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Is there such a thing?
Well I suspect there is, though they'll obviously not stop me as well as disc brakes, but I currently have a 2010 Giant Defy 2 which despite full Tiagra everywhere else, has Shimano Sora calipers.
Braking is poor at best.
What would be a good effective improvement without breaking the bank? Just the pads? If so which ones? Or do better calipers make the difference, and again, if so which ones?
They are all a bit rubbish. Got a set of Dura-Ace and they are marginally less rubbish than most, but I like the IronDevo ones on my other bike better, they seem to be the best of a bad bunch, about £70 brand new from fleabay so half the price of the DA too. Top notch cables helps as well (Alligator I-links in this case)
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If you can find any and have canti-mounts like on a cross bike get a set of Magura HS66s, only drop-bar brakes which are any good.
They are all a bit rubbish.
Rubbish how?
piffle, any dual-pivot road brake is more than enough
road brakes aren't rubbish, start by replacing the pads on your Soras - Aztec, KoolStop, Clarks and SwissStop all make decent replacement pads, then replace the cables if they're a bit tired
i am running Campag Centaur with swiss stop pads, plenty of power. ie i can lock the wheels up.
105's work well for the money.
I've only ever had Tektro and Ultegra. The difference between the two was like night and day. The Tektro wins hands down...only kidding. Ultegra much better the caliper seems a lot stiffer so applies most of the force to the rim rather than deforming.
Not sure if any diff between 105 and Ultegra performance wise, but there might not be that much difference in price.
I have 1 ultegra bike and 1 105 . The ultegras are much better!
Dura-ace on one and 105 on another, they're pretty similar really, just a bit better modulation on the DA's. As someone else posted, worth trying koolstop salmon pads first and see how much difference they make as older Shimano pads used to be pretty dire
Could be old cables and crap pads on the 105s mind!
You're all missing the point!! They only slow you down! Who wants that? I agree with JoB if you have to spend money start with the pads. I've got Dura-Ace, 105 and Tektro and whilst their are differences I'd be happy with 105 if I had to live with one for all seasons. Caliper length, crap cables, pad postioning etc can be a factor in making a brake feel spongy so routine maintance can sort alot of things before you need to spend on new brakes.
mini-Vs if you have the bosses.
I've got 105s and they're good enough. Rather than spending money on new brakes it's worth getting what you have set up properly with clean pads and rims, also important to make sure the levers are in the best position for you on the bars.
[url= http://www.eecycleworks.com/VNJune%20BrakeTest.pdf ]http://www.eecycleworks.com/VNJune%20BrakeTest.pdf[/url]
Good cartridge pads (the type that slide into a metal shoe). Kool stop Salmon or Swissstop Green work for me. Then good, well looked after cables. I'm using those Yokozuma Reaction thingies at the mo, which have a compressionless outer and has tightened up the lever feel quite considerably.
FWIW
I fitted a new set of [url= http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSPu7rOmq5sCVLxoJg31_DVmr0JWTqyW3pcq1H1jx-ecAE4j-Bb ]Mavic[/url] brakes to my road bike this year(half price CRC).
They are the best set I have had in years.
This however ties in with me fitting a set of fancy cables ,so I don't know if it's all down to just the brakes,or a combination of pads and cables 🙄
I'm using those Yokozuma Reaction thingies at the mo
Same here Jon ,they are super smooth 😉
I'll add another slightly related comment relevant to all - replace shimano pads regardless of whether it's sora or dura-ace. They EAT rims and perform atrociously the moment there is any moisture in the air. I got through a mavic open pro in one winter after only changing the front pads (for koolstop salmons). Seriously, unless it's a 'dry days exclusively' bike, ditch the shimano pads asap.
105's and Yokozuna cables here, all the stopping power I hope I'll ever need!