Originally Posted by
roadandmountain
The reviews I've read for the tektro's suggest that their performance is subpar, probably with less stopping power than higher quality rim brakes. In other words, they're about as mediocre as a lower quality rim brake, and far heavier.
My experience with Tektro Novela mechanical disc brakes coincides with the nature of the reviews you’ve mentioned
.
The Tektro Novela’s tiny disc pads (precisely the diameter of a US nickel) proved virtually useless on descent speeds of 40+ MPH via my 35 pound Trek 29er hardtail
. They’d initially slow me to the low 20 MPH range, at which point major brake fade occurred and greater applied brake lever force failed to produce any discernible increase in braking performance
. Twice this led to evasive maneuvers in order to avoid collisions with stopped traffic
. It was the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] close call that caused me to upgrade to Shimano hydraulic disc brakes (M445’s) which are leagues above the lame Tektro’s
.
Since I only weighed 180 pounds and often carry a large backpack loaded with 20 to 25 pounds of provisions depending upon the distance of my ride, it only amounts to a max of 240 pounds that had to be slowed to a stop on a 6° descent (10
.51% grade)
. That shouldn’t be too much to ask of disc brakes, but it was per the inferior Tektro Novela’s
.