Dean7

I have been biking 100% of the time for a few months and have noticed that my braking power seems to really vary from day to day (and I'm not talking like one day it's rainy and one day it's not and braking power changes... I mean from one dry day to another dry day). My old brakes started crapping out on me so I replaced them with some Shimano Tiagra brakes that work better but not amazingly well. So, I was wondering:

1. Do cables matter? My cables are new-ish but cheap. If I bought some expensive cables would that help at all or does it not matter?

2. I'm using the stock pads on my brakes (which guys who sold them to me said were good). Should I try some different pads? If so, what?

3. The angle of my brake levers isn't set up to give me the most leverage when my hands are in their usual position (I usually ride with them on the things where the brake levers attach... not sure what that's called). Also, they were originally for single-pull brakes and from what I understand dual-pull MIGHT be slightly different in terms of what brake lever requirements are. Is that a factor?

4. From what I've read Tiagra brakes seem to be fine. Is that the case?

Thanks in advance. I think I'm going to call Shimano on Monday and see what they have to say in terms of how to get more braking power.

FBinNY 

Probably the single biggest factors in maximizing braking power are the shoes and rims.

First, clean the braking surfaces of the rims with alcohol, turpentine, or mineral spirits to be sure there's no oily film reducing friction. That won't cost much, so you might consider buying quality shoes like KoolStop, or Jagwire, being sure to mount them so they strike the rim squarely or with very slight toe-in. (no more than 1/32"). Excess toe in reduces effective brake travel, and makes the brakes feel spongy.

As to leverage. Most well matched levers and brakes will yield about 1/4" (1/8" per side) of shoe travel within the working range of the lever. If your brakes have more working travel, it's coming at the expense of leverage, something you'll especially need if you tend to ride and apply the brakes form the tops of the hoods (tha part whose name you don't know).

Changing the levers should be your last option if still unhappy with brake performance, because it's the most expensive.

davidad

According to "Bicycle Science" the shimano DA pads are the best. Clean rims will help as will sanding the brake pads.

cnnrmccloskey

koolstop salmon colored pads give great performance and come highly recommended by most every mechanic I've talked to

Jeff Wills

+1. Salmon pads smoke!

Off- topic: Dean, if you're riding "100% of the time", how do you ride when you're asleep?

DX-MAN

The right cables will make a difference, too.

I ride a MTB, and putting XTR cables on my bike improved my braking exponentially, it seemed! I'm not a Shimano fan, but XTR brake cables will stay on any bike I build//ride for as long as I can get them.

Look at Dura-Ace cables....

Dean7

Ahhh. Thanks for the info. I have tried cleaning my rims up a bit but it didn't seem to help a WHOLE lot. I have some kool stop pads I can put on (I asked guys at shop if they were better than stock Shimano pads and they said stock Shimano pads were better). I'll try that next in conjunction with cleaning the heck out of my stopping surface.

The bit about leverage totally makes sense. I'll try checking to see if I have about 1/8" per side of shoe travel. Thanks.

Dean7

You mean you haven't figured it out yet? If you don't know it's one of those things I can't tell you. Sorry.

OK... I have read/heard some very conflicting things about this. I basically don't care about spending some $ where it counts so I am thinking I'll just try some dura-ace cables.

strop

I'd second the recommendation on the DA pads. I'm running DA R55C3 pads on Ultegra 6600 calipers and the braking is phenomenal. They take a bit to wear in but once they're there I can lock up the wheels at will any time I want. I'm using the cables that came with the Ultegra-SL levers and I think they're the same as the DA cables. A good machined surface on the rim can make a difference too but not as much. Overall the biggest improvement I saw was going from single pivot to double, second biggest was the DA pads.

Drakonchik

Yokozuna also make salmon pads that I can vouch for having ridden their V-brake salmon ones all around town yesterday. About as good as Kool-Stop salmon based on an un-scientific seat-of-the-pants analysis.

mikeybikes

YRMV.

I have taken to using extremely cheap cables and housing. I really just don't notice a difference in shifting between low-end generic cables and housings to high-end stuff like Dura-Ace or XTR.

dperreno

It's not so much the cables as the housing...

Kimmo

Any old stainless cables should do the job fine.

Only really crappy cables are going to affect braking. Spend the money on your rear gear cable.

bikinfool

Just the cables did that? What cables were you using before that? Now if you'd change to a good housing, you'd probably just freaking blow your mind. (try the compressionless kevlar reinforced housing like Jagwire ripcord, better than Shimano stuff).

Kimmo

What makes the most difference as far as the cables are concerned is ensuring the housing is cut to the right length.

I've always had flawless performance from the cheapest stainless cables I could get, at least as far as braking goes... but then that's on the road, and seldom in the rain.

Dean7

Well, I tried koolstop salmon pads and they seem to be working better than stock shimano pads (and I noticed shimano pads had already picked up chunks of metal after riding for only 2 weeks on them). I think I'm going to investigate better cable housing as well and see where that gets me. Thanks.

Quick note: I didn't know until recently that koolstop was local (I live in Portland). Sweet.