Best Brake Blocks for rim brakes

[mnichols]

Been doing a lot of miles recently on my (let's call it) Gravel Bike which has disk brakes

However the last couple of days I've been cycling around Exmoor on my touring bike which has rim brakes. On a couple of descents today (Porlock, Lynmouth) I really struggled to scrub the speed off the bike even though the road was dry and the brakes were on full. I didn't think I was going to be able to stop coming down the hill into Lynmouth and there is no way I could if it had been wet or maybe if I'd been carrying luggage

In an ideal world I'd replace (my beloved) touring bike for exactly the same with disc brakes, but this would cost a serious amount of money

So I wonder whether changing my brake blocks would help. I don't care (within reason) how much they cost or if they wear out the rims every 20,000 miles staying alive is a higher priority

My current setup is Ultegra wheels, shifters, (calliper) brakes and blocks. It felt like the wheel was just sliding through the blocks. Are there better blocks available? By better I mean have more stopping power

[Samuel D]

Were you pulling the levers hard with at least two fingers from the drops?

Are the pads sitting squarely and fully on the rims’ brake tracks?

I like Kool-Stop Dura 2 salmon pads, which work very well in the dry and well enough in the wet. They are expensive but not silly money.

You may need to replace the cable inners and/or outers and check the outer sections are a good length to avoid unnecessary bends and kinks where they start and stop. The state of the cables makes a large difference to braking power.

Check also that your Ultegra levers and callipers are designed to work together. What are the model numbers for your shifters and callipers?

[PT1029]

I would have thought Ultegra brakes would work well. Have you checked :-
1. The age of the pads. If (years) old/left in the sun, they can go hard and have poor friction as a result (if prodded they will feel very hard).
2. Are the cables going stiff, a corroded but still working cable can sap all the braking power (your fingers spent their energy over coming the cable friction rather than slowing the bike down)
3. The levers cable pull matches the calipers.
4. Obvious one, I assume they are reasonably adjusted - always the chance on STI levers for the gear lever to hit the handle bar, so stopping the brakes being applied fully.

Porlock Hill is a serious hill for braking, were the other hills as bad for braking?

[mnichols]

All the hills were bad even the not very steep ones

I'm doing an end to end of Spain in a few weeks so I'll replace the cable inners and outers and try those Salmon pads - I've heard good things about those in the past.

The Ultegra setup is for a 10 speed triple and was purchased as a groupset so it should all be compatible. I think it's 6800

Are some cables better than others? I know some can be a lot more money than others. Are they worth the premium? Any recommendations?

[Brucey]

I am sure you can improve your brakes but wouldn't fret about it too much; the hills you were going down were considerably steeper than those you are likely to encounter in the Pyrenees, I would expect.

A good cable setup is to use polished stainless inners and decent quality outers (shimano, jagwire, etc) that are ground square at the ends and lubricated with a compatible lubricant.

cheers

[mnichols]

Were you pulling the levers hard with at least two fingers from the drops?

Are the pads sitting squarely and fully on the rims’ brake tracks?

I like Kool-Stop Dura 2 salmon pads

Do you the dual compound or normal ones?

[JohnW]

I am not going to recommend anything to anyone - this is not me telling others what to do - but I still use Fibrax bog-standard brake blocks, These continue to work for me as well as any of the sophisticated, multi coloured, fashionable, 'new-kid-on-the-block', space-age-sounding modern stuff that I tried a few years ago. I tried them because I fell prey to the manufacturers' advertising and because of the taunts of being an anachronism from the wannabee new-kids-on-the-block.

After about six months of trials and experimenting I concluded that the brake blocks that I'd been using for years were as good as anything else.

In the last few years I've used Mavic Open=pro, Mavic A319, drc (Swiss), Mavic Open 4CD, Mavic Module 3, Mavic G40 (best rims I've ever had), Rigida (can't remember which model, but with 28mm tyres) and going back even further some Super Champions. I slow down and stop as well as any of my cycling colleagues, and one of them ends up in my saddle bag from time to time, when an emergency stop is called for.

