New Upgrade(s)
 

I'm looking to upgrade my brakes and/or brake pads. Today a car cut me off pretty nasty... I guess she didn't time it right... My stock tecktro didn't do a great job at stopping. My tires were skidding all over the place and I almost fell. I ended up stopping before the car but it was a CLOSE ONE!! Anyways any suggestions on a new brakes? I'm thinking of a 105 brake set...

Also, since I'm in the upgrading mood... What else should I upgrade on my bike? See pictures below from today's ride. Let me know how can I make her sexier ;)...?

http://s30.postimg.org/44epmcrg1/photo_21.jpg

http://s28.postimg.org/46v22j46l/photo_1_5.jpg

http://s28.postimg.org/6cpcx17n1/photo_2_3.jpg

http://s11.postimg.org/h7i0i54ub/WP_20140622_005.jpg

Your tires were skidding? Are you looking for less powerful brakes?

Well it took a while for my bike to stop and as I was coming to a stop my bike was skidding to the right.

If your tires were skidding, I'm not sure better brakes are the issue. After all, if you're skidding, the brakes have locked up the tires.

Try better gripping tires.

hmmm... could be the tires. Maybe they lost their grip... I've put 300'ish miles on them and the previous owner said he put around 200 miles.

I don't know if that's a sign of bad brakes. If you think it is then run a scotch brite pad or light sand paper on your brake pads and rims to get the glaze off. Tektro calipers are actually pretty good.

That suggests you were over-using the rear brake (skidding ), and under-using the front brake (took a while).

Hopefully you can expect more than 500 miles out of tires! I mean, I commute ~20-30 miles a day. Having to get a set of (decent)tires every month would negate the savings of cycling...

Wouldn't slamming on the front brakes lift my rear tire and potentially cause me to flip?

I've never tried slamming it on, but applying it aggressively will give you the most stopping power.

Yes. The trick is shifting your weight rearward off the saddle, and maximum braking before loosing the back wheel. Braking is a skill worth practicing.