up properly.

I beg to differ, and reckon many would agree. As I said, they do work but don't inspire any confidence and 105's are a decent upgrade at very small cost.

fenix · May 2017

My tektro are fine too.

Maybe its the angle you're trying it at. Rotate the bars down a bit and the hoods will rotate back to you a bit ?

Could just be practice too.

awavey · May 2017

Craigus89 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

You'll likely have Tektro calipers (cack but they do work) and some poor generic pads. Also if you are used to riding a mountain bike for instance the feeling of braking in a completely different position will feel odd, and you may be braking from speeds higher than you are used to.

I suspect some getting used to it is needed, but you could look at getting some Shimano 105 calipers, they are a worthy upgrade for any beginner, but not necessary.

Nowt wrong with Tektro if set up properly.

I beg to differ, and reckon many would agree. As I said, they do work but don't inspire any confidence and 105's are a decent upgrade at very small cost.

yeah I cant say Im a fan of them, its the lack of feedback feel they have, I guess I like quite positive direct brakes as I look at it and think well if Im making a choice to use the brakes I want to start stopping pretty immediately, not feel Im waiting for the braking to take any effect. that said give them a real squeeze and the back wheel will lift.

kajjal · May 2017

Craigus89 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

You'll likely have Tektro calipers (cack but they do work) and some poor generic pads. Also if you are used to riding a mountain bike for instance the feeling of braking in a completely different position will feel odd, and you may be braking from speeds higher than you are used to.

I suspect some getting used to it is needed, but you could look at getting some Shimano 105 calipers, they are a worthy upgrade for any beginner, but not necessary.

Nowt wrong with Tektro if set up properly.

I beg to differ, and reckon many would agree. As I said, they do work but don't inspire any confidence and 105's are a decent upgrade at very small cost.

I would agree they were really poor for me even when setup properly but I am very tall and weight 100KG which does not go well with braking at speed on rim brakes. I am guessing those who find they work for them are a lot lighter and have not used quality hydraulic discs before.

keef66 · May 2017

I'm fairly light and don't ride anywhere properly hilly, so my rim brakes are OK for me. 99% of the time I'm braking from the hoods. I do have the blocks some way from the rims which makes the levers easier to squeeze hard if required.

I did replace Tiagra calipers with moulded brake blocks with 5800 ones and found they worked a lot better. I thought the new calipers operated by the old levers had some kind of mechanical advantage.

But later when looking at the old Tiagra ones I noticed the blocks looked a bit shiny, and tidied them up with sandpaper. No telling what effect this alone would have had...

Matthewfalle · May 2017

Kajjal wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Craigus89 wrote:

You'll likely have Tektro calipers (cack but they do work) and some poor generic pads. Also if you are used to riding a mountain bike for instance the feeling of braking in a completely different position will feel odd, and you may be braking from speeds higher than you are used to.

I suspect some getting used to it is needed, but you could look at getting some Shimano 105 calipers, they are a worthy upgrade for any beginner, but not necessary.

Nowt wrong with Tektro if set up properly.

I beg to differ, and reckon many would agree. As I said, they do work but don't inspire any confidence and 105's are a decent upgrade at very small cost.

I would agree they were really poor for me even when setup properly but I am very tall and weight 100KG which does not go well with braking at speed on rim brakes. I am guessing those who find they work for them are a lot lighter and have not used quality hydraulic discs before.

Have Tektro R750 (the carbon ones) one the crib bike and they work just as well as Ultegra and Red. Perhaps it's just technique.

craigus89 · May 2017

Carbon ones are a bit different to what we are talking about here, certainly very different from the type you'd get on a bike that comes with Sora. But yes, perhaps you are just better than us.

Matthewfalle · May 2017

Craigus89 wrote:

Carbon ones are a bit different to what we are talking about here, certainly very different from the type you'd get on a bike that comes with Sora. But yes, perhaps you are just better than us.

Good point well presented.

mcstumpy · May 2017

Until recently I had tiagra 4600 shifters with shimano long drop brakes, and found it hard to exert sufficient pressure when braking from hoods. Now have a bike with ultegra shifters and 105 brakes, and find it so much easier.

Braking on the hoods.

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