Road Bike Brake question from newbie



R

rs

Guest
I bought a bike a earlier this year after a 30 year hiatus from riding, the
bike is a Hybrid with V-brakes, which work great. Getting the itch to try a
road bike I found a used but like-new low end road bike, a Giant OCR3. The
brakes are no-name "dual pivot long reach" the same brakes Giant puts on the
OCR2 and OCR1. At first I thought they were Sora brakes, since some of the
drivetrain is, but they are unbranded. They don't work very well, at least
not compared to the V-brakes on the other bike. The rims are very clean and
like new, as are the brake pads, the brakes are properly adjusted, centered
and each pad about 4mm-5mm away from the rims. They just don't stop the bike
well. So the question is two-fold:
1. Will better brakes, like Shimano Ultegra or something like that work
better? or
2. Is this the nature of Road Bike brakes?
3. Will other pads help?

thanks to all
 
Hi, Probably not the answer you are looking for, but I would say "yes"
to all 3 questions. But 4 or 5mm sounds kind of far. Maybe getting them
a bit closer will enable a bit more "grab".

Joseph
 
rs wrote:

> The brakes are no-name "dual pivot long reach"


> They don't work very well


> The rims are very clean and like new, as are the brake pads, the brakes are properly adjusted, centered and each pad about 4mm-5mm away from the rims.


Dual pivot brakes should give plenty of stopping power. Are you
actually having trouble stopping the bike?

If these are no-name brakes, the first thing I would do is swap the
pads for Kool Stop salmons. I prefer the Kool Stop Continental model.

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html#continental

The "4 or 5 mm" gap you mention seems a bit excessive. Are the brake
levers bottoming out on the handlebars? You may need to adjust the
barrel adjuster on the brake cable. Also make sure the quick release
lever is closed.

Art Harris
 
"rs" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I bought a bike a earlier this year after a 30 year hiatus from riding, the
> bike is a Hybrid with V-brakes, which work great. Getting the itch to try
> a
> road bike I found a used but like-new low end road bike, a Giant OCR3.
> The
> brakes are no-name "dual pivot long reach" the same brakes Giant puts on
> the
> OCR2 and OCR1. At first I thought they were Sora brakes, since some of
> the
> drivetrain is, but they are unbranded. They don't work very well, at
> least
> not compared to the V-brakes on the other bike. The rims are very clean
> and
> like new, as are the brake pads, the brakes are properly adjusted,
> centered
> and each pad about 4mm-5mm away from the rims. They just don't stop the
> bike
> well. So the question is two-fold:
> 1. Will better brakes, like Shimano Ultegra or something like that work
> better? or
> 2. Is this the nature of Road Bike brakes?
> 3. Will other pads help?
>
> thanks to all


You may want to replace the cables and housing first, too. A cheap expense
and probably due anyway.

JF

--
http://spaces.msn.com/members/flomblog/
 
rs wrote:
> I bought a bike a earlier this year after a 30 year hiatus from riding, the
> bike is a Hybrid with V-brakes, which work great. Getting the itch to try a
> road bike I found a used but like-new low end road bike, a Giant OCR3. The
> brakes are no-name "dual pivot long reach" the same brakes Giant puts on the
> OCR2 and OCR1. At first I thought they were Sora brakes, since some of the
> drivetrain is, but they are unbranded. They don't work very well, at least
> not compared to the V-brakes on the other bike. The rims are very clean and
> like new, as are the brake pads, the brakes are properly adjusted, centered
> and each pad about 4mm-5mm away from the rims. They just don't stop the bike
> well. So the question is two-fold:
> 1. Will better brakes, like Shimano Ultegra or something like that work
> better? or
> 2. Is this the nature of Road Bike brakes?
> 3. Will other pads help?
>
> thanks to all
>

My experience is that Road bike brakes generally do not stop as well as
V-Brakes. I cannot comment on "Better" brakes. Mostly I think the
stoping power is in the basic design, not the manufacturers name or finish.

The brake pads can make a major difference. My experience is that
koolstop salmon colored pads will stop me the fastest.

As several others have commented 4-5 mm gap from the pad to the rim is
excessive. Assuming the rims are true, this distance (IMO) should be
less than 2mm.

HTH,
EJ in NJ
 
"Jim Flom " wrote: You may want to replace the cables and housing first,
too. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If the brakes fail to release properly, that could be due to cable friction.
When you squeeze the levers to apply the brakes, the cable tension is VERY
high--it is extremely unlikely that friction in the cables could be holding
the brake pads off of the rims to any appreciable degree.

My first suggestion would be to sand the brake pads. They may be glazed
from lack of use (oxidized).
 
rs wrote:
> 1. Will better brakes, like Shimano Ultegra or something like that
> work better? or
> 2. Is this the nature of Road Bike brakes?
> 3. Will other pads help?


