mrwang199432

Merry Christmas all!

Just sat here in the sofa thinking what to upgrade next.

On my bike I have the axis brake calipers, nothing special, but work OK, I have them nicely adjusted, new cables, good lever bite point.

There are some pretty good deals on 105 r7000 calipers but just wondered if there is any actual improvement to be had, or is it just more of a weight improvement?

Mark

shelbyfv

Go with Ultegra if you feel the need to change.

Koyote

If they work alright, I wouldn’t bother.

Maybe you should spend some time riding the bike, and then decide if it needs upgrades.

Iride01 

Just wait till you are ready for another bike. There isn't much to be gained by stopping. Much of my younger experience on bikes was with chromed steel rims and single pull rim brakes. Even in the wet, I always stopped in time. I think the scare factor increased the strength of my grip on the brake levers when the chance of getting run over by something bigger and harder than me was the immediate concern.

SkinGriz

I’d clean the brake track on the rim, run koolstop salmons, make sure the pivots are clean, etc.

Online it looks like the axis are dual pivot. I don’t think you’d gain enough by switching to a different dual pivot to be worthwhile.

Koyote

I've written this before around here, and I'll write it again: if you have to ask strangers "what should I upgrade on my bike," you just need to ride more.

delbiker1 

IMO, good advice. What levers are you using? Do they have the same cable pull required for the 105 7000 calipers.

veganbikes

The best upgrade to a cable actuated brake is consumables. You want good stiff brake shoes with high quality pads from either of the Stops (Kool or Swiss), so no molded stuff replaceable pads are better anyway. You also want high quality cables and housing, polished stainless steel (uncoated please) and good compressionless housing. For that I prefer Jagwire Elite Link or if I want more of a standard housing Jagwire Pro and the nice thing is you can get them in a kit that has everything (or nearly everything) you will need and you can have some extra stuff for future projects.

Once you have upgraded all of that and are still looking to go further then I would look at Cane Creek eeBrakes those are actually an upgrade. Ultegra or Dura Ace is nice and certainly fine kit and I would swap from it necessarily but is not really a serious upgrade from another decent enough quality dual pivot brake that will actually be better than the consumables mentioned above. Certainly if I am upgrading the entire gruppo I probably would get new calipers to match or say go for the gold and get the eeBrakes but if I am just looking at brakes consumables are the way to go. You cheap out on that stuff and you get nasty brakes even on a high end brake but you get good quality and it will turn a meh brake into something a lot better. Obviously though it cannot really help those cheapie looooooooooong reach cruiser brakes with flexy arms because those arms will still flex but most everything else will be significantly upgraded.

This all being said if you are unsure of your upgrade maybe you don't really really need it. If you came to us and said my brakes don't feel powerful enough what can I upgrade or change to make it better, here is my current set up...then it would make sense. However saying I don't know what to upgrade next probably means nothing is going wrong everything is working fine I just have money to burn and that is fine but you still would need to know your ride and know what you think could be improved. Otherwise save that money towards a new bike or useful accessories or a nice bottle of whisky if you happen to imbibe.

Fredo76

It's simple. Upgrade to these brakes, or crash on the descent!

zen_

105 or Ultegra calipers + compressionless brake housing will dramatically change the brake feel and power with the stock pads, which may also have some room for improvement. My Trek came with generic calipers instead of the groupset spec, and they were terrible.

50PlusCycling

You won't notice any difference in braking feel and performance from a caliper change, as there is little difference between the geometry of the brake mechanisms. Better brakes have better finish, and better hardware, but not much in the way if improved performance. Your best way to keep brake performance high is by regularly dressing your brake pads and keeping your rims clean. When doing a lot of riding, I go over my bike once a week for adjustments and maintenance. I clean and lube the chain, true the wheels, dress the brake pads with a file, and clean the rims with a rag wetted with acetone. If you keep your wheels trued, and the braking components clean, they work with less effort, and give you much better modulation. Where I live, there is usually at least one day of bad weather per week, and I use such days for bike maintenance.