My road bike has rim brakes, but they're not that great (even for rim brakes). The calipers (105) and levers (Sora) are decent enough, I've spent time cleaning the braking surfaces and aligning the shoes, all of which helped but I would like to know if I could make them better still.
They still have the cables they came with (Jagwire, but not the good ones), is it worth changing these? Are there any that people recommend?
My ultegra could happily stop the front wheel at speed, and I have the metal work to prove it.
New cables and pads might help.
Latest Ultegra cables (BR-680 I think) are incredibly good, have made my mini-Vs genuinely one finger powerful. Apparently the coating wears off though so time will tell.
Also Swissstop BXP pads are very definitely worth the money 👍
No idea how long you have had the bike and how much use it gets and in what conditions, but yes, new cables both inners and outers could easily improve the performance, the same as changing gear cables.
I was thinking more whether it's worth spending money to upgrade, rather than replace worn out cables with like for like
Latest Ultegra cables (BR-680 I think) are incredibly good, have made my mini-Vs genuinely one finger powerful. Apparently the coating wears off though so time will tell.
Also Swissstop BXP pads are very definitely worth the money 👍
Great advice, thanks, I'll check them out!
Another vote for Swissstop bxp pads. Which model 105 and Sora are we talking? The later ones (5800 onwards) are much better IME.
Yes, although I stuck with the slightly premium jagwire compresisonless cables as slightly better price/performance than the £££ shimano stuff. And in the real world I suspect the sealing on the ferrules makes a bigger difference after the first wet/gritty ride.
And swisstop pads +1. They do a few different compounds but realistically the performance is so much better with any of them I wouldn't worry too much about what they're called.
I'm a fan of compressionless outer for the rear only, cable disc or rim brake - it's cheaper and gives an even feel at both levers. And +1 for good pads.
I also found making sure the wheels were nice and true helped a bit
It's the outers that make the most difference (IMO/IME), just like with V brakes and cable discs outers tagged with "compressionless" or "linear" are what you're after, then just a decent stainless inner...
It's also worth getting decent pads but I've not actually encountered many truly 'bad' pads (on alloy rims, carbon is a different matter of course)...
It's not so much better cables but better cable routing, better termination and cleaner cables that make the difference. Take the time to route well. Clean up and open up outers after cutting, add some teflon lube, use proper ferrels and use them correctly.
Just to add compression less can help on rear if most of cable is an outer but has less effects on most road bikes as the majority of the cable run is usually external via brazed on welded on cable stops. So consider your individual bike.
Swisstop pads for me. Brakes are as powerful as I need. Standard Shimano cabling. Tektro long drop dual pivot.
Always pads and cables for upgrades. I find Clarkes standard pads pretty good TBH.
Which compressionless outer are people using?