New brakes

jethrothe2nd

I recently bought a Trek 1.2 and I have to say that the brakes are s@#$. It takes ages for them to bite and even when they do I still don't have any confidence in them. Will getting better brake pads be enough or should I be looking at replacing the calipers with something better as well?

ted1

jethrothe2nd wrote: »

I recently bought a Trek 1.2 and I have to say that the brakes are s@#$. It takes ages for them to bite and even when they do I still don't have any confidence in them. Will getting better brake pads be enough or should I be looking at replacing the calipers with something better as well?

Is it new? Bring it to the shop and ask them to tune them

jon1981

Is this mainly or only a problem in the rain by any chance?

Cee-Jay-Cee

ted1 wrote: »

Is it new? Bring it to the shop and ask them to tune them

Adjusting brakes is one of the simplest things you can do, no need to be treking off to LBS. look on YouTube for the endless videos on how to do it yourself but I suspect all you need is a decent set of brake pads.

ZiabR

The standard pads on most new bikes are very poor. The first thing I did with my new Trek when I bought it was to purchase proper slightly softer rubber pads and the difference was instant.

mossym

get a set of swisstop brake pads. usually are a huge improvement on the standard pads that come stock on bikes

G1032

mossym wrote: »

get a set of swisstop brake pads. usually are a huge improvement on the standard pads that come stock on bikes

I've often thought about buying these. They are wicked expensive though.

These are what I have at the moment Shimano Dura-Ace Brake Pads 7900

Do the Swisstop last any longer than the above and do they offer much better stopping power?

ZiabR

G1032 wrote: »

I've often thought about buying these. They are wicked expensive though.

These are what I have at the moment Shimano Dura-Ace Brake Pads 7900

Do the Swisstop last any longer than the above and do they offer much better stopping power?

They seem very well priced, how do you find them?

mossym

G1032 wrote: »

I've often thought about buying these. They are wicked expensive though.

These are what I have at the moment Shimano Dura-Ace Brake Pads 7900

Do the Swisstop last any longer than the above and do they offer much better stopping power?

the swisstop are about 20 for a pack of 4. the ones you listed are 7.50 for a pair. not that much of an increase.

have never used the ones you linked to, but switched out the pads that came in my ultegra (6700) brakes, and they are as good if not better than that. Also replaced the ones that came in my Cannondale Slice (some no name pads) and they are a significant upgrade (the irony being i never got enough time to use them when crashing last weekend)

i installed on both bikes in the last few weeks, so haven't really used in the wet yet, but from what i've read i've no fears there

jethrothe2nd

jon1981 wrote:

Is this mainly or only a problem in the rain by any chance?

It's a general problem. Rain is even worse.

From the general comments I think I will replace the pads and see how I get on with that.

My Trek 1.5's brakes were pretty poor. Replacing the pads has improved the situation somewhat but I didn't buy any name brand.