Caliper upgrade question?

[*Dusty*]

I have a Cannondale Synapse Sora, the only area I feel is lacking is the brakes. Will a Shimano 105 brake caliper set work with the Sora brake levers?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Big Dave laaa]

The official line is that they aren't compatible but there appear to be lots who have done it successfully. They do give a significant advantage over Sora.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

In what way does the brakes not work to your liking?

 

[*Dusty*]

In what way does the brakes not work to your liking?

Hi there, they just aren't terribly good at stopping the bike, even at low speed. I may need to lower my expectations though, I'm coming from a Hydraulic disc brake MTB so a wee bit spoilt in that respect. My older Carrera hybrid had better stopping power even with its old canti brakes though.

the bike is brand new, I'll do a bit of fettling first and give them time to scrub in.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Takes a while for the brake blocks to bed in..or fit the higher quality blocks pink salmon things etc

my front brake is the tiagra and it will through you off in a second..
when new with shimano blocks i shoot myself..terrible..got some new brake blocks ..sorted.

my wife has sora..same again..

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Hi there, they just aren't terribly good at stopping the bike, even at low speed. I may need to lower my expectations though, I'm coming from a Hydraulic disc brake MTB so a wee bit spoilt in that respect. My older Carrera hybrid had better stopping power even with its old canti brakes though.

the bike is brand new, I'll do a bit of fettling first and give them time to scrub in.

Can you lock the back brake?

 

[*Dusty*]

Can you lock the back brake?

I don't recall doing so but equally I wasn't trying to. I will report back to you on whether it CAN be locked up or not!! The bike is new, not many yards on it, just a couple of quick sprints up and down the road in between the rain! It could be me getting used to the new bike, new pads not "scrubbed in" yet or a combination of all three. I'm really asking about new calipers out of curiosity/pre planning

 

[Citius]

Change the pads first, before blowing it all on new calipers you may not need...

 

[Drago]

I have a bike with exactly that combination and it works. However, as the boys above have mentioned, just changing the caliper is unlikely to make a radical improvement but changing the pads might.

 

[John the Monkey]

Will a Shimano 105 brake caliper set work with the Sora brake levers?

Thanks in advance!

According to Evans, the 2015 model of your bike has Tektro long drop calipers.

So, firstly, you need to be careful that the replacement brake is long drop too.

As others have said, try changing your pads (I always liked Fibrax X-treme, personally, but there's Koolstop Salmon and Swiss Stop Green that are similarly grippy).

My personal experience of the Tektro long drop brakes fitted to my Giant SCR2 as original equipment was that they were not great - and after several years trying different pads, I found that a set of R650 calipers made a significant difference. This is, however, a contraversial position; https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/brake-upgrade-worth-it.177340/

Regardless, changing pads will cost you in the region of £7, and is worth doing first to see whether it makes enough of a difference for you.

 

[*Dusty*]

According to Evans, the 2015 model of your bike has Tektro long drop calipers.

So, firstly, you need to be careful that the replacement brake is long drop too.

As others have said, try changing your pads (I always liked Fibrax X-treme, personally, but there's Koolstop Salmon and Swiss Stop Green that are similarly grippy).

My personal experience of the Tektro long drop brakes fitted to my Giant SCR2 as original equipment was that they were not great - and after several years trying different pads, I found that a set of R650 calipers made a significant difference. This is, however, a contraversial position; https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/brake-upgrade-worth-it.177340/

Regardless, changing pads will cost you in the region of £7, and is worth doing first to see whether it makes enough of a difference for you.

Wonderfully structured reply sir, thanks for taking the time. I guess £7 won't bankrupt me and sure I can always use the pads on new calipers if they are indeed required.

 

[faster]

My commuting bike came with sora levers and tiagra calipers. I persevered for a while, but they just weren't good enough for me to confidently cycle in traffic, even when the pads were upgraded to Swissstop greens.

I changed the calipers to 5800 105s (still using the pads that came with the 105 calipers - haven't tried the swissstop/105 combination yet) and the improvement is obvious. I think there may be something in the lever compatability, as the 105 callipers appear to be very similar to the ultegra ones on my good bike, but the brakes on that bike (with ultegra levers) are better again - really effective.

I should point out that I'm no lightweight at around 95kg, so there is a lot of me to stop! Also, takek note of what someone said earlier about whether or not you need long drop calipers for your bike, as 105s may not reach the rims.

 

[*Dusty*]

As an update, I fettled the brakes and evened them up so the gap from pad to rim was the same on both sides. this has helped noticeably and made a significant improvement however I feel new pads could still improve things closer to where I would like them to be. Bearing in mind the bike is still brand new I'll give it a month or so and see how it feels then. thanks everyone for their knowledge and advice.

 

[Globalti]

If you're coming back to rim brakes you'll probably have forgotten their annoying tendency to pick up bits of grit from the rims, meaning that after wet muddy rides it's a good idea at least to open the brake and scrub them with an old toothbrush and then pull an old towel through behind them, which adds only a few seconds to the cleaning routine. Occasionally you can remove them, pick out the shiny bits of grit or metal, rub them on a sheet of wet 'n dry to take off the glaze and refit them, using a dab of talc on the grooves if they are reluctant to slip back into the shoes. (Here I go again with my talc fetish!)

Also when first setting up the brakes, take time to get the blocks exactly parallel to the braking surface by loosening the hex bolt, holding the brake on lightly with one hand and slipping the pad around until the washers settle and the braking surface is absolutely flat on the rim and lined up with the edge of the braking surface. Then nip up that hex bolt gently, release the brake and tighten the hex bolt while bracing the brake shoe with the fingers of your other hand to prevent it from rotating. Well set brakes will sometimes make a satisfying clack when you snap them shut abruptly.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@*Dusty* I ride with Tektro R356 calipers and the Koolstop Salmon make alot of difference having had to stop abruptly on occasions to avoid things (i.e. cars left hooking me) I know other blocks I have used wouldn't have achieved the same results.