I'm looking at one of these sets of Tektro brakes:
https://www.tektro.com/02products/08r750.php

The aluminum ones are cheaper than the CF brakes, and are also lighter. Does the CF offer any advantage other than Bling factor? Is there anything to justify spending more money on the CF Brakes?

no, but I like silver pieces better.

Hmmm....I've never considered Tektro brakes to be an upgrade.

As for your specific question I would guess that the CF ones are really AL ones with a CF wrap.

THanks guys, that actually makes sense that it is just CF Wrapped.

Neither have I, I always thought they were a sort of on par with Nashbar brand, but if they are really lighter than Dura-ace, I can't really argue with the benefit.
(as long as they are laterally stiff yet vertically compliant.)

When your stopping time is doubled because of your ****ty brakes, you'll be able to argue with the "benefit."

Brake pads and setup are 95%+ of the equation.

It's like the BD argument- if it's not Shimano or Campy, it's probably crap. Actual performance is negligible.

The Tektros even come with Kool Stop pads. Just get the aluminum ones, set them up properly, and enjoy.

I had aluminum Tektro brakes on my single-speed. They are light, but they are extremely flexy. You had to put in a LOT of force at the lever to get a decent stop. I like my brakes to have some bite -- and these didn't. They were like anti-lock brakes for a bicycle. Panic stops were very long.

I never crashed because of my Tektros, but I came close to hitting a deer and a turkey that I would have easily missed with other brakes. They made me yearn for a set of Shimanos. My next single-speed will have something other than what I had before.

I think it is a roit to read people bash Tektro and then say how much better Shimano is. WAKE UP. Tektro makes the brakes for Shimano. And for those that don't the CF brakes in question are the same that Cannondale specs on the SystemSIX....having ridden that bike I can tell you those brakes work just as well as DA or Record.

The lower end Tektros do suffer from crappy pads...but the fix is put in KoolStops...which they do for you in the upper level parts.

My family has two bikes with them and another with Record skeleton, next to which the Tektro brakes seem just fine. One of the bikes is my wife's 87 Bianchi that I retrofitted / upgraded because the Modolos on it were soooo awful.

I have tektro on my fixed and I'd say they are probably comparable to Tiagra quality. Better than Sora, but noticeably worse than 105.

BTW, they are much, much, much better than Nashbar house brand brakes.

The dual pivot designs work as well as DA, with the right pads.
Tektro makes Shimano's brakes, BTW.

Got a couple of sets of Tektro RX20G for $15/pair when Nashbar was clearancing them out. They look practically identical to the previous generation Shimano Ultegra 6500 brakesets I have, but the RX20G have orbital adjustment, while the 6500 Ultegra do not.

I put one set on my backup bike. They felt stiff enough allright, but stopping distance was rather disappointing. I happen to have a set of KoolStop pads so I swapped them in, which made a significant improvement. I was a bit perturbed that the Koolstops cost as much as the brakeset. But then again, good brakes for $30 ain't too shabby.

I bought the Tektros that come for $38 with levers from a certain company....and they are fantastic. They could easily throw you over the handlebars or lock up the rear wheel and the action of them is very nice and smooth. I don't understand how anyone is saying they aren't good quality. I will admit that the finish polish is not as high a luster as some I've seen but that is their only fault. I bought the Shimano 105's from Nashbar as well and comparing them Side by side I greatly prefer the quality of the Tektros and will be using them instead. The 105's had the nicer cartridge pads but the hardware on the caliper itself it piss poor. Who puts a phillips screw on a brake? You can't adjust the centering screw at all. One attempt at turning it with the proper sized screwdriver left it hopelessly stripped. It will be in the position it is forever. In addition, I tried to disassemble the caliper and the way they used the setscrew on the main bolt (the one that bolts to the bike) will damage the caliper if you attempt to take it apart because the metal of the main bolt is soft and the threads are flattened by the setscrew. If you have to take them apart use a vice! Anyway in short, TEKTRO is good stuff, shimano has awful hardware. Apologies for the long post.

nothing wrong with Tektro brakes.

Tektro + koolstop = good