Specialized Tricross 2011 – Brake upgrade options?

I’m in the process of overhauling my trusty commuter but I seem to be having a right royal faff-on sorting out the brakes.

Stock brakes are Tektro CR720s on the front http://www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=5&sortname=Brake&sort=1&fid=2

and Tektro Oryx’s on the rear http://www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=51&sortname=Brake&sort=1&fid=2

Not sure why Specialized didn’t stick the CR720s on the rear as well but I presume its something to do with cable routing.

I purchased some Tektro Mini-V brakes to replace them as I’ve never been too keen on the stopping power and a near-crash into the back of a car in the wet a few months back sealed the need for new stoppers. I’ve had problems with them working with the Shimano STI brake levers as I have interrupter brakes on as well and they don’t seem to play nicely. I’ve heard you can get something called a ‘travel adjuster’ but these are costly and to be fair I could buy a decent set of replacement cantis for the price of two of them.

Unfortunately disc brakes are not an option as neither frame nor fork has the required fittings.

It would be interesting to hear what people on here are running on their bikes as the Tricross seems to be a really popular bike

I just bought a disk fork – only option for me really as I was using the tricross to carry my kid to nursery on the back, needed some proper braking force up front. This was a few years back and there was v little available – got a kinesis dc19 which was one of the few decent options at the time. Used with an avid cable pull disk.

Surely nowadays the market for cross disk forks is massively expanded – could get something second hand for not too much? Appreciate you’re not looking to spend too much but there’s something to be said for brakes that work in the wet on the road.

I had some success with Shimano Sora v-brakes. You can use an Avid inline adjuster to fine tune and they even worked with mudguards. As with all v-brakes, they needed adjustment fairly regularly to prevent rubbing ( or this might have been the less than perfect wheels) but much better braking over the stock canti’s.

TRP got my vote on my crux

http://www.trpbrakes.com/category.php?productid=1040&catid=185

Tektro mini v’s on my tricross stops all judder I’m yet to have any mud/ pad clearance issues as I keep my wheels in good true

I switched to TRP Euro-X cant’s – bit of a faff to fit but so much better than the stock brakes.