aarider

Hi

I have a 2008 Specialized Allez Sport in its standard setup, which includes Tiagra brakes (and Tiagra brake levers). Among other things, I use it to ride to work and in the city, and I am not happy with the performance of its brakes. I just can't stop quickly enough, and had a couple of close calls with cars or pedestrians. So I want to improve the brakes on my bike.

I do not want to replace the brakes or the levers; that's too much work and too expensive. I'll replace the brake pads though if that helps.

I searched around on the internet, and I found that all the higher end shimano brakes (105, ultegra and dura ace) consist of a metal shoe with a brake pad inside. The Tiagra brake pads are just one piece and have no exposed metal (maybe there's some metal reinforcement inside, who knows).

The higher end pads all look the same to me, and I think that I read that they are interchangeable. They are longer than the Tiagra pads. Further, there seem to be many aftermarket which some consider better (kool stop, swissstop etc).

So I have a few questions:

- Are the 105, ultegra and dura ace brake shoes really compatible?
- Will they fit on a tiagra brake?
- Will I get better stopping performance than with the Tiagra pads?
- Are aftermarket (i.e. non-shimano) brake pads better? Which ones?

I'd be really grateful if someone could answer these (or some of these) questions.

Thanks a lot!
-aarider

HillRider

You can upgrade your Tiagra brakes with a set of Shimano pad holders and replacable pads from any of the higher level Shimano groups. Better yet, get Kool Stop "Dura" road holder with salmon pads. Here is one source:

https://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cg...item_id=KS-RHD

Fred Smedley

Good link, will those pads you linked to also work on 7402 single pivot DA?

aarider

Thank you very much!

I ordered two pairs of the Swissstop FullFlash Pro GHP2 brake shoes / pads: https://www.swissstop.ch/Road.aspx

I'll update this thread when I get them.

HillRider

They should. I've replaced earlier Shimano brake shoes with this style pad holders and replaceable pads and they work fine so I expect they will work as a replacement for any Shimano brake shoe type.

DieselDan

Good brake pads can help braking on poor quality calipers. I have cheap calipers on my SS but good quality pads really helped stopping distance.

iam7head

surprising i am getting better brake powering(butt dyno) from the cheap clarks pad than my shimano and koolstop pads.

zacster

Also consider new cables/housing. Sometimes this makes as much difference as the pads. Check for kinks or tight bends in what you already have too.

aarider

I got the Swissstop FullFlash Pro GHP2 brake shoes and pads (https://www.swissstop.ch/Road.aspx), and mounted them on the bike. Mounting them is a breeze, and they look much nicer in reality than on pictures. I feared they'd be as bright green as what you see on photos, but in reality they are hardly distinguishable from black pads. As far as mounting and looks are concerned, I am completely happy.

Sadly I have only ridden the bike once or twice since then (damn rain), and I cannot yet give any verdict. i did some brake tests immediately before and after changing the pads though, and the brakes are clearly more powerful than with the original Tiagra pads. The brake feel a bit softer (I have the impression that the new pads are a bit softer than the old ones), but easy to modulate and they don't stick or feel mushy.

The rims are not completely flat any more after a few thousand km (the brake pads have left their marks), and the old pads had adapted to that, while the new pads are obviously still flat. I thus expect some improvement once they have adapted. I'll have to do some more km and a good descent before I can say whether it was really worth it, though.

These pads are supposed to be good in wet conditions as well, but it'll take some "luck" before I can judge that, because I usually take my mountain bike when I expect rain.