Best cyclocross bike under £1000 and other CX chat

Which calipers were you using before you switched to BB7s?

The stock brakes on the Genesis Croix de Fer: BR R505, which I think are the Tiagra discs you use, and Tiagra shifters. I spent hours on them, including new inner cables and refinishing every cable end but had nothing but sloppy results. I even heard from the bike's original designer who now works for Evans on their in house ranges (Pinnacle etc), but got no more help from him other than a suggestion of new pads and sanding the discs.

Basically, I agree, if you really need to stop you kind of need to be in the drops. This isn’t very good for city riding though which is why I think the cross-tops and mtb hydro’s is probably more appropriate. That or I’ve been toying with single front ring (smaller size, say 43), left hand front brake (hydro) and then a cable on the right with the shifter? Anyway, that’s me musing! In the short term, you’re very much right about the cable flex. I’ve heard that fitting some nokon cables will have an immediate impact as well. Unfortunately we don’t sell the nokon’s but you can get them from wiggle or crc in no-time. They won’t flex nearly as much as will really improve the performance – well, bring it to the level you’d expect at least. I’ve cc’d James who now works for us but was the designer of the CdF to see if he has anymore hints.
[Quote=James]It sounds more like a pad friction issue? I could lock the rear wheel on Croix de Fer test bikes from the drops and could brake well from the lever hoods too, but the lever feel was definitely softer than a caliper brake although they are designed to work together. One thing I’ve noticed over the winter is that road salt ruins pads (Shimano are still working on how to overcome salt glazing on pads) and it may be that the pads and rotors are contaminated. Commuting rarely builds up enough heat to clear the brakes of grime and road oil and even diesel exhaust soot can contaminate pads (as you notice after putting MTBs on the roof and driving a few hours to ride – brake performance can be totally stuffed from motorway grime). Have you tried fitting new pads and sanding off the rotors?
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