What brake does your 1x speed have,?
 

I have a $20 Tektro R315 or something like that. World just fine but after a while I find that one side is doing all the work or something like that. The pads dont wear even
Any suggestions for a V brake or linear pull for my Pista?

Get an Ultegra or dura ace front caliper. I'm a big dood, and have had no issues with tektro personally. Uneven pad wear could be pads, or installation error.

I'm okay with the stopping power . What happens is I center the caliper pretty good and tighten down as best you can with aluminum on the hex nut.
Over a period of time the caliper shifts position to the side coupled to the brake cable and you can hear the pad rubbing .
There's this one 30 degree gravel hill I have to go down at the beginning of my ride where I hit the brake really hard for a while, squeeze like hell and that's where I think it happens.

Does your bike have the mounting studs for a linear pull aka V-brake?

My single speed has Shimano Adamas aero brake calipers.

Cheers

Unless your caliper is damaged then it's out of adjustment, takes literally a few seconds to center the pads. Or your wheel is off center and needs to be trued. And if your bike has calipers I seriously doubt it has posts for v's.

Yes I am new to bikes and I now realize that after reading about them. Definitely no posts.

I read this link below and realize now the pads have to be set differently . Guess that's my issue . Didn't even realize there was a centering adjustment!

Dont know where I would be without this forum!

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/dual-pivot-brake-service

Sounds like the cable housing might be too short.

Dura Ace on one and Ultegra on the other.

I'm a fan of really good brakes on both wheels. My best fix gear has Shimano dual-pivots. My Mooney (also set up fix gear) has ear;y '80s Shimano cantis. My city fix gear has centerpulls. Nafac front and Weinmann rear. All three bikes are serious stoppers.

That said, all three brake types (four really, the Mafac and Weinmann, while both centerpull, are quite different) have their quirks. Ignore them and they will make my life miserable, like bad puppies. Address those quirks and I get brakes that work really well all the time.

Typical challenges - toe-in and squeal esp those Mafacs without the toe-in adjustment (until you get pads with it). Housing length - sidepulls and dual pivot: too short and the brake gets pulled askew when you tighten the cable to stop. Cantilevers - their near infinite possible cable and straddle cable adjustment (or next to zero on some brakes) with some combos being really bad. Cable runs: details that add kinks or tight bends, poor entrances and exits from levers, housings and guides.

You might just want to look at a bike with brakes like yours that stops well. Copy the adjustments, cable setup, etc. Try it.

I run a mix of brakes on my fixed-gears. My Mercian has Shimano dual pivots, I think RX100 or comparable operated by old Gran Compe aero levers; the Gitane TdF has vintage Weinmann Carrera sidepulls operated by old Dia Compe/SunTour Blaze aero levers; and the Raleigh Competition has Weinmann Vainquer 999 centerpulls operated with Tektro aero levers with quick releases. Common to all of them are modern Teflon lined housings and stainless brake cables.

If you have access to cone wrenches that will fit, look to see if there are wrench flats between the body of the brake and the face of the fork crown. There should be. When you locate them, use a flat wrench (maybe a 14 mm?) to center the front of the brake. I've tried loosening the brake centerbolt itself from behind and manhandling the brake into place and then tightening it all up again, but somehow that doesn't work as well as using the flats on the centerbolt IN FRONT of the crown. I DO understand the frustration!

Tektro 720 cantis on the SSCX. Took some time to get the setup just right, but it's worth it when you do.

I've run Dura Ace BR-9000 and Ultegra BR-6800 on my single speeds. If I need longer arms, I use discontinued BR-650s. All three provide nice firm brake response. Higher end Tektro's are also good. I find the lower levels ones tend to rust out.

If you need better brake pads, Kool Stops are good for that, too.

The Schwinn road bike has my old Suntour Superbe single pivot side pulls. I got them new over forty years ago. These are the ones with the continuous adjust lever and I think were basically a copy of a very nice Campy brake of that era. They do fine with Kool Stops and cables and housing in good order.

Otto

You have to adjust the caliper such that the two brake blocks contact the sides of the rim at the same time. With Tektros, this often means that the brake blocks are not the same distance from the rim when the brake is open, since one side moves more than the other when the brake lever is gripped.

Thanks for your advice ! Readjusted today .It made a world of difference, right to the bottom ; left to the top.

My Langster has Cane Creek eeBrakes (gen3 I believe) and my Single Speed/Fixed Gear RandoCross FunTime Machine runs TRP Revox Cantilevers both with SRAM S500 levers. If SRAM made their levers for long pull brakes I would probably go for some Paul MotoLites but ehhh the Revox are great brakes.

I have a Shimano Exage Motion sidepull brake from the 80's. Looks sleek and stops well enough!

+1 I don't have Tektro calipers, just the levers but both my Shimano dual pivots do the same. I set them to simultaneous contact and have no issues. I think one side wears a little faster but not enough that I have to do anything abut it.

Those Tektro handbrakes aren't much but they do the job!
Started riding SS two years 2 years ago, first I had a huge mountain bike with disc brakes.
I bought an old Langster at a garage sale; rode it for kicks first.
Its little brake and 15 lb frame made me scared to take it on a road.
Now I ride SS 5 days week. Same little brake. Today I was speeding down a hilly road in rain at 30 mph, didn't think twice.

Anything will work fine if it's set up correctly AND has KoolStop salmon pads.

I use Sram Red cable brakes on all my SS bikes ( just about the nicest production brake made IMHO) with the exception of my Vigorelli which needed a longer reach caliper so I put a set of mid reach Tektro brakes on that bike

I realize I am late to the party but this cannot be right - have you got the caliper centered?

Read post #14. Sometimes centering the caliper does not work.

Yes I get that - but to be sooo off-center that you have to put the brake blocks just ain't right...

I use a coaster brake on my single bike that I just got on the road. It came with a front break, but since the bike didn't have a rear wheel when I bought it, I went with the coaster break that came with the wheel I bought for the bike. I really like it.