upgrading brakes....
- Thread starter johnnyh
- Start date
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PatrickPending
Legendary Member
- Location
- Leicester
assuming theyre the same drop should be fine
Gerry Attrick
Lincolnshire Mountain Rescue Consultant
Cheaper and easier to replace the blocks though!
MartinC
Über Member
- Location
- Cheltenham
Couple of things to think of.
What drop are the brakes you need to improve. Bikes with mudguards often have calipers with longer arms than a race bike. Shallow racing brakes have a drop of 49 or 50mm. Medium ones 57mm. You need to measure the drop you need for your frame. Bear in mind that the leverage on shallow drop brakes is more so if your winter bike needs medium drop brakes their performance won't be as good as a your other bike even with the same make of brake.
Brake blocks make an enormous contribution to braking performance, more so than the make of caliper. Find some good ones - Swissstop, Koolstop, Aztec and see if these make a difference.
Tektro brakes aren't necessarily bad. I've had brakes that were rubbish - too much flex in the arms - and replaced them with Tektro ones to good effect.
What drop are the brakes you need to improve. Bikes with mudguards often have calipers with longer arms than a race bike. Shallow racing brakes have a drop of 49 or 50mm. Medium ones 57mm. You need to measure the drop you need for your frame. Bear in mind that the leverage on shallow drop brakes is more so if your winter bike needs medium drop brakes their performance won't be as good as a your other bike even with the same make of brake.
Brake blocks make an enormous contribution to braking performance, more so than the make of caliper. Find some good ones - Swissstop, Koolstop, Aztec and see if these make a difference.
Tektro brakes aren't necessarily bad. I've had brakes that were rubbish - too much flex in the arms - and replaced them with Tektro ones to good effect.
Simple test for brakes.
Position a hose pipe where you can ride through the spray.
Thouroughly wet the brakes and ride at a good speed into the spray.
Pull both brake levers as hard as you can.
If you land flat on your back in a puddle with the bike on top of you, the brakes are fine.
Position a hose pipe where you can ride through the spray.
Thouroughly wet the brakes and ride at a good speed into the spray.
Pull both brake levers as hard as you can.
If you land flat on your back in a puddle with the bike on top of you, the brakes are fine.
and re the other posts about brake blocks, have tried two types and as said it made a difference but still not in the same ball park as the 105's on my other bike... add to that these particular tektro calipers are "cheap" in every sense, and have seen better days - I think the Exmouth Exodus in the rain pretty much did for them
Definitely time for an upgrade - whilst mid-high level Tektro brakes are fine the cheap as chips/OEM ones are generally pretty poor even after better pads. I'm doing it the other way around, got deep drop Ultegra level calipers but the blocks are dreadful in the wet so koolstop salmons are going on before doing my first 200k audax this weekend in the wind/rain.
