I certainly can't give you a definitive answer, but I can share my experience. I had a bike with Shimano canti brakes and Ultegra levers. The stopping power was frighteningly poor. First I switched to a set of paul's neo retros and that helped smewhat. Then I replaced the Ultegraa Brifters with a pair of Cane Creek levers and voila, had great braking power and control. I have come to the conclusion that Shimano levers simply don't draw enough cable to work reliably with anything other than short reach shimano brakes.
Michael On Sep 13, 5:27 pm, James Warren <jimcwar...@earthlink.net> wrote: > Mark at Rivendell built up my AHH with the Silvers and the Shimano Tiagra > levers that they sell, and the performance is excellent. > > -Jim W. > > > > -----Original Message----- > >From: Adam Kimball <adamfkimb...@gmail.com> > >Sent: Sep 13, 2010 2:21 PM > >To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > >Subject: [RBW] Super-spongy brakes on my AHH - any help? > > >Wow, I'm not having much luck in the brake department with my new > >ride. I set up my Hilsen with Silver brakes and found that they > >simply wouldn't stop me - I could have both levers to the tape and > >still roll. So, I changed to Paul Racer's on the advice of my LBS and > >found that the situation really isn't much better. Here is where my > >thinking is at: > > >* I'm seeing a lot of flex in the brakes themselves and at the cable > >hangers. The rear brake is worse than the front (as is usually the > >case) but I suspect the inline barrel adjuster and the rear cable > >hanger (light-weight aluminum one that hangs of the seat-post bolt) is > >flexing too much. > > >* I've brought the yokes up pretty high - I can get them higher, but > >not much. So, I'm not certain this is the problem. > > >* Brake-pads are the standard black Kool-Stops and I would have to > >assume they are not the problem > > >* My Dura-Ace brake levers are incredibly squishy. This is one piece > >of the equation that is common to both setups (Silvers & Racers). The > >Racer brakes are indeed short-pull so those road levers should be fine > >- but I've suspected them before. > > >Another mechanic took a look at the brakes and road the bike today. > >He agreed that the brakes are massively under performing. He thought > >that a "travel agent" might help to pull more cable. He also wanted > >to re-cable since I cut the rear cable a little short. He wanted me > >to find out if Paul makes a stiffener that attaches to the calipers. > > >Does anyone have any other ideas for me? I don't have another AHH to > >ride, so it is hard for me to know just how bad my brakes are. Keven > >at Rivendell didn't think the Racer's are much better than the Silvers > >for braking (and he has a pair on his Hilsen) and so he wondered what > >the other problem might be. > > >Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > >Thanks, > >Adam > > >-- > >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > >"RBW Owners Bunch" group. > >To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > >To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > >rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > >For more options, visit this group > >athttp://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
