Surly Tektro brakes - improvement

[Locksim]

Hi folks,

I have a new-ish (well, 200miles old) LHT with Tektro brakes - and they are just rubbish! My old CB Majestic had pads half the length and of unknown age/prvenance and braked better. Is this a known problem and what's the way ahead?

Cheers,

Simon

[al_yrpal]

Try some different pads, no reason that the make of brakes should make much difference

Al

[Barrenfluffit]

assuming the pads are bedded in maybe there's some lubricant on the disk itself?

[irc]

I didn't rate the cantis on my Galaxy. Fitting V brakes improved things. Needs V specific levers as well. Tektro RL520 are about £15.

Getting cantis adjusted better can help. Worth trying first.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=33329

[Locksim]

It's not the disc version, sadly - old-fashioned rim braking is the order of the day.

Simon

[Locksim]

Great, I had V-brakes on a Giant Boulder mtb and they were phenomenal - the Tektro RL520 levers are easy enough to get - but where/what V-brakes should I get?

Cheers

Simon

[Erudin]

Got Shimano Deore M590 V-Brakes on my LHT with the Tektro drop v levers and they work great, though maybe your current brakes just need adjustment/different pads. If you go for v-brakes I also recommend fitting Dia-Compe Adjustable V-Noodles.

If you search poor brakes on the Surly Long Haul Trucker & Cross-Check Owners Group the opinions are mixed on the stock brakes.

[531colin]

Threads on canti. setup....http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=57410
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=33329

If you have bar end shifters, then fullsize V brakes plus proper levers is a no- brainer.
If you must have road brake levers, eg STI, mini vees are a solution.

[cjs]

Hi folks,

I have a new-ish (well, 200miles old) LHT with Tektro brakes - and they are just rubbish!.........

Presuming purchased complete....... There's a lot about on various forums about the effectiveness of these... mostly bad and from new purchasers...

For me, my LHT was purchased complete and the Tektro's CR720 were not assembled - once on, at first they appeared pretty useless... then I researched a bit and set them up correctly, basically a 90 degress bend at the triangle and set as low as possible to the guards... and they work fine...

The strange thing is that at slow speeds a lot of grunt is required to stop, fully loaded hurtling downhill the same pull effort also works good - at least for me at 6'4", 21st, 4 panniers, full camping kit and the kitchen sink I've no issues coming down the steep bits although I would be slightly conservative about letting too much speed build up..

For me, their simplicity and effectiveness for touring are good... your milage may vary though..

Some say change the pads to Kool Stop salmon but I never found the need yet, at least in Ireland and we have a clatter of steepies..

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/surlylht/BmM9h4l4ZPE might help you out...

[JT]

I've got Tektro CR520 cantis on my LHT with Campag ErgoLevers and they're brilliant - even when fully loaded.

[Aushiker]

Great, I had V-brakes on a Giant Boulder mtb and they were phenomenal - the Tektro RL520 levers are easy enough to get - but where/what V-brakes should I get?

I converted my Surly Long Haul Trucker to v-brakes because I wasn't happy with the stock canti brakes.

The front and rear brakes are now Avid Single Digit 7 v-brakes and the levers are Cane Creek Drop V in black. I also took the opportunity to upgrade the cabling to Gore RideOn sealed low friction cables. Oh I also fitted Koolstop Tectonic v-brake shoes.

Over 3,000 km ridden since I did the upgrade and I have noticed a significant improvement in braking power.

Andrew

[CJ]

- but where/what V-brakes should I get?

Shimano parallel-push. Unfortunately they don't offer that feature below the XTR level anymore, and that costs, but the cycling world is full of weight weeies who don't appreciate the benefit of a brake pad moving in a straight line toward the rim (rather than a curve), plus those who've now put discs on their disc-ready MTB, so a fair sprinkling of Deore LX and XT parallel-push brakes can be found on ebay.

Edit P.S. I swapped the Avid Vs on my Cannondale commuter bike for a set of LX from a fellow forumite. And I have to say, they do feel better - plus I'll never again have to tweak the position of the brake shoes as the pads wear down.

[Dweasle]

I bought a Surly LHT 18 months ago. Great bike but awful brakes (Tektro Oryx). I persevered until the back blocks needed replacing at 3,500 miles. After research, I fitted Kool Stop dual compound blocks. What a difference! The brakes actually bite and stop the bike now. Wished I had done it ages ago. However a word of advice: Do not assume that, because you have cantilever brakes, you need cantilever brake blocks. I ordered cantilever blocks, which seemed a logical thing to do. But they didn't fit. And I then learned that the more recent cantilever set-ups often use v-brake blocks. I think I am right in saying (someone will no doubt shout if not) that if the originals have a thread on the anchor stem, then they are v-blocks. If they have thicker anchor stems and are gripped by a pinch nut arrangement, then they are cantilevers.

Good luck!

[slowcoach]

My bike has got sti leavers so I've recently installed a front fork mounted cable hanger to fix some fork judder with canti brakes. Makes a great difference and avoids the clearance issues of mini Vs. SJS Cycles have them for sale here:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/raleigh-fron ... prod21510/