Shimano brakes

[LemonCowboy]

Bought a bike recently that's a 105 setup but has Sora brakes. Just wondering if anyone can argue the benefits to say Ultegra vs sora brakes?
I can't say they bother me that much but then I've only done 40km with them so far so can't make a call.
Previous bikes had no particular range they just said shimano on so guessing generic entry level.. have I been deprived of some braking bliss all this time?

 

[stumpy66]

Can't comment on sora brakes but I upgraded the unbranded brakes on my giant defy to ultrgra and it was night n day the difference they made, great stopping power

 

[midlife]

Just wondered what had broken

Shaun

 

[Brandane]

Here's the proof..........

 

[LemonCowboy]

well that went well. BRAKES. Gosh dang..

Anyway. Night and day you say? Is there that much difference between lower end and more expensive brakes? Why the difference I always assumed it came down to the pad and the tension on the cable..

 

[LemonCowboy]

Here's the proof..........

View attachment 335908

How the hell did you manage that?

 

[Brandane]

How the hell did you manage that?

I'd love to be able to say it was the superhuman power I was putting through the peddles pedals while blasting up an insanely steep mountain; but......
It's a photo stolen from the web .

 

[Oldbloke]

[QThought yBrandane, post: 4665120, member: 8443"]I'd love to be able to say it was the superhuman power I was putting through the peddles pedals while blasting up an insanely steep mountain; but......
It's a photo stolen from the web .[/QUOTE]

Thought maybe you'd crashed after your Sora brakes failed....

 

[ColinJ]

Is there that much difference between lower end and more expensive brakes? Why the difference I always assumed it came down to the pad and the tension on the cable..

I have some cheapo Campagnolo Veloce brake callipers on my singlespeed bike. They do work ok, but when I apply the brakes I can not only feel the brakes flex, I can see that they do. The much more expensive Chorus brakes on my best bike look and feel a lot more solid and have a better appearance. They work better too, but I don't have any problem stopping using the cheap brakes, so it isn't really an issue.

 

[Drago]

I got no-name unbranded callipers on my Felt (which I have reason to believe are Tektros, they appear identical) and they stop like no other rim brake I've ever tried. Incredible. I always thought the 105's on my Pinnacle were highly decent, but they don't even compare to the ones on my Felt.

I emailed Felt and asked them what make and model the brake blocks were - they never did say, but sent me a free set as spares.

 

[LemonCowboy]

I'd love to be able to say it was the superhuman power I was putting through the peddles pedals while blasting up an insanely steep mountain; but......
It's a photo stolen from the web .

Haha ok I deserved that well done.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Bought a bike recently that's a 105 setup but has Sora brakes. . . . I can't say they bother me that much but then I've only done 40km with them so far so can't make a call. Previous bikes had no particular range they just said shimano on so guessing generic entry level

Perhaps you can do a few hundred miles on these and let us know what your experience is: are the Sora brakes better or worse than those 'generic entry level' ones on your previous bike? Will need to ride some of those miles in the rain to make it a proper test. And you should be able to amend the thread title: you're giving Shimnano an unreasonably 'bad name'.

 

[stumpy66]

well that went well. BRAKES. Gosh dang..

Anyway. Night and day you say? Is there that much difference between lower end and more expensive brakes? Why the difference I always assumed it came down to the pad and the tension on the cable..

Yeah it reall was. I had tektro brakes on my tourer and they wouldn't stop it now have Shimano cx70's and have found them to be great, no scary moments at junctions anymore.

I think the cheaper brake calliper has more flex in them. I used a variety of pads, swissstop, koolstop salmon and made little difference, except to my bank balance

 

[RoubaixCube]

Im another who was in the same boat as @stumpy66. I had some terrible tektro's on my Triban. I swapped them out for some shimano Tiagra R451's and i couldn't be happier. Braking in the wet with tektro's used to make me so nervous. Well worth the money


::EDIT::

I also upgraded the pads to koolstop before i went all the way and upgraded to the R451's. the pads helped but it didnt stop me slamming into the side of a car at over 20mph when it briefly started to rain.

If you have some cash to splash you could always go for the Ultegra R650's as an upgrade. A lot of people swear by them.

 

[Milkfloat]

And you should be able to amend the thread title: you're giving Shimnano an unreasonably 'bad name'.

So are you

I replaced some generic Giant calipers (unbranded Tektro) with 105, the difference was night and day. I had already fiddled with the Giant's and swapped to a decent pad, but could never get them working well enough for me.