Originally Posted by Henry III

I'm close to finishing my frame and don't like cantilevers and honestly installing them for the first time without any type of jig seems like a nightmare. So to keep with my standard road frame idea but just more tire clearance since I'll be 32mm Panaracer Gravel Kings. I'm looking at long reach calipers. So far I've found a couple of models...

Velo Orange Grand Cru $$$$
Tektro R539 $$
TRP RG957 $$$$
Shimano R451 $
Shimano R650 $$$
Nashbar Long Reach $

The VO and TRP are out of my sights because of the insane price for a caliper. Though the VO had really good reviews as their quite stiff and look like their cnc'd and look nice.

I like the Tektros since their available in black and R650 since I believe their Ultegra level calipers. The only nit picky thing is that I'm only seeing silver being offered. The bike will have mostly black and gold components as the frame will be mostly white with black seat and head tubes and black and gold artwork. So no silver parts.

Also unsure about brake levers as it's mostly Suntour Superbe Pro components(yes those Pro parts) and I'm not a fan of the Gran Compe levers. Plus if I go with Shimano calipers normally they work better with SLR levers. I'm not much of a Shimano person so I don't venture there too much. I just want black on black. Black levers, black hoods as I'm not sure how gum would look. I do like the ergos of Tektro levers as I've had quite a few sets but they look with bulky and with this bike having standard size tubing they might look out of place.

So suggestions, experience, thoughts...whatever. Help!