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Upgrading brakes?

Old 02-22-11, 09:07 PM
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Upgrading brakes?

I tour on a Cannondale Sport/Road bike. I credit card tour so i don't carry all that much and the bike suits me very nicely.

What I realized in my last tour of Italy, Switzerland and Austria is that I am really hard on brakes on some of those steep descents.

The bike has typical road bike brakes and STI levers. What are some of my options for upgrading my brakes but not paying an arm and a leg?
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Old 02-22-11, 09:33 PM
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Well, if you haven't already:

i. clean your rims with soapy water -use a bit of elbow grease and rinse off.
ii. clean your pads likewise....
iii. consider new cables if you suspect you might need them.
iv. make sure your brakes are well adjusted and close enough to the rim -it means you need good true rims.... And make sure your cable runs are good.
v. if your brakes have flex, consider upgrading to a good quality brakeset (e.g. Shimano 105/Ultegras are usually pretty sturdy)
vi. if you ever decide to give up on STIs, and if feel you still have good hand strength, consider changing brake levers to just a little more cable pull (that's a tough one; hardly any levers provide cable pull info. There are differences though -I found Shimano STIs to have the least cable pull).

and the number one for me:

vii. consider changing the brake pads to KoolStop Salmons.

There you go, total cost: a bit of time and about $15-$20!
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Old 02-22-11, 10:52 PM
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I like to use the red compound Scotchbrite to clean the rim. Wipe clean with alcohol. Replace the pads with Kool Stop red/salmon from JensenUSA ($5/pair). Check the brake cable for excessive friction. Replace and lube cable/housing as needed. True the wheels. Dual-pivot brakes work best if the rims have less than +/-0.02" of axial run-out. Confirm that the brakes are securely bolted to the frame and that the brake arms are not lose or sticking. Set the pads so that they are no more than 0.03" away from the rim.

There's not that much difference in performance between the cheap and expensive dual-pivot brakes if you follow the recommendations above.
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Old 02-23-11, 07:40 PM
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Thanks I was thinking of something that would give me more stopping power (like larger pads) but maybe clean rims and the salmon pads would do the trick? And a bit of maintenance...
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Old 02-23-11, 08:40 PM
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Stopping power is more a function of tire contact area for a given surface type and bike geometry (center of gravity location) because most rim brakes can lock up a wheel and once that happens there is no additional benefit from the brakes. Most of the braking is done by the front wheel so you can help by "tucking in" when applying the brakes and by using the widest tires that will work with your setup.
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