Upgrade for Cannondale Caadx Tektro brakes

[Pedrosanchezo]

Yes. And once you've got them how you want them, and you're sure you want want a longer cable again, you cut the end off the straddle cable, and put a new crimp thingy on it.

Thanks Lulubel i will try this before tomorrows outing. :-)

 

[Andrew_P]

Thinking about it the eyelets for the caliper brakes are probably not designed to take the braking force and are only there for mudguards. So wouldn't advise even trying without speaking to Cannondale.

Have you looked at Travel Agent? For Canti or maybe V Brake? http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/problem-solvers-in-line-travel-agent-prod23360/

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

Thinking about it the eyelets for the caliper brakes are probably not designed to take the braking force and are only there for mudguards. So wouldn't advise even trying without speaking to Cannondale.

Have you looked at Travel Agent? For Canti or maybe V Brake? http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/problem-solvers-in-line-travel-agent-prod23360/

HI Loco, have heard of travel agent but will have to do some homework to see if it's what i am after. Sounds like it could be a plan so will take a peek. Defo thinking that sticking with the bikes original brake plan is the way forward. As in stick with Canti's and plan on making them as effective as possible.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Looking at the shape of the Tektro c710, unless you have lousy compressible brake cable housing or a flexi hanger, shortening the straddle wire to as close as you could towards the tyre* as Lulubel said WILL significantly improve the braking power. The only exception where this might not help much is where the pivot/boss and the cable attachment point on the leg are practically on a level horizontally on some super-wide frog legs.

* allowing for mud or mudguard clearance and nothing else

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

Looking at the shape of the Tektro c710, unless you have lousy compressible brake cable housing or a flexi hanger, shortening the straddle wire to as close as you could towards the tyre* as Lulubel said WILL significantly improve the braking power. The only exception where this might not help much is where the pivot/boss and the cable attachment point on the leg are practically on a level horizontally on some super-wide frog legs.

* allowing for mud or mudguard clearance and nothing else

Defo going to try this. Once i have it right and correctly tensioned i will then know if the brakes are up to the job. If they are as near as dammit then i will likely only need to upgrade the actual pad to squeeze out a little extra bite. Feeling confident this might be the case as the straddle cable is defo high off the tire.
On a side note i fitted Shim RS30's to the bike and the brakes are a good deal better. I put this down to a better braking surface and a wheel that doesn't go out of true every time i come within 2 miles of a pot hole. The original wheels were Maddux drx 6000. They weighed over 3000grams too so the bike it notably lighter too. :-)

 

[choddo]

Hi, sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I was wondering how you got on with this, and particularly how you solved the initial front brake judder. I just got this bike last Thursday and almost went into a truck this morning that pulled out in front of me thanks to the utterly ineffective braking but particularly the horrible judder on the front! Never known anything like it.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

Hey Choddo,

If it's still under warranty then i'd be keen to take the issue to your dealer. If not then here is what i found works...........

The stock pads are terrible. replaced them with Kool stops. Toe them in slightly which should kill any squeal and juddering. (note though that the juddering could be from a slightly out of true wheel).
The straddle cable is set pretty high on the Caadx. On mine it was about 3 inches above the tyre. Reset the straddle height to as close as possible to the tyre (allowing for any mudguard clearance etc). Maybe about an inch above the tyre should be fine to provide clearance for any off road grime that gets stuck on the tyre.
I set mines to approx this height and swap wheelsets often for use on road, turbo and off road. All different tyre thicknesses.

Bottom line is the braking was vastly improved but it is never going to be as good as a decent road bike setup. Canti's on CX bikes though are a necessary evil.

 

[choddo]

Thanks - that's very helpful, I'll talk to the dealer in the first instance then. I certainly have some slack to move the straddle cable lower, even after fitting mudguards. Think I will order some new pads anyway, on the assumption that the dealer will only make limited progress!

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

No probs. Just tell the dealer that the brakes make you feel like you are going to die sometime soon. That should get something done about it.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Thanks - that's very helpful, I'll talk to the dealer in the first instance then. I certainly have some slack to move the straddle cable lower, even after fitting mudguards. Think I will order some new pads anyway, on the assumption that the dealer will only make limited progress!

Rip the canti's off and replace with TRP CX9 mini-v's or the Tektro alternatives. Check that your levers are compatible with mini-v's.

If you go down the TRP route take the stock road cartridges off and replace with v-brake cartridges - I use Ashima 4 Function.

You will banish shudder and enjoy silent rides thereafter.

Canti's are the Devils Spawn!

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

Rip the canti's off and replace with TRP CX9 mini-v's or the Tektro alternatives. Check that your levers are compatible with mini-v's.

If you go down the TRP route take the stock road cartridges off and replace with v-brake cartridges - I use Ashima 4 Function.

You will banish shudder and enjoy silent rides thereafter.

Canti's are the Devils Spawn!

Could be good if you use the cx bike as a road or tourer. I use mine for a variety of uses, including off road, which basically means sticking with the canti's for superior clearance. The Mini v's need to be run pretty close to the rim which would make constant wheel changing a midden.

 

[choddo]

Got 105 shifters, which I think means they're not compatible with mini-Vs out of the box? Or that at least, you get very little rim clearance. That might be ok actually. I won't be doing much off-roading, just trail, towpath.

Well the dealer was a waste of an hour. Actually told me to go down there to take a look, then when I got there they said a colleague had had the same problem and Cannondale had just said "tough". Brilliant. Couldn't you have told me that on the phone? To compound the insult, they forgot to put my saddle bag back on and just told me I'll have to pay for postage for them to send it to me. That's customer service.

So... the options seem to be;
1. toe in the pads - not sure how you do that with these brakes but I've read that it works. Must make the braking more gradual.
2. Get new, better pads. I'll do this
3. Add a fork mounted hanger to reduce the length of cable that can stretch. Rumoured to fix it.
4. Fit mini-Vs. I think I'd rather do this than 3.

 

[choddo]

Oh toeing in seems to be a manual "stick something like a bit of card in the back of the pad" approach? Fair enough.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Oh toeing in seems to be a manual "stick something like a bit of card in the back of the pad" approach? Fair enough.

The TRP CX9's are about £80 but budget for different cartridges.

The Tektro RX6's are the same arm length (90mm) as the CX9's and are just as good by all accounts.

My CX9's do run close to the rim - about a credit card gap either side although they could go a tad wider. They are much more powerful than any canti I have tried (Ritchey/Avid/Dia Compe).

Contrary to what you may read on the web they are very progressive and certainly with a fairly hard Ashima pad they do not grab etc.

Also even with pulling my 105 levers very hard they are still nicely clear of the bars.

Zero shudder, zero noise - wonderful.

Good luck whatever route you go down.

 

[jdtate101]

I've got a CAADX6 and the tektro 520's and yes they aren't great, but I recently put some Clarkes pads on them (triple compound) and they are much improved. I have also tweaked the straddle wire lower to provide more mechanical force. They are no-where near as good as callipers, but vastly improved over the situation when they came new.