Brakes advise

[sweety]

Had a good run out on my Kona CC yesterday & fell in love with it all over again Anyway did a nice little down hill section on the road & when I came to the bottom I had probs stopping with a nice dose of brake fade. At the min I have Deore XT brake blocks on the front & Aztec blocks on the back but these are about 20 years old & I think they could do with replacing & wondered what are best post type blocks to get these days.
Would a set of brake boosters be worth getting to help the braking performance & lastly I've replaced the brake levers with a set of Deore LX lever/shifters(new in their packaging) but they had plastic levers & wondered if the alloy levers of any of the other Shimano brake levers could be fitted

 

[dbmtb]

20-year old Shimano brake blocks just don't cut it. They didn't BITD either.

Modern Shimano blocks brake better but personal favorites are the BBB triple compound ones. They also do brake blocks aimed at cross bikes which have removable rubber, that are compatible with road blocks.

 

[suburbanreuben]

You can squeeze and squeeze all you like, but if you're brakes are fading, you need a better compoun d block.
My favourites are Swissstop. They're pricey, but you should be able to find a deal.

 

[suburbanreuben]

You can squeeze and squeeze all you like, but if you're brakes are fading, you need a better compoun d block.
My favourites are Swissstop. They're pricey, but you should be able to find a deal.

 

[Neil G]

Kool stops good as well

 

[Sithlord]

I'd highly rate swisstop pads,, but as suburbanreuben has said they are 'pricey' , but for brakes is it really worth cutting corners..

 

[legrandefromage]

Clean your rims and check the pads - if they have lots of shiny bits in them, they are pretty past it. If they are just brake block coloured, give a light rub with some medium grit sandpaper to bring them back to life.

then go about adjusting your angles and pads so they have better leverage. If this is set wrong, spending money on new pads will make no difference.

Have a look in here first:

http://sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-adjustment.html

 

[sweety]

Thanks for the help so far guy's I've cleaned up the rims & resurfaced the pads a couple of times so I think some new ones are in order

 

[sweety]

Had a look at the swisstop but they are a bit out of my price range at the min due to being out of work & a family to support so need a cheaper option for the time being I was wondering what the jagwire blocks are like or even the trial blocks which are listed on evilebay. With all the wet weather we're having stopping is becoming a bit of a problem now
Just been looking at these & wondered which ones might be best :roll:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=34213
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=30997