Potential brakes upgrade

[Brucey]

In answer to your questions, it's been a while since I had a bike, bought mine over a year ago and I've tweaked the brakes as best I can but find them bit soft and slow regardless of what I do to them. I think the new or more expensive versions might come with spyre but definitely not mine!....

have you tried replacing the cables? They are often assembled without lube in the factory and don't improve with time. Better cables can transform some brakes.

cheers

[robrichards]

Thanks Brucey. It's not something I've tried so might be worth a shot! Cheer!

[reohn2]

Have you cleaned the rotors and pads with aerosol brake cleaner,and checked if they're set up correctly?
They may need some new pads,if the roads/tracks are mucky you'd be better off with sintered pads,organic pads wear very quickly in mucky,gritty conditions.

[jeatsy]

This thread is kind of touching on a "problem" I have too. It's a problem of knowledge or lack thereof, combined with the expense of gaining this knowledge.

I've read praise of BB7's before and I have a hunch that my mechanical discs (Shimano BR-R515) aren't as good, but how do you have enough faith in this hunch to cough up the 3-figure sum for an upgrade? Hence, in 5 years of commuting and more recently touring, I'm still curious but never have done.

Possible answer #1: Test-ride a bike that has them on, knowing full well you aren't gonna buy that bike. But the pads need bedding in before you know what they're really like, I think? So for brakes that doesn't work?

Possible answer #2: Make more friends . Not just any old friend, mind, they have to have a nice bike...

Am curious how others manage this??

[PH]

Thanks for replies, definitely Tektro not spyre brakes. Budget is definitely low end but I can save up!

That's a shame, though Tektro and TRP are the same company and Spyre brakes are sometimes listed as Tektro on new bikes. If you're hoping for someone with experience with the same brakes you have, it might be worth mentioning the model rather than the manufacturer.
New cables sound like a good investment, if they make no difference swap them back and keep the new ones for a time when you need them, they won't go to waste.
I've found these to be good and decent value
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/gus ... 6786-p.asp

[iandriver]

Perhaps, as a stop gap, just think about changing the front to a BB7 only, although this is an ongoing maintenance pain, it would at lest give you an idea of improvement, in a way that e-bay will go some way to reclaiming your costs for, if it doesn't work out.

[gregoryoftours]

If you do go avid, avoid BB5. It's worth spending the extra for the adjustment on the moving pad that is independent of cable adjustment, as is the case with bb7 and some other cable calipers.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my Redmi Note 4 using hovercraft full of eels.