Is it worth upgrading Tektro brakes to used Ultegra?
#1
Full Member
Thread Starter
Is it worth upgrading Tektro brakes to used Ultegra?
I have a chance to buy a set of used Ultegra brakes to upgrade my "like new" Tektro on the 2010 Specialized Allez Elite.
Question: Is it worth the upgrade? Will I see/feel any difference in stopping power?
Question: Is it worth the upgrade? Will I see/feel any difference in stopping power?
#2
I eat carbide.
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Elgin, IL
Posts: 21,626
Bikes: Lots. Van Dessel and Squid Dealer
Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1324 Post(s)
Liked 1,304 Times
in
559 Posts
There isn't too aweful much of a difference. It has been well established that you can usually get tektros working well by swapping the pad compound to something like Kool Stop salmons.
__________________
PSIMET Wheels, PSIMET Racing, PSIMET Neutral Race Support, and 11 Jackson Coffee
Podcast - YouTube Channel
Video about PSIMET Wheels
Podcast - YouTube Channel
Video about PSIMET Wheels
#3
SpeedFreak
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: The OC
Posts: 652
Bikes: Motobecane Le Champ Ti
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Hell Yeah!
I’ve ridden my friend’s Litespeed with Ultegra 6600 brakes and compared to my Tektro R350, the Ultegra’s are much, much better.
More power, less effort at the brake lever.
More brake feel.
Those two alone make it worthwhile.
Even the 5700 105 is better than the 6600 Ultegra. Having the adjustable brake pad toe in/out in the 5700 105 is a plus in tuning your brakes. Not sure if the Ultegras have that.
Finally, the investment is minimal for a used Ultegra. Performance has the 5700 105 brakes at $50 each. Worth it for something that important.
I’ve ridden my friend’s Litespeed with Ultegra 6600 brakes and compared to my Tektro R350, the Ultegra’s are much, much better.
More power, less effort at the brake lever.
More brake feel.
Those two alone make it worthwhile.
Even the 5700 105 is better than the 6600 Ultegra. Having the adjustable brake pad toe in/out in the 5700 105 is a plus in tuning your brakes. Not sure if the Ultegras have that.
Finally, the investment is minimal for a used Ultegra. Performance has the 5700 105 brakes at $50 each. Worth it for something that important.
#4
well hello there
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Point Loma, CA
Posts: 15,430
Bikes: Bill Holland (Road-Ti), Fuji Roubaix Pro (back-up), Bike Friday (folder), Co-Motion (tandem) & Trek 750 (hybrid)
Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 503 Post(s)
Liked 334 Times
in
206 Posts
I have dura ace brakes, ultegra brakes, 105 brakes, avid brakes and tektro brakes with the cool stop pads. The tektros are clearly the worst.
__________________
.
.
Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.
.
.
Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.
#5
Full Member
Thread Starter
Got it! But is it ok to buy used calipers? I mean used Ultegras?
#6
Laying down the V
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Milwaukee
Posts: 86
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
My bike orginally came with tektros with the solid rubber block pads. I looked into the cost of buying 4 metal pad holders and 4 koolstop or swissstop pads and the total cost was about the same as buying a new set of sram rival brakes which already come with swissstop pads-so in my case it made more sense to just buy the rival brakes. Plus my new rival calipers are a lot lighter and look a lot better than the tektros.
The ultegra's are likely similar to the rival-they should already have nice pads and be much lighter than the tektros.
#7
I eat carbide.
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Elgin, IL
Posts: 21,626
Bikes: Lots. Van Dessel and Squid Dealer
Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1324 Post(s)
Liked 1,304 Times
in
559 Posts
The only problem with this is that many tektro brakes come with pads that are a whole complete rubber block with no metal holder and the kool stop or other high end pads require a metal pad holder.
My bike orginally came with tektros with the solid rubber block pads. I looked into the cost of buying 4 metal pad holders and 4 koolstop or swissstop pads and the total cost was about the same as buying a new set of sram rival brakes which already come with swissstop pads-so in my case it made more sense to just buy the rival brakes. Plus my new rival calipers are a lot lighter and look a lot better than the tektros.
The ultegra's are likely similar to the rival-they should already have nice pads and be much lighter than the tektros.
My bike orginally came with tektros with the solid rubber block pads. I looked into the cost of buying 4 metal pad holders and 4 koolstop or swissstop pads and the total cost was about the same as buying a new set of sram rival brakes which already come with swissstop pads-so in my case it made more sense to just buy the rival brakes. Plus my new rival calipers are a lot lighter and look a lot better than the tektros.
The ultegra's are likely similar to the rival-they should already have nice pads and be much lighter than the tektros.
The question wasn't "are Ultegra caliper 'better' than tektros" it was " Is it worth the upgrade?" Considering you can get a set of Kool Stops for <$10 and you can move those to the Ultegras if you do decide to "upgrade" then I'd stick with the Tektros. Why would I know? because I have both done it and "upgraded both. The tektros i got about 6 years ago have been relegated to the TT bike. Work fine for what I need. DA 7800 clampers is the shiz. Buying Ultegra as an upgrade to Tektro is a tiny step upgrade at best.
__________________
PSIMET Wheels, PSIMET Racing, PSIMET Neutral Race Support, and 11 Jackson Coffee
Podcast - YouTube Channel
Video about PSIMET Wheels
Podcast - YouTube Channel
Video about PSIMET Wheels
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: WA state
Posts: 4,823
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 13 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 7 Times
in
6 Posts
Where are these $10 kool stop pads???? Look up the price of dura type pads. It makes more sense just to buy better calipers than to buy kool stop pads.
