Road Caliper Brakes for Mudguards

[Valbrona]

I might switch from a close clearance road frame to one with clearances for mudguards, but which will be used mudguard-less.

1/ I guess there's no chance my current Campag Super Record brakes will have enough drop. Agree?

2/ Are there any half decent caliper brakes out there for mudguards? I've heard of Tektro R135 which are at least dual-pivot.

Thanks.

[CREPELLO]

I've not used Record callipers, but I wouldn't have thought you'd get enough clearance. But that will depend on exactly what frame you buy and what width tyres you're using.

The default calliper for many guarded road bikes is the medium drop Shimano R450/650 DP. I have them on two bikes and I'm happy with their performance.

[Brucey]

I might switch from a close clearance road frame to one with clearances for mudguards, but which will be used mudguard-less.

1/ I guess there's no chance my current Campag Super Record brakes will have enough drop. Agree?

depends how wide your tyres are and how much tyre/mudguard clearance you think you need....?

cheers

[keyboardmonkey]

1/ no idea
2/ http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... -prod27807

[Jezrant]

I have used short-reach Athena dual pivots on one bike and the medium-reach Ultegras (linked above) on another bike for several years. The Ultegra medium-reach dual pivots are extremely good brakes. If the Athenas are 10 out of 10, I'd rate the medium-reach Ultegras 9. You will be pleasantly surprised if you can get over any biases. It took me decades to switch to Shimano road gear... some of it is really good.

[Big T]

I have the Tektro's and they aren't the best, to be honest. Not as good as the Tiagra brakes on my summer bike, even with upgraded brake blocks/shoes.

[Mick F]

I have Athena Skeleton brakes with mudguards on my Mercian. Before that I had Chorus, and before that Victory. They all reach ok though the rear one is at the max in the slots. Front is mid range in the slots.

I am limited to tyre size - at present I'm on 23mm, but I reckon 25mm is the biggest I can get under the mudguards.

[reohn2]

On my Thorn Audax MK3 I use RX100 dual pivot 57mm reach calipers,and I've had 32mm tyres on with them,28s are no problem plus they're veery good stoppers.
I have a spare pair that are almost new,perhaps with 5k on them,with either original Shimano pads or BBB techstop pads and I have a spare longer allen bolt for carbon forks.
They're surplus to requirements,PM me if you're interested.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

Shimano standard depth is 49mm, Campagnolo are very slightly longer at 50mm, only just longer but maybe it's all that's needed, so worth taking some measurements. If 50mm isn't long enough the Shimano R650 has a 57mm drop and will work with Campagnolo levers.

Paul Smith

[Smut Pedaller]

I have the Tektro R539's which are a medium reach (47-59mm) brake caliper, they sat over 28mm tyres and a SKS P35 mudguard on one of my bikes. I upgraded them with cartridge Kool Stop pads, have ridden them extensively in lots of crap weather and as well down long alpine descents at high speed. I think they are actually quite good, not as good as a short reach caliper because inevitably they will flex more as the arms are longer to achieve a longer drop, this gives a slight mushyness like most medium reach calipers. Down alpine descents and switchbacks which involved a lot of repeated hard braking from high speed they did the job well, although my hands got quite fatigued after a while, again the longer drop doesn't help as it reduces the leverage. One unique thing about these calipers is that the quick release opens super wide so you can easily fit larger tyres through them without having to deflate them first.
More pics and info here:
http://smutpedaller.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/brake-upgrade.html

[DurableAce]

I'm very pleased with my Shimano 650 brakes. They work well. I've only ever used Shimano pads with them as past experience with other brands left me disappointed.

However, what matters most in my opinion is the frame and fork design. I very carefully chose my Kinesis Tk2 because it can only be used with deep drop brakes (as far as I can tell), such as the Shimano 650.

For many years I suffered the grinding and rubbing with frames which would take a mudguard, but left insufficient clearance for much else. On doing my frame research, I was quite surprised how few frames have what I consider to be true clearance for mudguards. Even some Winter stalwarts like the Ribbles fall into this category.

[Smut Pedaller]

Quite true, its also confusing when the definition of "deep drop" isn't consistent too. In the past deep drop was 50-70+ mm ish. Now people refer to the short drop 39-45 as "normal" mostly because the trend has been for racing bikes with 23mm tyres to be the default bike rather than something with fatter, more practical tyres and mudguards as in the past.

ultimately though to get optimal braking and have lots of clearance for tyres and guards you need to go for canti style brakes or discs... Although that's another topic

[sjl]

The first thing to note regards mudguards is that frames are either designed for standard 49mm "race" calipers or deep drop 57mm calipers. If the former then the frames are usually built with tight clearances for racing bikes but can also be specifically designed for mudguard clearances for 49mm calipers and 23mm tyres. I have a couple of handbuilt steel frames running 49mm calipers and SKS 35mm mudguards and 23mm Continental tyres and this works extremely well. Kinesis were doing a Ti Gran Fondo with similar clearances which I also have and again this works well with Campag Chorus Skeleton calipers (their latest model has now changed to be designed for the longer 57mm calipers - note Campag do not make these and you will have to use Shimano or Tektro etc).

Regards your Super Record calipers, these will be more like 52mm and have a little more clearance than modern calipers. Campag brakes all seem to have a little more drop than Shimano, including old Campag Monoplanar's and the newer dual pivot and skeleton types. You can even use the Croce D'Aune Delta's (they are different to the Record Delta's in that they have slotted pad holders to adjust the drop).

So in summary, if you use a frame designed for modern 49mm calipers and mudguards then you should be able to use your old Super Record calipers. For best results I would recommend the SKS bluemels 35mm mudguards and 23 mm tyres - BTW - these guards are £20 a pair which is a bit of a bargain given their quality

[DurableAce]

That's interesting to know. So how does, for instance, a fork differ when designed for 49mm drop brakes with a mudguard versus when not designed for mudguard clearance and the same caliper?

[willcee]

Ime the fork can have a flatter crown on the underside of the yoke, this is where many mudguards used on a close clearance machine have issues because while the caliper legs can clear .. just..the guard is pushed tight by the interference of a bulging weld or metal where the fork legs are attached to the steerer. i have in the past removed rough welding and smoothed the junction, usually it doesn't take much ...but it makes for a happier clearance twixt tyre and guard.. i have also had to drill out the rivets on the front mudguard top bracket and reverse its direction to get more clearance.. will