Front caliper brakes for a track frame, what's hot and what's not?

What really stops well? Or are they all pretty much the same? Your suggestions please. Ta.

you get what you pay for obviously, but i wouldn't pay all that much since your legs will do most of the braking. haven't worn through a set of brakepads in four years

jonny you get what you pay for obviously, but i wouldn't pay all that much since your legs will do most of the braking. haven't worn through a set of brakepads in four years

4 years! That's economy!

i use dura ace but any decent brake from shimano camag cane creek or tektro will work well. tektro or the cheaper shimano are probably best value.

I've got a Tektro lever and Campag Athena calipers, which I'm not massively impressed with. Perhaps I'm not comparing like with like - until I installed this setup, I'd never used a bar end lever before. I've got no frame of reference. However, if I was going to do it again, I'd be tempted to try Shimano 105 calipers or something similar.

Jonny, my brakes pads have barely lasted five months. I'm trying to lay off the leg braking though. How are your knees? :-)

I have a Shimano Tiagra which was pretty cheap, stops well and looks really sweet and curvy imo.

i should qualify my four year comment by saying that at nearly three years some scumbag stole my brake calipers (campy record, bastard) but there was still plenty left on the pads. now i use a shimano tiagra on use brakeset and the spare set belonging to a bike i just broke up and sold are a campag mirage. won't put an expensive brake on a bike that regularly gets locked up outside a pub.

soweto888 - knees are fine on 48x18.88

Tiagra or 105 are good and cheap. Shimano are easier than campy to use with bar end or cross top levers as they have the quick release on the caliper not on the lever.

Most stock pads are crap - upgrading to koolstop pads will improve the performance

VanUden [quote]jonny you get what you pay for obviously, but i wouldn't pay all that much since your legs will do most of the braking. haven't worn through a set of brakepads in four years

4 years! That's economy![/quote]

4 years and only 3 knee reconstructions.. the lad's doin' well! ;)

hmmmmm as I've already got the dodgy knees and was thinking along the lines of a felt tk2 with a front brake only should I be looking for a bike that I can fit a rear brake to as well? in which case any suggestions? I'm looking for a bike to train on that I could also use for fixed gear time trials any suggestions ?

The only fixed bike I've got a rear brake on is my hack/mtb, and that's only because I sometimes stick a childseat (with child) on it. Not that it's needed for normal braking, but it's an emergency back-up. I have it adjusted so that it will barely make contact with the rim during non-childseat riding. Bad knees or otherwise, you only need a front brake.

I have a set of Shimano RX100s they work pretty well.

I have a Shimano Tiagra which was pretty cheap, stops well and looks really sweet and curvy imo.

1+

Even the cheapest Shimano is still very reliable, I have a Tiagra front brakes still going strong since last year, thought I rarely use it now as I am now used to skid-stopping.

I mean this is a fixed wheel bicycles, you´re not going to use your brake as much as a road bike, thus less wear and tear and spending it on a Dura Ace brake levels is only if you want to have the bestestest component on your bike.

I have a Shimano 105 for my new build and they have a lovely finish. Not sure on their quality yet.

I have a Shimano 105 for my new build and they have a lovely finish. Not sure on their quality yet.

They're very good. No problems stopping with these.

Da ftw!

Chorus skeleton caliper. they look the biz and have some serious stopping power.

I also have a tektro bar end lever, so need a allen key to release the tension in the caliper to remove the front wheel. The front wheel is bolted on anyway, so I'm hardly planning on doing TDF style wheel swops.

Shimano calipers ftw

ive got dia compe 101 in black (not sure they come in any other colour) - i think it looks pretty good, stops well, and is cheap! recomended.
however, my mate (old blue eddy) just bought a campag skeleton caliper - dont know if that's its proper name. look fucking cool, stops well.

Pretty sure it's a Campagnolo Record Skeleton.

thats wot i said fuck nuts!

It is and it looks like this available in black or silver.

They don't come cheap though!

ive got dia compe 101 in black (not sure they come in any other colour) - i think it looks pretty good, stops well, and is cheap! recomended.
however, my mate (old blue eddy) just bought a campag skeleton caliper - dont know if that's its proper name. look fucking cool, stops well.

thats wot i said fuck nuts!

Good answer.

However, pedantry is fun.

i'm gonna punch u in the head/face/cock chris u pedantry giving little scrotum sack!

Ha!