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road bike brake calipers

i'm not exactly sure how specific brake calipers are to wheels and i'm trying to figure out what i should get.


these are the rims i'm getting: http://www.mavic.com/road/products/cxp-33.M134A.2.aspx


any suggestions?


heathercomestolife
2010-03-02 21:14:23

Basically any caliper will work with those. There are a few brakes called "long reach" but you'd have to go out of your way to find those.


Basically anything will work.


mayhew
2010-03-02 21:24:57

i actually saw a few long reach ones on ebay. are they better for some reason?


heathercomestolife
2010-03-02 21:27:23

Long and standard reach calipers are for frames that accommodate fenders (so the gaps between, say, the fork crown and the wheel are larger, thus necessitating a longer brake arm).


bjanaszek
2010-03-02 21:43:24

The brakes you want on the frame, as opposed to the wheels. If you have a bike with 700c wheels and brakes that work already, you're fine. If you're building a frame and need brakes, the brake you want depends on the frame. Older road bikes or Surlys usually need long reach brakes; newer bikes with no room for fenders use shorter brake arms, etc.


alankhg
2010-03-02 23:50:41

Do you have your wheels built yet? You will need to measure the "reach", and the reach is the dimension the ebay seller in your link shows.

Here is a link to the Harris Cyclery page on brake calipers, and there is also a link on that page that shows you how to measure your distance.


http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brake-calipers.html


The calipers you show on ebay list a pretty wide reach range, they might work. Decent price, never heard of that manufacturer, though.


edmonds59
2010-03-12 03:39:27

If the Pake fits 28C tires max it's likely to use what are now known as standard-reach brakes and what were once known as short-reach brakes.


Radius is, I believe, a brand often seen on Wal-Mart bikes.


The calipers look fine but I'd bet the hardware is prone to rusting, and single-pivot brakes are harder to adjust and don't stop as dual-pivot brakes. I don't think that's a good deal at $30.


I would maybe try calling around the shops in town to ask if they have any short-reach brakes that some weight-weenie had replaced.


I think the reach on these would be right:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CAMPAGNOLO-CENTAUR-BRAKESET-SILVER-Front-Rear-5784_W0QQitemZ260563729446QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item3caacefc26#ht_500wt_1182

http://cgi.ebay.com/Campagnolo-Veloce-Road-Bike-Dual-Pivot-Brakes-Brakeset_W0QQitemZ380213852728QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item588682fa38#ht_3236wt_1042

It looks like there are a lot of good deals on slightly older Campy brakes. Maybe because the kind of people who buy Campy are the kind of people who either want brand new things that cost a lot of money or vintage things that they could never afford as teenagers but can now they're middle-aged, and that leaves a hole in the middle of the market.


alankhg
2010-03-12 04:28:30

thanks so much for the help! I think i'll go with those. I can't wait to get my bike on the road! I'll post some pictures when it's done.


heathercomestolife
2010-03-13 18:04:30