Upgrading Shifters And Possibly Brake Calipers

[Cletus Van Damme]

I bought my bike around 2 weeks ago and I am already thinking of doing a couple of upgrades. The first one and most important is the brakes, I find these to be truly awful. I have ordered some better pads to try first, but after a little searching on here I think that the Tektro calipers may not be the best. I was wondering has anybody had any experience of Tiagra 4500 calipers? I know most people seem to have went for 105's but the Tiagra seem to be very well priced and I am not really bothered about any weight saving etc. Just wondered if anybody had these calipers and are they decent.

The second item was the Sora shifters. Would swapping these to Tiagra STI's include replacing the cable outers or is it possible just to put them in the exact same position? I guess I would be lucky to do get away with doing this. I guess where the gear cables go into the shifters would not be a problem but the brake cables under the bar tape might be an issue.

 

[accountantpete]

I have some Tiagra front brakes if you want them - £3 to cover postage. Sorry I haven't got the back but you often get singletons on eBay.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Go for the brake pads first, Koolstop Salmons or similar will make a huge difference, but accountantpetes offer isd also well worth having. The rear-brake doesn't do much anyway on a bike.
Tiagra shifters and new cables will be an expensive upgrade frankly.

If you have money to burn, lighter wheels and tyres are the way.

 

[JonnyBlade]

Pete,
If CH doesn't have the brakes I will take them off your hands

Jonny

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Thanks for the advice, great as usual. I have some pads that I am awaiting delivery, and I agree I will try these first. Thanks for the offer of the caliper AccountantPete. I need to try the pads first as as my calipers are brand new Tektro ones, just not really that sure if they are poor or not or just terrible quality brake pads. Just let Johnnyblade have the caliper as I do not want to keep anyone waiting for me to mess about with pads.

Regarding the Tiagra shifters I saw these as a pretty cheap upgrade as new Sora shifters like mine bring a half decent price on Ebay, I would not have to add that much for used Tiagra STI's. But at the same time I am getting along pretty well with the Sora ones. It was just an upgrade that I had planned prior to buying this bike but I guess that there is no hurry. Regarding the wheels I really would not know where to start with them. It is something that I had thought about doing in the near future as one of the wear inicators is pretty well down on my Marin Hybrid. So I was going to put the Secteur wheels on that and buy some new better ones for the Secteur.

 

[JonnyBlade]

CH

 

[Fattman]

My bike (Specialized Allez - ancient now!) came with the (current) Tiagra brakes. After some wet steep descents in Wales, I was very sure I wanted to change something about them - brown riding shorts are not a good look!

The major difference between Sora/Tiagra and 105 and beyond is the brake shoe itself; you are limited to the 'R50T2' (and a small number of after-market equivalents) which are a one-piece shoe and pad thingy. These are pretty good, though, as you can adjust the toe-in & alignment (useful if you end up having more than one set of wheels) but you are limited to one year-round all-conditions brake compound.

The 105 and beyond have the replaceable brake shoe holder, so you can change compounds and there is a much larger choice of pads depending on weather/terrain/preference.

That said, I initially bought a replacement brake shoe holder compatible with Tiagra but was still not satisfied. I found a bargain on some Ultegra SL brakes and have never looked back; braking was much better (I could now lock up on a descent which sounds bad, I know, but before I was hanging on to the levers and just not slowing down!!). With hindsight, I realise the improvement may have come from a combination of the new calipers, cables and pads.

So in summary, from my humble experience - you may not get much functional improvement with Tiagra over Sora, but you get more options on pads (and some other engineering improvements) if you jump to 105 and beyond.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Cheers Fattmen thanks for taking the time to write such an informative reply. I have ordered some pads that come with carriers to get away from the all-in-one design that the bike came with. If these do not offer much of an improvement I think I will go for 105 calipers

 

[2Loose]

...
The 105 and beyond have the replaceable brake shoe holder, so you can change compounds and there is a much larger choice of pads depending on weather/terrain/preference.
...
So in summary, from my humble experience - you may not get much functional improvement with Tiagra over Sora, but you get more options on pads (and some other engineering improvements) if you jump to 105 and beyond.

You can get holders and pads for any Shimano calipers, they are certainly not limited to 105 brakes and above, although I won't dispute that more expensive calipers may offer other engineering advantages. Decent pads do make a massive difference though.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I put some Clarks CPS240 on the front and they have made a huge difference, and they are probably not bedded in yet. Were a bargain for £9.99 with carriers and a spare set of pads. Just need to get another set as I need the carriers for the back too.

 

[2Loose]

I put some Clarks CPS240 on the front and they have made a huge difference, and they are probably not bedded in yet. Were a bargain for £9.99 with carriers and a spare set of pads. Just need to get another set as I need the carriers for the back too.

Glad you like them, mine made an amazing difference over the stock Shimano ones, I no longer clench downhill in the wet! The black bits do make a little 'ink' in the wet but far less than the old ones though. Seem to be wearing pretty well too.

 

[Norry1]

I have the Secteur Elite and had the Tektro brakes. I've just swapped them for 105s and the improvement is very noticeable.

They were on offer at Ribble http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...o-105-10-Spd-5600-Brakes/SHIMBRAR535000000000

Martin

 

[bad boy]

I have the Secteur Elite and had the Tektro brakes. I've just swapped them for 105s and the improvement is very noticeable.

They were on offer at Ribble http://www.ribblecyc...RAR535000000000

Martin

I commute on my elite and still have the Tektro callipers. TBH they are not brilliant but do the job fine Ive got some Kool stops on there and find them more than adequate.

I think it depends on what your doing. You might not want to race with them obviously but then if you dont race thats not a concern, if you use the bike for leisure and unless you descend like cancellara the new pads will be fine.

 

[Norry1]

I agree. The Tektros were adequate, but not great. The 105s are much better.

To be fair, I never tried the Tektros with better blocks.

Martin

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Glad you like them, mine made an amazing difference over the stock Shimano ones, I no longer clench downhill in the wet! The black bits do make a little 'ink' in the wet but far less than the old ones though. Seem to be wearing pretty well too.

Cheers mate, it was your review on here and a magazine review that made me try them, plus the price. The only thing I can say bad about them is they can be pretty noisy when you brake really hard. This may change after they bed in, but I do not really mind as at least they stop the bike well compared to the poor quality standard pads.