New wheels / brakes

[gbb]

Coming from two angles...ooer missus !

New wheels on my rebuild, nothing exotic, just a Tiagra wheelset, combined with Alhonga deep drop calipers, standard pads.

The thing is, the braking seems cr@p. Is it the new surface on the wheels / pads. Will they bed in ?

The wheels dont seem to freewheel that much either...will they 'free' up ? Are new wheels a little stiff ???
Any thoughts ?

 

[RedBike]

Which wheels have you got? - (There's load of different 'Tiagra' wheels.)

I'm afraid it's very unlikely that either the braking performance or the freewheeling is going to improve.

 

[ak88]

Just tried my new wheels this morning on the commute - ribbles hand builts (Tiagra hubs on Mavic Open Pro CD rims). Whilst replacing the wheels I put new Aztec dual compounds (I have v-brakes) - and gave the cassette, chain and jockeys wheels all a good clean and lube. Freewheeling for my was great, the drive train was smooth and quiet.

Only problem was the brakes for me (another thread).

 

[gbb]

Which wheels have you got? - (There's load of different 'Tiagra' wheels.)

I'm afraid it's very unlikely that either the braking performance or the freewheeling is going to improve.

WH500's i think Red...
May try some better pads...

 

[walker]

all wheels should free wheel with ease, if they don't then send them back.

Is the pads rubbing against the rim?
Is the wheel inserted correctly?
It shouldn't make much difference but are you using the QR that came with the wheels?

 

[RedBike]

I used to commute on the R500's. I seem to remember they flexed quite a bit so I had to position the pads a bit further away from the rim than I ideally wanted; but I can't remember ever having a problem with the brakes. I would try a new set of pads (koolstops?).

The hubs did feel slightly rough when turned by hand. But this was never noticeable when riding.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

The ability to brake efficiently always comes in handy, invest in some decent pads, as for the wheel not free wheeling, there will be an ever so slight slugishness in new wheels, especially at the budget end of the market, they will spin better after a couple of runs, make sure you haven't over tightened the skewers, especially the front one, this will put pressure on the cones which will impede the smooth rotation of the wheel.

 

[stevenb]

WH500's i think Red...
May try some better pads...

My WH500's have covered over 900 miles and freewheel perfectly.
The brakes are excellent too.
I'd query them for sure....

 

[Tynan]

'standard pads' sounds ominous

give the rims a wipe?

 

[Jacomus-rides-Gen]

KoolStop Salmon pads, sitting in 105 blocks, squeezed by 105 calipers and decent brake levers. Sorted.