When we discussed the need for discs a while back (on several occasions..) it was mentioned my poor experiences with road brakes may be down to the fact that I had 105 calipers, and that Ultegra are much better.

Well they are. I got some 2007-ish era Ultegra ones from ebay to match the age of my bike and the difference is much more than I would have even hoped for.

I’ve no idea if they’re similarly better in the wet, but I suspect I might find out this evening.

get thee some decent blocks too … swissstop bxp are rather good.

Aye, the pads can make a huge difference too. I replaced the standard Campag Athena pads I had with a Clarks pad a few years ago and the Clarks pads were awful in comparison. No idea how good Ultegra pads are but Swissstop are a good shout for when the current ones need replacing.

Swissstop are a good shout for when the current ones need replacing.

Problem with this, is:

Standard pads are really hard, they last practically forever, so you’ll be stuck with rubbish brakes for chuffing ages. You’ll do a frightening amount of wear to your rims while you wait…

New, better pads are not expensive. Bang-for-buck I reckon they’re the best upgrade you can make.

Probably worth selling the bike now and getting one with discs..
Road bikes with rim brakes will follow 26″ wheels..

I was amazed at the difference the new 5800 levers felt, still got standard no name calipers on one of my bikes but the difference is remarkable between the same calipers and 5700 vs 5800. Carbon wheels though so it still feels like you speed up for the first 5 seconds in the wet 😯

I’ve yet to experience a huge difference between one Shimano groupo brakes and the next up/down, interesting.

monkeyfudger – Member
I was amazed at the difference the new 5800 levers felt, still got standard no name calipers on one of my bikes but the difference is remarkable between the same calipers and 5700 vs 5800

The cable pull is different

I swapped from tektro caliper on 105 levers to ultegra calipers and the difference was/is massive even with the stock pads.

the ultegra’s were on offer and only about £5 more than the 105’s so was a no brainer.