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Brake problems

Damo

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
I have bought a roadbike for my training. I am a downhiller living and racing in europe. All my training rides have to be in the mountains (I live in the french Alps), so I spend at least an hour hard, hard climbing. The climbing isn't the problem. Thats fun. What I'm having a problem with is my brakes on the descents. I don't know if I am just comparing my road brake to my DH Avid Juicy 7's (superpowerful discs) or if I have my road brakes set up wrong. I have Shimano Tiagras with whatever budget levers my bike came with (I upgraded to Tiagra when the origional brakes scared the crap out of me on the descent).
Is this fairly normal on a road bike?
Cheers in advance...
Damian
 
J

JoeRay

Monkey
Feb 19, 2004
228
0
In Squalor
Aaah welcome to the world of speed modifiers not brakes.

Even my Dura Ace gear only modifies speed on steepish downhills. You can't reasonably expect rim brakes to preform like discs. Remember back to the days of cantis on mountain bikes.

Although a good set of pads will help Tiagra tends to be a bit on the not so grippy side.
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
You have to lay on both brakes quite a bit to modulate your speed. One advantage of road biking is you can use plenty of front brake since there is no suspension dive...
 
rooftest

rooftest

Monkey
Jul 10, 2005
611
0
OC, CA
If you're doing very fast descents, you'll want to upgrade to a dual-pivot (Ultegra or Dura Ace) brakes for more power. Even then, at over 35 mph, road bike brakes will slow you down a little before you hit something - a big change from hydraulic disks.
 
Damo

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
Wicked. All I really needed to know... I was a bit concerned it was just my bike, but all I'm really doing is comparing it to my DH rig... Cool, I'll just live with it.

Thanks a lot fellas
 
sanjuro

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
I think the difference in road to dh braking is the amount you drag the brakes.

In road, I will drag my brakes for entire sections, knowing that I cannot make a particular turn if I start braking just before it.

In DH, I have a bunch of options, from a full-on lever grab to drifting.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,951
7,791
Colorado
General rule of thumb: Road brakes are more of a suggestion than a brake.
 
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