Road bike brake caliper and pads

[chipmonster]

Dear all

On my bike I have the tekron brake caliper and the pads that come with it (105 shifter, cannondale carbon six road bike).The braking is rubbish.

Would it make a difference if I upgraded the front caliper to an ultegra.

The second question is which brake pad should I go for:

1) Swiss top green
2) Kool stop salmon

I want a good brake pad, anyone know anything better than the above or would u recommend the above.

Many thanks

 

[martint235]

It would probably make a difference yes but it's cheaper to change the blocks. I run a Koolstop Salmon on the front and a Koolstop Black on the back and they tend to stop me quick enough

 

[smokeysmoo]

I'd change the pads first and see how you go, unless yuo just want to spend some money anyway

I use the KS Salmon on my commuter and they are a very good pad. If you find after changing the pads that brake performance still isn't great then I'd look at changing the calipers, but you may well find that good pads well set up make all the difference.

If you do decide to upgrade the calipers, then you don't need to leap upto Ultegra IMO, (unless you come across a real bargain, or you just want to), 105 calipers are also very good, (as far as road brakes go) IME.

Remember though, I don't know your riding history, but if you have been used to MTB brakes then road bikes will always feel poor in comparison. MTB brakes are designed to stop you quickly, road brakes IMO are designed more to control your speed rather than get you to stop on a sixpence, but as I said, the right pads set up properly will definitely help

 

[PaulSecteur]

I changed the stock calipers on my Secteur and roubaix to 105, there was a worthwhile improvement. I have also chanced the blocks to these, again, worth doing. In fact, I would try the blocks first to see if that brings the improvement you want before spending the extra cash.

This pack comes with 2 holders and 4 pads. I didnt use their holders as white didnt suit my bike, so I just swapped the pads out into my holders.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=55815

 

[Tomba]

I changed the stock calipers on my Secteur and roubaix to 105, there was a worthwhile improvement. I have also chanced the blocks to these, again, worth doing. In fact, I would try the blocks first to see if that brings the improvement you want before spending the extra cash.

This pack comes with 2 holders and 4 pads. I didnt use their holders as white didnt suit my bike, so I just swapped the pads out into my holders.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=55815

I use them pads and found them good. Also like that they dont leave as much black residue on the rim as others.