My fixer has front brake which is basically useless. In the dry it works a little bit and in the wet it barely works at all. The lever is an old-skool 105 job (not STI) and the caliper is Sora with stock pads. The rim is a well-used Mavic CXP21. I presume the poor performance is down to bendy levers, bendy calipers and [censored] pads. In the spirit of a bobbins fixer I don't really want to fork out to replace every braking component so which one should I upgrade to give the most improvement for the least cash outlay? Can I.. sand the rim or something?
My fixer has front brake which is basically useless. In the dry it works a little bit and in the wet it barely works at all. The lever is an old-skool 105 job (not STI)
How old-skool? Pre-aero? Can you post a link to a picture of it or one like it?
Quoted message said:
and the caliper is Sora with stock pads. The rim is a well-used Mavic CXP21. I presume the poor performance is down to bendy levers, bendy calipers and [censored] pads. In the spirit of a bobbins fixer I don't really want to fork out to replace every braking component so which one should I upgrade to give the most improvement for the least cash outlay?
I would first change the pads (preferably to Kool Stop Salmon) and check the cables are in good condition and without any tight bends.
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Can I.. sand the rim or something?
Not a good idea. Clean the rims (water then meths), sand the pads.
I suppose the Sora caliper is dual-pivot type? A more expensive brake won't make a big difference if so, but get a DP if you have SP.
My fixer has front brake which is basically useless. In the dry it works a little bit and in the wet it barely works at all. The lever is an old-skool 105 job (not STI)
How old-skool? Pre-aero? Can you post a link to a picture of it or one like it?
No, it's aero. This one appears to be the same shape but without seeing the outboard side (mine have grey 105 stickers) I can't tell for sure. This one is much shinier than mine, that's for certain.
I would first change the pads (preferably to Kool Stop Salmon) and check the cables are in good condition and without any tight bends.
Mm. I was planning to change the cable and outer but I thought I'd just check to see if anyone suggested binning the levers at the same time. I don't want to re-tape the bars twice.
Quoted message said:
I suppose the Sora caliper is dual-pivot type? A more expensive brake won't make a big difference if so, but get a DP if you have SP.
o, it's aero. This one appears to be the same shape but without seeing the outboard side (mine have grey 105 stickers) I can't tell for sure. This one is much shinier than mine, that's for certain.
"Mark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Hi there
Pete Biggs said:
Mark said:
My fixer has front brake which is basically useless. In the dry it works a little bit and in the wet it barely works at all. The lever is an old-skool 105 job (not STI)
How old-skool? Pre-aero? Can you post a link to a picture of it or one like it?
No, it's aero. This one appears to be the same shape but without seeing the outboard side (mine have grey 105 stickers) I can't tell for sure. This one is much shinier than mine, that's for certain.
I would first change the pads (preferably to Kool Stop Salmon) and check the cables are in good condition and without any tight bends.
Mm. I was planning to change the cable and outer but I thought I'd just check to see if anyone suggested binning the levers at the same time. I don't want to re-tape the bars twice.
Quoted message said:
I suppose the Sora caliper is dual-pivot type? A more expensive brake won't make a big difference if so, but get a DP if you have SP.
Yes, it's a DP.
Thanks for the pointers, I'll give them a shot.
Cable adjustment is pretty critcal on dual pivots. Shimano pads tend to be bad bad bad in the wet IME - deore V brakes.
My fixer has front brake which is basically useless. In the dry it works a little bit and in the wet it barely works at all. The lever is an old-skool 105 job (not STI)
How old-skool? Pre-aero? Can you post a link to a picture of it or one like it?
No, it's aero.
I think what Pete was getting at was that the earliest 105 levers were not compatible with DP brakes. However, neither were the earliest arero levers, such as the BL-1051 (see http://preview.tinyurl.com/y6yxq2)
The code will be on the lever itself; ISTR they put them on the lever close to the handgrip part, on the side facing the stem.
It's a long shot that you'll have a pair of these - they haven't been made for about seventeen years, and would have had to have found their way to being paired with a pair of later 105 callipers - but it's worth checking. If you have, they need to be replaced.
Otherwise, the advice you've been given is correct.
Mark wrote: > My fixer has front brake which is basically useless. In the dry it > works a little bit and in the wet it barely works at all. The lever is > an old-skool 105 job (not STI)
How old-skool? Pre-aero? Can you post a link to a picture of it or one like it?
No, it's aero.
I think what Pete was getting at was that the earliest 105 levers were not compatible with DP brakes. However, neither were the earliest arero levers, such as the BL-1051 (see http://preview.tinyurl.com/y6yxq2)
Any incompatibility would to be due to the amount of cable pulled. Swapping from an SP to DP increases lever travel and unless the lever is touching the bar it won't explain Mark's problem.
[rubbish front brakes -- old 105 levers and dual pivot calipers]
I think what Pete was getting at was that the earliest 105 levers were not compatible with DP brakes. However, neither were the earliest arero levers, such as the BL-1051 (see http://preview.tinyurl.com/y6yxq2)
The code will be on the lever itself; ISTR they put them on the lever close to the handgrip part, on the side facing the stem.
It's a long shot that you'll have a pair of these - they haven't been made for about seventeen years, and would have had to have found their way to being paired with a pair of later 105 callipers - but it's worth checking. If you have, they need to be replaced.
Aha! After remembering this thread I had a look at the levers. They are indeed BL-1051s (the frame is a 30-odd year-old Viscount; god knows how old the levers are). Do they not pull enough/pull too much cable for DP calipers? The feeling is.. spongy, though I thought that might be due to cruddy cables.
