I’ve bought a Canyon Ultimate AL frameset to replace my Kaffenback. I’ll be swapping most of the parts over but need new brakes. What’s good for upto £120? Needs to be compatible with Tiagra STIs (are brakes cross-brand compatible?)

save the cash and stick with 105 & ultegra – both work great, ultegra slightly better finished. merlin had some great pricing on silver ultegra recently.

Save what cash? How can he ‘stick’ with something he doesn’t have? 😕

105s will be fine, cartridge pads, don’t seize within minutes (unlike Tiagra). Need to be 5600 series (or 6600 series if you go Ultegra) the newer groupsets with the hidden cables (5700, 6700, 7900, 9000) use a different pull ratio on the brakes.

As an aside that seems a lot to pay for an alu frame IMO, their road bikes just don’t seem quite as well priced as their MTBs.

I got a set of these ,and they are fantastic.

half price

Hunt down a pair of 2ndhand Dura Ace 7700 or 7800 calipers on your preferred online tat bazaar.

You WILL notice a performance difference over 105/Ultegra.

Save what cash?

errr, the difference between £120 and the cost of the brakes I mentioned….

Bit rude but I also might be able to help you.

Ultegra brakes are good and as it happens I have a pair for sale. £45 posted if you are interested. Email me for more info bayley.jon@gmail.com

I have had Campag record and Dura Ace m1kea .
Those Mavics feel way better( or ,it’s maybe some lucky combination of my wheels and the brake blocks) 🙂 .

IMO more expensive calipers won’t make that much difference to the braking power or feel. Will be a bit lighter though. You could just get a decent set of pads that will make more difference such as the Cool Stop pads http://www.wiggle.co.uk/kool-stop-dura-aceultegra105-pair-of-cartridge-inserts/

Hunt down a pair of 2ndhand Dura Ace 7700 or 7800 calipers on your preferred online tat bazaar

This +1. I bought a second hand set of 7800’s for my winter bike and they’re ace. Think I paid £50 for the pair with an extra set of carbon pads. Not mega cheap but the brakes were like new so was happy enough

So, the Mavics or secondhand Dura…. *dons thinking cap*

I’ve got a fair spread of brands across my road bikes including Dura-ace, sram (force i think, could be red), new 105 and Campag and I’d say the DA stuff it easily the best/lightest/nicest. As mentioned above though, its quality of pad as much as anything. I can stoppie my crit bike quite easily and thats running cheapy brakes but a decent set of swiss stop carbon pads.

the planet-x brakes are good, I think

cheap & light too

(bit fiddly to set up)

errr, the difference between £120 and the cost of the brakes I mentioned….

Aaah got ya, was confused as Ultegra are about that budget anyway!

To be honest +1 on the second hand DA, I’ve got 7800s on the Madone (and 105s on the Allez) and the Dura Ace are better it must be said.

Ladders

Have to disagree. Like flange I now have DA on my winter bike.

Previous winter frames needed deep drop calipers and the ‘Ultegra’ equivalent jobs were 5hite in comparison.

Capt J

Can we tempt you with better STI’s? 😉

Cheap brakes and swisstop pads ftw

Clean rims, clean and correctly aligned pads will make more difference than going from 105 or Ultegra or Dura Ace.

m1kea – Member

Can we tempt you with better STI’s?

Not just yet. Have you seen the price of those things!? Especially as i run a triple.

Not sure on the triple front, but I paid £106 for my second hand DA 7800 STI’s on ebay, and I’m rubbish on ebay and end up just bidding on the first thing I see. I’m not a massive fan of the gear cables being routed outside rather than under the bar tape as I think it looks untidy – but having done 200 miles on the bike since I built it up at the weekend, I’ve got to say the DA stuff has been faultless.

I’ve got Campy, Red, Force and the later Shimano levers on other bikes and the older DA stuff is nicer in my opinion. My neighbour bought a couple of older DA rech mechs from ebay that look like this

…and this is another step up in terms of quality. Really really nice looking stuff – the newer 7900 stuff might be lighter and more bling but this felt better made and just felt like a better quality part

I think in total my full 7800 groupset including brakes and cranks set me back about £200. Which is less than the price of the Red rear mech I recently bought. Its gone on my new winter bike as my old winter bike is now a bit too nice to get ruined by salt and muck

Excuse the wheel – its got my powertap in it and the DA cranks have gone on a another bike for now

I’ve got ultegra brakes and find the more than adequate can easily lock the wheels up with them.

From 105 up I can’t tell the difference, but that might be because the levers tend to be better as well.
Running on the bikes 105, Ultegra and RED all are great.

I just put some thingybob gooey pads on my old winter bike that runs old 600EX and touching the brakes is like hitting a brick wall

I suppose it all depends on levers, set up, quality of cables, quality of ferrules, cable run, using the correct torque, rims age and quality etc etc.

Never had the slightest issue with my 105s.

Can lock the wheels with one finger, wet or dry.

their road bikes just don’t seem quite as well priced as their MTBs.

http://www.canyon.com/_uk/roadbikes/bike.html?b=2500

£900. Ally frame, carbon fork, aksium race wheels and full Ultegra. Not seen much close for that price (at full rrp), when I was shopping for a £1K road bike on the C2W last year £1000 bought you full 105 on a good day from most manufacturers (including Canyon’s roadlite 6.0).

Maybe the Ultimate Al has suffered from the Gilbert Effect (didnt he race one of those frames stickered up to look like their carbon model for a while)?

Its gone on my new winter bike as my old winter bike is now a bit too nice to get ruined by salt and muck

😀 N+1 in action!