Braking on the hoods

[chugsy]

Did you not test the bike before buying? I recently road tested a Kona Jake and the brakes were shocking going downhill - on the hoods nothing and on the drops I could only slow down gradually - no wheel locking at all. The bike I chose in the end has calipers which were better in the I could slow down kinda from the hoods but could not muster the strength or leverage to stop the bike on a dime. I accepted this and bought the bike anyway - looked on this forum for advice on replacement pads which have made all the difference. Sometimes you have to accept that new bikes need upgrades immediately - like tyres for instance

It also doesn't help if your previous bike had hydraulic disc brakes (like mine) it's a bit of a culture shock to say the least!

 

[david1701]

I had cable disks and I tested 3 bikes that day and this had the best brakes its just that now I go faster and need to stop quicker (coupled with the reduction in power)

 

[chugsy]

If nothing else at least you'll increase your road awareness skills to compensate for poorer brakes

 

[John the Monkey]

Tektro pads are crap - Koolstop Salmon, or Fibrax Extreme are what you need.

Also - if the brakes are the type with a link wire rather than a traditional straddle, generally junking the link wire & using a traditional straddle (I like the triangular Tektro ones) will give you more adjustment.

 

[BentMikey]

You should be able to do a stoppie from the hoods.

 

[buddha]

I've had exactly the same experience as the OP:

Canti's on my Pompino + new to drop bars = stopping between kerb and car's rear wheel. Made me think about getting liability insurance.

However, a few months later I'd become used to braking on the hoods and haven't had a major problem since. In my case I started to use the 'ring finger' (next to little-finger) more. Rotating the levers up a few degrees also helped with reach.

Then, when I switched to koolstop pads, braking was further improved.

I admit though, in comparison, canti's are rubbish.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I've got a Secteur Sport that had Tektro pads on and they were utter shoot. I just could not stop the bike safely whilst on the drops or the hoods and was tempted to change the Tektro calipers but decided to try pads first. I changed mine to Clarks CPS240 and the difference is like night and day. Never tried Koolstops but these are cheaper and very good for the money, although they are difficult to get hold of.

 

[tincaman]

if its a new bike then the pads are likely to be low quality. Change them now! Look for koolstops

 

[fossyant]

You should be able to do a stoppie from the hoods.

+1.

I generally ride on the hoods, certainly in traffic, and you should be able to stop on a sixpence.

Better pads.

 

[ColinJ]

And make sure your rims are clean too. I was having scary braking problems until I scrubbed my rims. It turned out that I'd got oily crap on the them which had reduced brake efficiency to about 10% of what it is now.

 

[tyred]

I used to always find brakes on all drop bars were shoot but practice, and seemingly building a little more strength in my hands mean I can now stop safely from the hoods, even with antique Weinmann brake levers.

 

[ColinJ]

I used to always find brakes on all drop bars were shoot but practice, and seemingly building a little more strength in my hands mean I can now stop safely from the hoods, even with antique Weinmann brake levers.

I don't have strong hands but I can stop my bike so quickly from the hoods that I'd be in danger of going over the bars.

If good brakes are set up properly, decent quality brake blocks are used and the wheel rims are clean, easy braking from the hoods should be considered the norm.

 

[Wankelschrauben]

Here I was thinking road brakes and drop levers were incredibly good.

 

[numbnuts]

You should be able to do a stoppie from the hoods.

+2 big hands help

 

[3narf]

Why do cyclocross bikes still have cantilever brakes? They were obsolete on mountain bikes 18 years ago.