Road bike brakes upgrades

[Kris McGowan]

Hello everyone im looking to upgrade my brakes on a project bike that I'm doing, it currently has traditional lock bolt brake calipers can you upgrade to new style and how to do so?

Kris.

[Criminal]

(01-17-2021, 06:57 PM)Kris McGowan Wrote:  Hello everyone im looking to upgrade my brakes on a project bike that I'm doing, it currently has traditional lock bolt brake calipers can you upgrade to new style and how to do so?

Kris.

Hi Kris,

What brakes (brand, model, rim, disc) do you have now? You can always upgrade calipers directly without changing anything else in most cases. Although, if your calipers are already a decent set then the easiest and least expensive method would be to replace pads with a higher quality, larger surface area pads; applies to disc brakes also. You are not going to improve braking much by changing calipers except in weight reductions at the higher price levels. If you are wanting to go to disc brakes you will need a frameset (stock or modified), rims, and hubs compatible for those components (cable or hydraulic); you will be adding weight to the bike, but lightening up your wallet quite a bit. I do not use disc brakes so someone else may have a more insightful opinion regarding that type of setup.

[Kris McGowan]

Im currently using tektro traditional nut style brakes, im looking to upgrade to shimano or sram Recessed mounting type if possible as better choice of brakes, will I still need to use the concave washer for the frame?

[Criminal]

(01-18-2021, 12:39 PM)Kris McGowan Wrote:  Im currently using tektro traditional nut style brakes, im looking to upgrade to shimano or sram Recessed mounting type if possible as better choice of brakes, will I still need to use the concave washer for the frame?

Yes, you will probably need the special frame washer since it fits to your frame's brake bridge and/or fork. If you are using brakes requiring an exposed nut mount then you will have to bore out the holes for the brake pivot bolt because a recessed mount nut will not fit through the hole. Do not make the hole too large; needs to be just big enough for the recessed nut to insert.

[Kris McGowan]

Thank you so much for your help and ill give that a try take care.

Kris