I'd try a new set of brake pads first. My Specialized Allez Elite has
no-name brakes and they were OK until I swapped out the pads with Shimanos.
Now they stop A LOT better. I wanted Kool Stops since I've heard nothing but
good about them but couldn't find them locally. I went with Shimanos and
they're working just fine. Good luck whatever you decide.
---
Splat
 
They're probably Tektro calipers, which are just dandy--probably better
quality than Sora.

Like everybody else said--it's the pads.

Koolstops all the way. I buy mine on Ebay for 20% of the LBS's indecent
pricing.
 
On Thu, 29 Sep 2005 01:07:39 -0500, rs wrote:

> I bought a bike a earlier this year after a 30 year hiatus from
> riding, the bike is a Hybrid with V-brakes, which work great.
> Getting the itch to try a road bike I found a used but like-new low
> end road bike, a Giant OCR3. The brakes are no-name "dual pivot
> long reach" the same brakes Giant puts on the


[snip]

> well. So the question is two-fold:
> 1. Will better brakes, like Shimano Ultegra or something like that work
> better? or
> 2. Is this the nature of Road Bike brakes?
> 3. Will other pads help?


When I started riding a road bike with Ultegra dual-pivots, I'd been
used to the feel of the V-Brakes too. I think the reason you might
think they're not stopping as well is they require different amounts
of hand pressure for the same amount of braking. The mechanical
advantage is quite different between the two. I would suspect you're
braking with your hands on the hoods. Compare the hoods with braking
from the drops.

-alan

--
Alan Hoyle - [email protected] - http://www.alanhoyle.com/
"I don't want the world, I just want your half." -TMBG
Get Horizontal, Play Ultimate.
 
Brakes are not bottoming out on the handlebars, there is actually little travel. The brakes simply do not work
as well as V-brakes on my cheapo Hybrid. I will try your recommendation on the Kool Stop salmons, that could
help and thanks!

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
>
>rs wrote:
>
>> The brakes are no-name "dual pivot long reach"

>
>> They don't work very well

>
>> The rims are very clean and like new, as are the brake pads, the brakes are pr

>operly adjusted, centered and each pad about 4mm-5mm away from the rims.
>
>Dual pivot brakes should give plenty of stopping power. Are you
>actually having trouble stopping the bike?
>
>If these are no-name brakes, the first thing I would do is swap the
>pads for Kool Stop salmons. I prefer the Kool Stop Continental model.
>
>http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html#continental
>
>The "4 or 5 mm" gap you mention seems a bit excessive. Are the brake
>levers bottoming out on the handlebars? You may need to adjust the
>barrel adjuster on the brake cable. Also make sure the quick release
>lever is closed.
>
>Art Harris
>
 
I eyeballed the gap without measuring and several people have suggested
4mm-5mm is too much. Taking a measure to the gaps, they are in actually
pretty much 2mm all the way around. Also the cables and sheaths look very
clean and new and the operation with the Sora STI thing is very smooth and
doesn't require much effort. The brakes just don't work all that well.

But it seems other pads may do the trick, I appreciate the recommendations on
that, either Kool-stop or Shimano. thanks.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
>rs wrote:
>
>> The brakes are no-name "dual pivot long reach"

>
>> They don't work very well

>
>> The rims are very clean and like new, as are the brake pads, the brakes are

pr
>operly adjusted, centered and each pad about 4mm-5mm away from the rims.
>
>Dual pivot brakes should give plenty of stopping power. Are you
>actually having trouble stopping the bike?
>
>If these are no-name brakes, the first thing I would do is swap the
>pads for Kool Stop salmons. I prefer the Kool Stop Continental model.
>
>http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakeshoes.html#continental
>
>The "4 or 5 mm" gap you mention seems a bit excessive. Are the brake
>levers bottoming out on the handlebars? You may need to adjust the
>barrel adjuster on the brake cable. Also make sure the quick release
>lever is closed.
>
>Art Harris
>
 
Stay far far away from Shimano pads. Absolute ****, at least the stuff
I've used. Glass magnets.
 
"maxo" <[email protected]> wrote in news:1128013892.749155.122120
@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> They're probably Tektro calipers, which are just dandy--probably better
> quality than Sora.



You are correct. Giant uses Tektro models 521A and 521AG (the AG has a
metal QR and a rubber o-ring on the adjuster locknut).

>
> Like everybody else said--it's the pads.
>
> Koolstops all the way. I buy mine on Ebay for 20% of the LBS's indecent
> pricing.
>


Agreeance. I put a set of these Tektros on my '75 Peugeot and they worked
great out of the box, but significantly better once I put in Kool-Stop
Salmon inserts.
 
"Leo Lichtman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Jim Flom " wrote: You may want to replace the cables and housing first,
> too. (clip)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> If the brakes fail to release properly, that could be due to cable
> friction. When you squeeze the levers to apply the brakes, the cable
> tension is VERY high--it is extremely unlikely that friction in the cables
> could be holding the brake pads off of the rims to any appreciable degree.
>
> My first suggestion would be to sand the brake pads. They may be glazed
> from lack of use (oxidized).


The OP said his brake pads are new.

JF

--
http://spaces.msn.com/members/flomblog/
 

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