Rubbish brakes

[tyred]

you ought to try my old steel rimmed equipped Phillips with old centre pull brakes in the wet or damp , then you can comment on poor brakes

Mafac and Weinmann centre pulls should provide excellent braking if adjusted correctly.

It's the steel wheels are causing your problem.

 

[biggs682]

you are not kidding me , but they are original so have to stay and i only use it when dry

 

[TheDoctor]

I'd just upgrade the front brake. Even Sora is an improvement on Tektro. Fit salmon pads (Koolstop or Clarkes) and that's perfectly good enough IME.

 

[Nebulous]

Mafac and Weinmann centre pulls should provide excellent braking if adjusted correctly.

It's the steel wheels are causing your problem.

That kind of explains it. I have added an old steel bike with steel rimmed wheels, old Weinmann pads and calipers. It's reasonably ok in the dry apart from a bit of judder, but very scary in the wet. The rear wheel even has a dimpled surface on the rims, but it is still very reluctant to stop.

 

[tyred]

You could try leather faced pads. You might find NOS but they are still in production by a company called Fibrax and be bought from their own website. I'll look out a link when I have more time but they do make a difference on chrome rims, especially the smooth type, not so good on dimpled ones.

Otherwise, the harder the pad, the better for chrome rims.

 

[scouserinlondon]

Does replacing the Tektro callipers actually make much difference? I have an unbranded (which I believe to be tektro) front brake on my Trek Pilot, and with the addition of KS salmons breaking is better than it had previously been, but still not great, I wonder whether or not a new caliper would make significant difference?

 

[Smut Pedaller]

I've found very little difference between Tektro and Shimano/Campagnolo calipers to be perfectly honest. Maybe the Tektro calipers might have flexed a little more, but given the same pads they are really about the same. I reviewed the Tektro R539 calipers here

 

[Hawk]

There are many types of brakes, all designed for the same brake levers (i.e same amount of brake cable pull) so the braking force you get out wont vary vastly I guess [I am talking as an engineering student and not a bike mechanic].

I suspect the brake pad and cable will probably play a big part here. If the brake pad is not very good, then you'll probably be pulling on your brakes a lot harder on average. The harder you pull your brakes, the more the brake cable stretches (each time you brake, not in the long term - the steel cable does, in fact, behave like a very stiff spring!).... and so more of your hard work in pulling the brakes is wasted, stretching your brake cable.

I would definitely swap for koolstops anyway (they are longer pads that feel a bit softer so I'd hope they'd be better for my rim too), their braking performance is better than my stock pads anyway.

Brake cables are quite a substantial factor for rear brakes because the cable is very long - the longer the cable, the less force required to stretch it by a set amount.

Maybe someone on here can recommend good, stiff brake cables?

Anton

 

[Andy_R]

IIRC it's not the cables, but the amount of lateral play in the calipers. The more resistant they are to fore and aft movement, the better. Any "play" is wasted effort.

 

[Hawk]

IIRC it's not the cables, but the amount of lateral play in the calipers. The more resistant they are to fore and aft movement, the better. Any "play" is wasted effort.

Interesting, do you mean the amount of space between the brake pad and rim surface when the brakes are not applied? Or did you mean the movement of the calliper arms (to which the brake pad assembly is attached), moving towards and away from the forks they are connected on?

 

[scouserinlondon]

I've found very little difference between Tektro and Shimano/Campagnolo calipers to be perfectly honest. Maybe the Tektro calipers might have flexed a little more, but given the same pads they are really about the same. I reviewed the Tektro R539 calipers here

Good post. Cheers

Either way. Was most glad of KS Salmons tonight in the rain.

 

[Smut Pedaller]

I rode my bike (the one I linked to in the Tektro review above) in the rain yesterday. I was reminded that even with decent calipers and Salmon koolstops, you are still limited in wet weather braking by rim brakes. There is always that initial application of the brakes and nothing... then bite. I think I'm spoilt by hub based brakes on my other bike.