operator

lol!

Soloist Assassin

If you are gonna upgrade. Might as well get these. They are gonna be the only real gain:

https://www.ax-lightness.de/xist4c/we...DB36F0E76AFCF3

thedips

ill actually have to disagree with you..... i had ultegra 6500s.. and i dont know if i just had a bad set or worn out set but i hated that mushy feeling i had with them.... switched to stock CERVELO X TEKTRO brakes they were the 570 series.. not only was it lighter by like 50 grams but with the koolstop dual compound brakeshoes they stop amaaaazinnngggg.. i wish i tried the brakepads on the 6500s to see if it would have made a difference, but im happpy with my cervelo brakes and the pads

nathanb74

The dips,

For your Tektro brakes did you buy Koolstop Shimano pads??? I've got Tektro RX40's and looking to upgrade the pads also and just want to confirm before buying.

cuda2k

Yes. KoolStop Shimano pads slip right into Tektro (Summit, CaneCreek, etc) holders. Did it this weekend myself.

To the OP: If you're running Centuar on the levers and derailleurs, get yourself a set of the 07 (or 08 if they're out now) Centaur brakes. You'll love them. I do!

nowheels

My vote is for the Ultegra's.................... I went back to them after toying around with FSA, and Tektro brakes this past year. The Ultegras stay............but I owuld not have heart burn with 105's either.

paul_858

thanks for the feedback but I let my less logical part of me buy a set of 07 ZeroG Ti brakes at a bike swap meet for a really smoking deal.

nathanb74

Thanks cuda2k. have just ordered a set Koolstops.

Mhendricks

Totally agree with you on this one. Personally I use Kool Stop Salmon on mine.

dekindy

I replaced my Ultegra pads with Kool Stop black and now do not have the shuddering/pulsating at light and moderate braking that I used to have.

aloysius

"during a single stop of several seconds, the stock Shimano pads start losing their stopping power while starting to make scraping sounds"

Tiny pieces of aluminum often scrape off of the rim during braking and get stuck in your pads. If you remove your pads you might find them covered with a silvery sheen, or maybe streaked with silver and dotted with little silver pebbles. You can pick the larger pieces out with a razor's tip and sand the rest off (the little square of sandpaper in your patch kit will do.) You might find that this improves your braking and eliminates some of that scraping and grinding. Oh, and you'll want to clean off your rim's braking surface, too.

Regardless of whether you want to trouble with all this or simply replace the pads now, you'd do well to follow the advice of most of the posts on this thread and make you next set of pads Kool-Stop Salmons; they're noticeably better than any other pad I've tried.

ad6mj

I didn't have issues with the Tektro brakes with the stock pads on my OCR. When the pads wore out I replaced them with Koolstops and they were better though. Other than shaving a few grams of weight, and increased bling factor, I don't see how Ultegra calipers would do a better job of stopping the bike.

BarracksSi

I haven't found a local shop that stocks Kool Stop pads, so I'll have to get them online. Should I use the all-salmon pads (which is all that Harris Cyclery seems to sell) even if I don't ride in the rain? Is the dual black-salmon compound really the "best of both worlds"? And, do I just order for compatibility with Shimano road brakes to fit my 105's (still wanted to ask, since they always say Ultegra/Dura Ace)?

pedex

the softer pads get "glazed" from the heat and pressure and pick up little bits of rim as they wear, this makes them less effective

BarracksSi

I finally pulled the wheel and took a good look at the front pads. Sure enough, there was a piece of aluminum that I had to dig out with a knife.

Man, these pads suck... lol

gcthree

As for the theory of 90% pads and 10% brakes, I beg to differ after fitting a set of Cane Creek's single pivot lightweight calipers. I nearly killed myself plowing through an intersection at the bottom of a hill when every last bit of force that could be applied to the brake levers and I still didn't stop.

The amazing folks at Cane Creek replaced them with set of dual pivot calipers at no additional cost, and they are just brilliant. Great company and terrific customer service.

operator

And you reused the same pads on your new dual pivots? K thx.

aloysius

I only use all-salmon pads and find that they stop very well, rain or shine. I personally haven't observed any this "glazing" that some have described, nor have I noticed these pads abrading my rims more than any other pad (I'd always heard that they were [I][I]easier on rims than most). Do to their relative softness, they do wear out kind of fast, but I figure this is a small price to pay. The black-and-salmon pad is probably fine, too. Whatever you use, remember to keep those rims scrupulously clean and sand the pad surface every now and again.

d_larabel

After all this brake talk ive been persuaded to buy some kool stop brake pads. I have never changed brake pads before, and I was wondering if brake pads are universal. I have a specialized Allez(im could not find brake type.), do you think the pads will fit those brakes? Also, with a entry level bike that was relatively cheap, do you think it would be beneficial to upgrade the calipers too?

SDRider

I upgraded a set of Tektro brakes a couple years ago with 9spd Dura-Ace dual pivot brakes and thought it was a worthwhile upgrade. You can find slightly used sets on ebay for cheap. I think I paid about $90 for the set and they stopped a hell of a lot better than the Tektro brakes...although I think pads probably would have improved the differences in stopping power quite a bit. I liked the Dura-Ace brakes though, they were much smaller in size but had noticeably better stopping power.

I wouldn't put Campy brakes on a Shimano bike. Personally, I think the Shimano brakes are better anyway even though I haven't tried the newest Campy brakes.

I have Chorus brakes on both of my bikes (Campy bikes) and they require a bit more effort but after you get used to them they stop just as well IMO.

SDRider

BarracksSi

Taking my own advice for cars, I'd upgrade the pads first before doing anything about the calipers. Calipers don't touch the rims, but the pads do.

Your bike is somewhere at specialized.com, I'll bet; each model's components is listed on their Technical Specifications tab. Looking over the models myself, it's hard to tell what they exactly are, but odds are that Shimano-compatible cartridges would fit; most other sites I'm finding via Google mention Tiagra and Sora for the brakes. Do you see your brakes at Shimano's site?
https://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cycl...=1194662486537

Even if you've got Tiagra or Sora, I'd try brake shoes intended for 105 and higher; it looks like Shimano cut costs on the Tiagra/Sora brake shoes. You could always ask a shop to help, too.

michaelmc

I replaced the stock pads on my Fuji's Tektros with Kool Stops. Good enough for $20. The Sheldon 90/10 thing is accurate. Even if it's not good enough for you, it's better to spend $20 to find that out than to spend $100 and see no difference in performance.