Cyclocross - Which brakes for Dura Ace STI

I wrecked my Cannondale road bike, so I'm switching all the parts off it onto a Specialized Tricross frame. The gruppo is 7800 Dura Ace 10 speed, and the wheels are 7850SL Dura Ace.

I'm thinking of using a travel agent with XTR V Brakes. Any other suggestions better than this?

I wrecked my Cannondale road bike, so I'm switching all the parts off it onto a Specialized Tricross frame. The gruppo is 7800 Dura Ace 10 speed, and the wheels are 7850SL Dura Ace.

I'm thinking of using a travel agent with XTR V Brakes. Any other suggestions better than this?

I'm sorry to hear about the Cannondale. Congratulations on the Tricross though. You might wind up getting your dream bike out that mishap. Quite honestly, Shimano makes the really nice BR550 cantilevers that don't need that ugly Travel Agent to function. Cantilevers work great when set up properly. Good luck.

Tektro CR720 ftw

Tektro CR720 ftw

I saw a set on a bike yesterday. They looked real nice. I always llike wide profile cantilevers. Is there any issue with heel strike on the rear brakes?

Would the V-brake+travel agent be stronger than the CR720?'s I don't mind the looks of the travel agent.

Thanks

+1 for the BR550's.
I am running them with STI's on a Soma DoubleCross.
I was considering TravelAgents with V-brakes, but after doing searches on the topic, found a lot of people who expressed the opinion that rating brake performance ranked from best to worst is as follows:

1. V-brakes
2. Cantilevers
3. V-brakes with TravelAgents

BTW I have a pair of TravelAgents on hand, and was very put off when I realized the installation requires putting a 90-degree kink in the brake cable.

BTW I have a pair of TravelAgents on hand, and was very put off when I realized the installation requires putting a 90-degree kink in the brake cable.Why is that a problem?

I was considering TravelAgents with V-brakes, but after doing searches on the topic, found a lot of people who expressed the opinion that rating brake performance ranked from best to worst is as follows:
1. V-brakes
2. Cantilevers
3. V-brakes with TravelAgentsA travel agent doubles the pull of a brake lever. Short pull levers (such as road levers) don't pull enough cable for use with V brakes.

People dislike travel agents because (1) they look kludgey, (2) they add (minimal) weight, (3) they didn't set them up correctly, and/or (4) they completely misunderstand how they work and why they are necessary.

When used correctly with short pull levers and V brakes, travel agents have less friction than a cable noodle and work great.

Would the V-brake+travel agent be stronger than the CR720?'s This is worth spending some time to understand:
Mechanical Advantage (http://sheldonbrown.com/canti-trad.html#ma)

V brakes with travel agents work better than the any of the cantilevers I have used before, but I just ordered a set of Paul Neo Retro's for my commute bike so maybe they will be better. That said, the Avid S7 or Avid Ultimate V brakes worked better than Shimano V brakes, ESPECIALLY when things got dirty. Avoid the Shimano V bakes, the parallel pad mechanism squeals and/or fills with crud and sticks.

Cool, good info, thanks all. That's good to know about the Shimano V's. So I'm looking at QBP and I can get the Paul Motolites for a little more than the Ultimates. Any advantage of one over the other?

get the trp's. they're cheaper than the paul's & i like them better.

I had problems with the TRP's. I use neo retro front, touring canti rear.

i have avid shorty 6's and i really like them...

When used correctly with short pull levers and V brakes, travel agents have less friction than a cable noodle and work great.

It's virtually impossible to have a longer cable and then wrap it around a pulley and say it has less friction.

It's virtually impossible to have a longer cable and then wrap it around a pulley and say it has less friction.The only friction comes from the axle of the pulley. It's irrelevant how much cable runs around it.

Compare with a noodle, which has a length of cable rubbing against teflon every time you brake. A small amount of grit can gum up the works, until the teflon wears away completely.

I agree with flargle--CR720s are the best option for cross applications (mud clearance) and offer the best cost-to-performance ratio for everyday applications ($20/brake). Lightweight, well-engineered and manufactured, with lots of modulation and power. Also eliminated the carbon fork/squeal problem I had with Avid Shortys--although they've revamped their design this year, so I have no idea what the new ones are like.