Try the Fibrax web-site :

http://www.fibrax.org/

.....................and decide for yourself. Keeping your brakes adjusted and your rims clean is all part of it. I ride on the hoods and apply the brakes from above. I do try not to get into difficult braking situations - e.g. I don't break the sound barrier downhill when it's raining - we have to be sensible about these things and not expect miracles.

I use Shimano RX100 dual pivot calipers (i.e. slightly long-drop) and one ACOR long drop dual pivots on the rear of a frame which was built for 27" wheels. Ultegras will probably give better leverage and therefore be more positive.

[Samuel D]

Do you the dual compound or normal ones?

I use the normal ones that are entirely red. They slot into standard Shimano road cartridge holders.

You may just need to pull the levers harder. What’s the downside of that on a descent where you know when you have to brake for the next corner? Squeeze the brake lever to the bars with the bicycle stopped to reassure yourself that high lever force won’t break anything.

[Brucey]

....The Ultegra setup is for a 10 speed triple and was purchased as a groupset so it should all be compatible. I think it's 6800...?

if you are using 6800 STIs with long-reach BR-R650 or BR-R450 calipers you can expect reduced braking power; maddeningly, Shimano don't make a long reach caliper that is properly matched to their current STIs. If you want a better-matched caliper I think there are some Tektro models that are better in this respect.

BTW I would second the vote for Fibrax brake blocks; certainly worth a go.

cheers

[foxyrider]

For my two pennath - well I second all the above chatter about cables and set up. However my recommendation would be Swisstop - the name says it all - I put a set on my bike to ride across the alps last year and they are brilliant - by far the best braking i've had. I thought it difficult to improve on my Campag SR DP brakes but these certainly upped the game.

Not the cheapest and you need to ensure you get the correct compound for your rims (not difficult) - I would be somewhat surprised if they didn't improve even shoddily set up brakes.

Oh BTW 3 weeks of all weather alpine riding and the performance remained sharp throughout with no real indication of wear. Reckon you might get a few miles out of a set.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

I

Porlock Hill is a serious hill for braking, were the other hills as bad for braking?

That and Lynton are criminal I stopped three times down Porlock the rims were red hot.
I would err on the side of caution, all brakes can be made to fade if you really want them too.
Lynton to Lynmouth not Countisbury?

[mercalia]

rim brakes arent as good as discs, you will have to learn to live with them and ride differently?

I wouldnt trust any rim brakes down Porlock, I would walk: not what you want to hear You are mad to try just as mad to cycle up it

I just dont understand those people that think that bikes are suitable for any terrain and any place & any road. sign of craziness...

[mnichols]

rim brakes arent as good as discs, you will have to learn to live with them and ride differently?

I wouldnt trust any rim brakes down Porlock, I would walk: not what you want to hear You are mad to try

I'm not sure how I could have rode differently. I wasn't riding or descending fast, in fact I descended into Lynmouth from a dead stop, as I'd stopped to take a photo at the top, and had descended gingerly. But even then it was difficult to scrub the speed off at the end

[mnichols]

If you want a better-matched caliper I think there are some Tektro models that are better in this respect.

BTW I would second the vote for Fibrax brake blocks; certainly worth a go.

cheers

I didn't know about the caliper/lever issue. Is there a Tektro model that would be better suited to the Ultegra 6800 shifter?

[mercalia]

rim brakes arent as good as discs, you will have to learn to live with them and ride differently?

I wouldnt trust any rim brakes down Porlock, I would walk: not what you want to hear You are mad to try

I'm not sure how I could have rode differently. I wasn't riding or descending fast, in fact I descended into Lynmouth from a dead stop, as I'd stopped to take a photo at the top, and had descended gingerly. But even then it was difficult to scrub the speed off at the end

I wouldnt, I would have walked... too frightened at not being able to stop....it is ok to walk you know?
thinking that you should be able to is like using a tool without knowing its limitations? A junior hacksaw cuts thru stuff right? - maybe use it to saw thru one of the giant american redwoods...