For instance I paid the same amount for campagnolo veloce dual pivot calipers (with new pads) as kool stops would have cost for the mediocre single pivot brakes my bianchi used to have.
For instance I paid the same amount for campagnolo veloce dual pivot calipers (with new pads) as kool stops would have cost for the mediocre single pivot brakes my bianchi used to have.
#9
Laying down the V
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Milwaukee
Posts: 86
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
The model of tektros spec'd on most rigs over the last 10 years or so as replacements for OEM Shimano calipers use replaceable pad holders. You must have a strange model or very old one.
The question wasn't "are Ultegra caliper 'better' than tektros" it was " Is it worth the upgrade?" Considering you can get a set of Kool Stops for <$10 and you can move those to the Ultegras if you do decide to "upgrade" then I'd stick with the Tektros. Why would I know? because I have both done it and "upgraded both. The tektros i got about 6 years ago have been relegated to the TT bike. Work fine for what I need. DA 7800 clampers is the shiz. Buying Ultegra as an upgrade to Tektro is a tiny step upgrade at best.
The question wasn't "are Ultegra caliper 'better' than tektros" it was " Is it worth the upgrade?" Considering you can get a set of Kool Stops for <$10 and you can move those to the Ultegras if you do decide to "upgrade" then I'd stick with the Tektros. Why would I know? because I have both done it and "upgraded both. The tektros i got about 6 years ago have been relegated to the TT bike. Work fine for what I need. DA 7800 clampers is the shiz. Buying Ultegra as an upgrade to Tektro is a tiny step upgrade at best.
If the tektro's already have the replaceable pad holders then I agree its probably not worth getting the ultegra calipers-just replace the pads on the tektros.
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 3,653
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Where are these $10 kool stop pads???? Look up the price of dura type pads. It makes more sense just to buy better calipers than to buy kool stop pads.
For instance I paid the same amount for campagnolo veloce dual pivot calipers (with new pads) as kool stops would have cost for the mediocre single pivot brakes my bianchi used to have.
For instance I paid the same amount for campagnolo veloce dual pivot calipers (with new pads) as kool stops would have cost for the mediocre single pivot brakes my bianchi used to have.
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 94
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I recently upgraded my old tektros to 5700 105's to match my levers and it made a big difference in brake lever feel. Whether or not I stop faster I don't know but I feel more confident when I squeeze the brake lever as I did when using the tektro's. Just my opinion as I'm no expert. I also got mine from performance when they had the 20% off coupone a few weeks back.
#12
I eat carbide.
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Elgin, IL
Posts: 21,626
Bikes: Lots. Van Dessel and Squid Dealer
Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1324 Post(s)
Liked 1,304 Times
in
559 Posts
Where are these $10 kool stop pads???? Look up the price of dura type pads. It makes more sense just to buy better calipers than to buy kool stop pads.
For instance I paid the same amount for campagnolo veloce dual pivot calipers (with new pads) as kool stops would have cost for the mediocre single pivot brakes my bianchi used to have.
For instance I paid the same amount for campagnolo veloce dual pivot calipers (with new pads) as kool stops would have cost for the mediocre single pivot brakes my bianchi used to have.
__________________
PSIMET Wheels, PSIMET Racing, PSIMET Neutral Race Support, and 11 Jackson Coffee
Podcast - YouTube Channel
Video about PSIMET Wheels
Podcast - YouTube Channel
Video about PSIMET Wheels
#13
Senior Member
#14
Senior Member
Where are these $10 kool stop pads???? Look up the price of dura type pads. It makes more sense just to buy better calipers than to buy kool stop pads.
For instance I paid the same amount for campagnolo veloce dual pivot calipers (with new pads) as kool stops would have cost for the mediocre single pivot brakes my bianchi used to have.
For instance I paid the same amount for campagnolo veloce dual pivot calipers (with new pads) as kool stops would have cost for the mediocre single pivot brakes my bianchi used to have.
#15
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Central PA
Posts: 629
Bikes: Cannondale Six5, Specialized Stumpjumper FSR & old Hard Rock
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
I don't know. I've got Tektros on my Six & it doesn't take much to lock the wheels / panic stop.
#16
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
Switched to Kool Stops on my Tektro calipers after I found pieces of rim material embedded in the pads. Helped a lot.
Put 105 calipers on my next bike, this time with 7800 levers instead of 5600's. Also put in Kool Stops. Didn't notice any difference from before (but still good, though).
Would Ultegra or DA have been even better? Meh. The two big improvements over the stock Tektro pads were 1) KSs didn't get spongy and noisy after a couple hard 30-0 stops, and 2) KSs didn't eat the rims. Neither of those two things have anything to do with new calipers, no matter what kind I'd get.
The next step up, IMO, is different brake levers, not calipers -- and I think that the higher pivot location on both Sram's and Campy's levers gives better leverage than Shimano's (although I haven't ridden either the new series or Di2 yet).
Put 105 calipers on my next bike, this time with 7800 levers instead of 5600's. Also put in Kool Stops. Didn't notice any difference from before (but still good, though).
Would Ultegra or DA have been even better? Meh. The two big improvements over the stock Tektro pads were 1) KSs didn't get spongy and noisy after a couple hard 30-0 stops, and 2) KSs didn't eat the rims. Neither of those two things have anything to do with new calipers, no matter what kind I'd get.
The next step up, IMO, is different brake levers, not calipers -- and I think that the higher pivot location on both Sram's and Campy's levers gives better leverage than Shimano's (although I haven't ridden either the new series or Di2 yet).