Combined with the pinch-bolt straddle, I don't find them terribly hard to set up, either. Tektro has some cheap/poopy products, but they really hit it spot-on with this one.

I would be afraid to take my cross bike off road with the risk of breaking a DA brifter if I went down. They cost a stupid amount of money ($500+) I'll stick to Tiagra brifters and a 9 speed drivetrain.

I would be afraid to take my cross bike off road with the risk of breaking a DA brifter if I went down. They cost a stupid amount of money ($500+) I'll stick to Tiagra brifters and a 9 speed drivetrain.


They're already banged up from this crash :roflmao2:

They seem to be pretty resilient.

http://www.paulcomp.com/neoretro.jpg

Mmmmm....Paul brakes.....

I'm going to be honest, I think those look terrible.

There's no accounting for taste.

If its a race bike, swapping wheels without having to undo the straddle cable is a consideration if you don't have a spare bike and a mechanic. Some brakes have more travel then others and don't allow you to pull a 34 straight out. I think the last thing you want to do is go into a corner hot out of the pit and learn that you forgot do put the straddle cable back because you were in a hurry.

it took me along time to figure out how to set up the TRPs but i really like them. cantis work better with sti, i see no reason to use travel agents w/ v brakes, shimano or or the cane creeks cantis are really simple to set up and use...

Tektro CR720 ftw

+amillion. they stop like the dickens and don't squeal like everything else at at that price. And they look great.

Has anyone tried these before?

http://www.canecreek.com/direct-curve-5-brakes.html

http://www.canecreek.com/images/stories/products/brakes/direct-curv5.png

Another vote for the Tektro CR720. Put a set of Kool Stop dual compound pad inserts in them to get even better performance. The CR720 is easy to set up, too.

I'm sorry to hear about the Cannondale. Congratulations on the Tricross though. You might wind up getting your dream bike out that mishap. Quite honestly, Shimano makes the really nice BR550 cantilevers that don't need that ugly Travel Agent to function. Cantilevers work great when set up properly. Good luck.

+1

I have the BR-R550 with my DA equiped Cross bike.

Well adjusted they brake very well. Have plenty of adjust positions for toe-tip and mechanical advantage. And they look good with the group.

Has anyone tried these before?
http://www.canecreek.com/direct-curve-5-brakes.htmlI've read good things about these brakes. But a major selling point is not having to use a noodle, so using a travel agent would be even kludgier. If you weren't running STI, you could use Tektro long-pull road levers (also rebadged by Cane Creek as "Drop V").

Ok so I got the Tektro CR720's installed and they don't stop well at all. I mounted the cable carrier high like I've seen it on other cross bikes and I toed in the pads a bit and it did help a little bit, but I would say that I have less than half the stopping power of my Dura Ace calipers. On a steep downhill on the dirt I'm pulling the lever REALLY hard to get them to get close to locking up.

If I try to go down a long descent I don't think my hand's will be able to keep pulling as hard as I need to to get it to stay slow enough.

On one technical part where I needed the braking power, it just wasn't there and I almost crashed.

Any other ideas? I'm going to switch out the pads for some Koolstops next, but I doubt that's going to make them strong enough.

Everyone says these brakes work good, but I'm not getting those results.

Ok so I got the Tektro CR720's installed and they don't stop well at all. I mounted the cable carrier high like I've seen it on other cross bikes and I toed in the pads a bit and it did help a little bit, but I would say that I have less than half the stopping power of my Dura Ace calipers. On a steep downhill on the dirt I'm pulling the lever REALLY hard to get them to get close to locking up.

If I try to go down a long descent I don't think my hand's will be able to keep pulling as hard as I need to to get it to stay slow enough.

On one technical part where I needed the braking power, it just wasn't there and I almost crashed.

Any other ideas? I'm going to switch out the pads for some Koolstops next, but I doubt that's going to make them strong enough.

Everyone says these brakes work good, but I'm not getting those results.


It's really easy to set up cantilever brakes poorly, it's hard to get them just right. Read the page on mechanical advantage once more, and adjust the brakes again. You'll know when your have it right, because there is a decent chance you'll go over you handlebars from the unexpected power of the braking.