matchstick

Now that I have some miles under my belt I am not feeling very confident in the brakes on my Cannondale. They are Promax duel pivot brakes, with stock pads. I have read about the Koolstop Salmons and would like to maybe try new pads to see if that helps, but I have no idea which pads to buy. Can anyone tell me which ones would work with the Promax brakes?

Flyingblind9

This thread should probably be in the Bicycle Mechanics forum. As for what fits, koolstop road pads shouldn't have any problem fitting as it's the standard thread on pad. As long as the pad you are buying isn't a replacement insert but has the whole housing too you're good to go. The salmons are nice because they also work well in wet weather.

Bunyanderman

Pads should help, but new calipers can help more. Sram apex calipers are decent, they can be bought for $50 new on ebay. Shimano 105 calipers are also pretty nice, they are around $75 new at a quick glance.

speedyb

Same bike.
Agree on the poor brake performance. looks like will be forking out some more $$. at least on rear for now.

rms13

Front brake is more important than the rear. But you can get 105 brakes for under $50

Shimano 105 Black 5800 Brake Set - Rim Brakes - Ribble Cycles

speedyb

ah, after re-reading the post - I actually do not have the same bike.. mine is a disc brake.
Ordered an Avid BB7 for the rear. I realize front is important - but for me it takes more care.. sand or gravel patch with hard braking could be painful.
thanks for the suggestion.

rmfnla

+1 on SRAMs.

I love my Force brakes; I think I paid about $60 for them on the 'Bay.

I find all Shimano calipers too squishy; probably a hold-over from Campy NRs...

matchstick

Well as the weather warms up, I have reproached this subject. I have decided to go with the KoolStop Road Holder Dura pads/holder. I have also found in my research that normal 105 calipers will not fit the Synapse. The stock Promax are long reach and would need to be replaced with either the Tiagra R451's or the Ultegra R650's. The R451 calipers might be in my future, but for now I'm going to check out the pads.

Thought I would update with some more info in case someone came searching.

jtaylor996

Wut? 105 calipers are doing fine on my synapse. They came stock with it...

matchstick

I know they have a 105 Synapse model which is why it's so confusing, and why I only went with the pads right now. I have no hands on with the calipers, so I can't know for sure, but all my research says the 105s wont fit. If/when I upgrade I might try the 105s first just to report back.

dtrain

My carbon Synapse 6 is a '14 model. 5800 calipers were a nice upgrade and fit great. Is yours the alloy version of the frame?

EDIT: nevermind, I found the answer. The Tiagra C was the sportive focused, alloy version. I see 'long reach' in the specs. Those new pads should help...but you might also check the price of one of those long reach Shimano sets from the UK.