[bikerboy337]

So i've got an ultegra group that i'm building my bike up with... but thinking of getting a set of brew brakes to replace the ultegras (good deal on them through a friend)... any thoughts... will the brews be that much worse in braking than the new ultegras? thnx.

 

[alienator]

So i've got an ultegra group that i'm building my bike up with... but thinking of getting a set of brew brakes to replace the ultegras (good deal on them through a friend)... any thoughts... will the brews be that much worse in braking than the new ultegras? thnx.

Do a search of several bike forums and I think you'll find that there are very few people that are impressed or satisfied with the braking performance of Brew brakes.....or so I've gathered from what I've read.

 

[Mark McM]

Brew brakes - single pivot

So i've got an ultegra group that i'm building my bike up with... but thinking of getting a set of brew brakes to replace the ultegras (good deal on them through a friend)... any thoughts... will the brews be that much worse in braking than the new ultegras? thnx.

Brew brakes are a single pivot brake, vs. Ultegra brakes with a dual pivot. A dual pivot brake has a higher leverage ratio (about 1:1 for single pivot and 1.6:1 for dual pivot), and has a better self-centering. The higher leverage of the dual pivot brake requires a smaller pad to rim clearance, so the self-centering feature is important. Single pivot brakes have more pad to rim clearnance, so the self-centering feature isn't as important. On the other hand, single pivot brakes are typically much lighter than dual pivot brakes.

What the lower leverage ratio of single pivot brakes means is that more hand force is required for a given braking force. However, since most riders rarely approach their maximum braking limit, if you've got strong hands you shouldn't have a problem with single pivot brakes.

 

[MShaw]

I had a pair of the Cane Creek superlight brakes a while back. Didn't stop for #$%#$. The Dia Compe (SR500?? they're on my little brother's bike at the moment) brakes that Brew's are based on are actually a good brake. Don't feel too much difference between those and other DP brakes I've ridden.

HTH,

M

 

[Mark McM]

Cane Creek BRS-200SL

I had a pair of the Cane Creek superlight brakes a while back. Didn't stop for #$%#$. The Dia Compe (SR500?? they're on my little brother's bike at the moment) brakes that Brew's are based on are actually a good brake. Don't feel too much difference between those and other DP brakes I've ridden.

Oh yeah, one more thing about the Cane Creek BRS-200SL brakes: They originally came with some funky green brake pads - these pads are lousy, get rid of them and replace them with Kool Stop pads (preferably the Salmon pads). With better pads, the BRS-200SLs behave similarly to other single pivot brakes.

The BRS-200SLs are based on (drum roll please ...) Dia-Compe BRS-200 brakes. The BRS-200 was already a relatively light brake (even for single pivots, which are typically lighter than dual pivots). Cane Creek made them lighter by replacing most of the steel hardware with titanium, shaving the weight down from 150 grams per caliper to 125 grams per caliper (including pads).