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Road bike has ultegra groupset apart from wheels & brake calipers where they've scrimped and used in house stuff. (Focus - concept ex)
Getting on with the bike well but find the braking fairly woeful. Being a MTB'er normally and without too much road knowledge, where to start on the brakes?
Is there much of a muchness between the calipers? If I put on ultegra calipers will it make a massive difference to braking power - I can't really see how it would myself, as the levers are already ultegra so there will be no difference on the pull. Seems to make more sense that braking would be improved by pads/wheels/tyres.
Hovering over the ultegra calipers cos i'd like it all to match, but will it make any difference...?
Alternatively, what pads to try!
depends on how much you have scrimped on the callipers, very cheap and nasty to Ultegra will be noticeable, although not sure much point going beyond 105 TBH.
The better callipers, are stiffer, the bushings/bearings are more durable, the pad adjustment works.
Pads will make more of a difference though if the callipers are in any way half decent. Either Swiss Stop, Kool Stop etc,
Yes, cheaper callipers are often a bit flexy. Also try the swiss stop green pads. (I would go for both)
I put 105 callipers on my Allez and it had little effect. Changed the flexy OEM cable outers to Shimano it was a vast improvement. I'd try that first.
likewise on the outers. Chaing to quality ones makes a big difference.
But Ultegra calipers are nice, very firm.
MTb brakes, I assume you mean disc are good and pretty well point and shoot.
Before you change the calipers I'd look elsewhere. First the cables, you can bet your bottom dollar they've used cheap cables, both inners and outers. I reckon better cables will give you better braking. (Jagwire, Gore etc)
Check the ferrules. Plastic ones compress slightly so waste power. Swap for metal.
Alignment. Even if they look right the pads move upwards a small amount when you brake. Get really close and examine where they make contact when you pull the lever.
Good cables, good ferrules and well set up pads will help no end.
njee20 and samuri beat me to it
Can't tell what the inner cables are but look decent and feel like they're a coated decent cable, outers are Jagwire kevlar reinforced with metal ferrules. Alignment seems perfect to me, was built and setup by the LBS, not assembled by my monkey fingers!
Swissstop green seems to be the pad to try - what's the difference between flash pro and race - all green compound.
Yes MTB brakes are easy - fit xt, bleed and forget! This road stuff isn't as simple...
Hmmm.
Okay, do you keep the rims clean? give them a good wash with warm soapy water to remove all the road debris.
I've got Greens on one set, and just el cheapos on another set of Ultegras (wear loads out over winter)
So perhaps it is the calipers.
difference between my tektros and sora was huge ....
not so noticable leap when i went from sora to ultegra
my mavics calipers on the TT bike are unreal for stopping power. bit grabby though and no wheel release cam 🙁
how thin does the 1mm plastic on the end of a plastic ferrule compress to ?
6700 Ultegra (and 6800 + 5700 105 and 7800 & 9000 Dura ace) have a slightly different cable pull, so swapping to one of the Shimano calipers with the matched cable pull will probably help with feel and power.
Pads, even a basic aftermarket set can be better than stock pads on a no-brand OE brake.
Yet somehow, my Sora brakes seem to be able to stop my 250lb bulk with little drama.
Some people just want to upgrade, no matter what common sense and the laws of physics say.
I got some planet-x brakes - about 50 quid the pair and OK for my 14.5 stone
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(60 quid now)
they came with SS green pads too, but was a couple of years ago
oh, if you mean they're shit in the wet, that's because they're road bike brakes
I had a specialized with 105levers and shit callipers on, replaced them with ultrgra and while better they still weren't great. Just swapped the frame and put new inner and outers on, massive difference!
Get XTR Brake outer from crc, £1.99 for 600mm length
Get Teflon coated cables off eBay for about £2 each, they are just the same as shimano's £13 ones
Try this first before you get the callipers, that's the best cable set up you can get for a decent price, believe me! Xtr cable outer just does wonders to brakes and its grey!
Ordered a set of the green flash pro pads from wiggle, see how they do first.
Ta for the pointers.
And no, not sure on wet performance the road bike doesn't come out unless the sun is shining! 8)
how thin does the 1mm plastic on the end of a plastic ferrule compress to ?
Some have little rubber o-rings in the ends to seal them from muck, whether it's a quantifiable difference though I've no idea.
I've got to those planet X brakes (available elsewhere too, but usually for more money). Combined with goodridge outer and KCNC inner they're great. Not the most powerful, but certainly good enough to do an emergency stop as quickly as you dare without needing the finger strength of a jazz playing, rock climbing orang-utang.
Mine did need some bedding in before they were at full power though, not sure if the inner was stretching, the outer compressing or the pad transferring to the rim, but they definitely improved aver the first hundred miles or so.
Ohhh, and if you don't already, adjust your brakes so the pads have more clearance. This brings the bite point closer to the bars and means less effort to brake.