Upgrading my brakes.........
 

I bought this '08 Roubaix and love it, it has 105 everything except the brakes. I'd like to upgrade the brakes and was wondering which models of Ultregra or Dura-Ace whould be compatable.
Thanks for helping,
Byron

P.S. Here's the link to my bike...........http://www.specialized.com/zz/en/bc/...9&menuItemId=0

Why upgrade the brakes?

Brakes are over rated. All they do is slow you down.

Dura Ace brakes cost almost twice as much as Ultegra and almost 3 times as much as 105. If the rest of my bike was all 105 I know what I would do.

if it's better stopping power you're after, upgrade the brake pads, and replace the cables. If it's just bling you want, get some Zero Gravities

Dual pivot brakes are good enough , you are bling ing up the finish and adding Ti parts, at the top end.
consider buying new friction material to slide into the brake pad holders , such as Kool Stop offers..

dump the bike and get one made around Disc Brakes, bigger disc the better ,
but then you probably should start wearing a full face-guard helmet

There is no reason to change, other than wow factor. The DA pads can be installed in place of what ever came on the bike and you will have the best you can get without going to discs, if they are a real improvement.

Thanks for the advice, think i'll upgrade my pads first. Then step two would be a set of 105 brakes.
Now which brake pads to go with? I'll rarely be riding in the rain, just water in the road from sprinklers and run-off. Would like something smooth and quiet though.

What kind of brakes are they, if not Shimano? Tektro are the usual OEM brakes used on bikes that don't have Shimano and these are usually pretty good by themselves, but have crappy pads. Replace the pads first. I'd put Kool Stop Salmon pads on. They aren't so expensive as to make you think twice about them. Just make sure they fit, which brings me back to my first question. Usually Shimano compatible fit other types too, but you can't be sure.

As zacster said, I'll also assume the OEM brakes are Tektros and, as he further said, they are decent calipers fitted with poor to mediocre pads.

Cheapest upgrade: Replace the OEM pads with Kool Stop Salmon pads. The Tektros should have Shimano-compatible pad holders so you will need two pair of Kool Stop "Dura- type" pads.

Next cheapest: Replace the brake calipers with either 105 or Ultegras depending on your choice and budget. The Ultegra calipers are slightly lighter and a bit prettier but won't stop you any better and do cost more. Shimano's pads are pretty good but changing them out for Kool Stops is sort of the icing on the cake.

Extravagant upgrade: Go for Dura Ace or even Zero Gravities calipers and blow the budget completely. You will save a bit more weight and greatly increase the bling factor but they won't stop you any better.

Good News! Gearhead Outfitters, our local bike shop had a pair of Dura-Ace 7800 take offs that they made a ONE HECK of a deal on so i took it and am glad i did. Tomorrow morn. we have a ride so i get to test them out!
THANKS Everyone for all the advice.
Byron

I would still put Kool Stop salmon pads on. I switched to get rid of the debris that Shimano pads left on my rims, and got better stopping in the deal!:thumb:

The new Ultegra/Dura-Ace pads are amazing. I would just swap in those.