brake mystery

[Callistus Valerius]

Having been a recipient of a '92 Trek that's been hanging in my
brother-in-laws garage for 11 years, I have a new mystery I can't figure
out. I noticed it takes longer to stop than my other road bikes. It has
shimano 600 brakes. I took the Matrix wheel (they suck!) off the front and
replaced it with one of my other wheels. Don't have an extra rear wheel so
I left that on, thinking most of the stopping power is in the front anyway.
The 600 brake looks identical to 105 brake of 2004. I sanded the pad,
thinking there is problem there, but it didn't change much. Maybe it's the
shoe, but I noticed Excelsports still sells the 600 shoe (gray, plastic), so
can't be problem there. Is it the rubber compound, or is it that brake
doesn't have enough power? Another weird thing about the Matrix wheel, is
it looks like where the brake pad hits the wheel is waxed. So I sanded it,
thinking someone accidentally waxed it. But it still feels the same. I
guess I could change the pads, to see what happens, but I'm still wondering
if those 600 brakes are up today's standards.

In another unrelated question, if anybody knows. For a '92 Trek 2300,
if I was to switch it to a compact crank (haven't ever done that before),
what would be the bb size to use? 68 x ? Would I have to change the
shimano 600 FD also?

 

[Lou Holtman]

"Callistus Valerius" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Having been a recipient of a '92 Trek that's been hanging in my
> brother-in-laws garage for 11 years, I have a new mystery I can't figure
> out. I noticed it takes longer to stop than my other road bikes. It has
> shimano 600 brakes. I took the Matrix wheel (they suck!) off the front
and
> replaced it with one of my other wheels. Don't have an extra rear wheel
so
> I left that on, thinking most of the stopping power is in the front
anyway.
> The 600 brake looks identical to 105 brake of 2004. I sanded the pad,
> thinking there is problem there, but it didn't change much. Maybe it's
the
> shoe, but I noticed Excelsports still sells the 600 shoe (gray, plastic),
so
> can't be problem there. Is it the rubber compound, or is it that brake
> doesn't have enough power? Another weird thing about the Matrix wheel, is
> it looks like where the brake pad hits the wheel is waxed. So I sanded
it,
> thinking someone accidentally waxed it. But it still feels the same. I
> guess I could change the pads, to see what happens, but I'm still
wondering
> if those 600 brakes are up today's standards.
>
> In another unrelated question, if anybody knows. For a '92 Trek 2300,
> if I was to switch it to a compact crank (haven't ever done that before),
> what would be the bb size to use? 68 x ? Would I have to change the
> shimano 600 FD also?
>
>

Single pivot vs. dual pivot?

Lou

 

[David L. Johnson]

Callistus Valerius wrote:

> In another unrelated question, if anybody knows. For a '92 Trek 2300,
> if I was to switch it to a compact crank (haven't ever done that before),
> what would be the bb size to use? 68 x ? Would I have to change the
> shimano 600 FD also?

The bb size doesn't depend upon the frame (except for the 68-part, which
you already know about). It does depend on the crank you use. Often
there is a bit of fungability in the size of the bottom bracket for
special circumstances, but your situation seems pretty normal.

--

David L. Johnson

Arguing with an engineer is like mud wrestling with a pig...
You soon find out the pig likes it!