seperry

I ordered a Windsor Wellington 2.0 per a You Tube review on Wellington bikes. After I received the bike at my LBS, I took the bike out for a test ride. The brakes would not give me a firm grip on my wheels so I could not stop suddenly. When I returned to the bike shop I told the manager that the bike's brakes did not engage properly. The mechanic took it out for a test drive and he tried to work on it. They finally came to the point that the brake type was cheap and did not work. I need anew brake or different bike.
My two problems that I need help with is that I have had a variety of bikes in the last ten years that were $450 or lower. I have never had one that the brakes did not engage. I would expect that any new brakes should stop the bike. A inexpensive chain should still turn the wheels. But I do not know if that is asking too much. The manager of the bike shop said that because the bike I ordered was bottom of the line road bike that I should not expect any better performance. As I mentioned previously I have owned-bought three lower end comfort bikes, a hybrid bike and at the beginning of the year - a entry level road bike. I have never had any problems with my brakes that could not be fixed by a simple adjustment.

Should I get another bike from this LBS when they tried to sell me a bike that they did not check to see if the brakes worked properly?

jimc101

What exactly are your 2 problems, their lost without breaking it down into key point.

For any caliper brakes, if they aren't working great, change the pads, Koolstop Salmon are the standard BF reply for this, if correctly setup, that should get them working to an acceptable standard.

seperry

My problem is do brakes not work on a new bike and they can not fix it ? is this a normal and should I trust a shop that does not test something they just put together?

Nermal

I doubt I would get another from that shop. Now, the brakes on most new bikes are just fine, so you've got a statistically good chance of them selling you a good one next time, but I would hold off till they come up with something better than just telling you they sold you a cheap bike.

seperry

Thank you I have not requested my refund yet since this just happen this past weekend and i had to work. I have been thinking like you that is why I put my thread on the forum. I am limited in my understanding of the cycling process and I have made a few mistakes in the past trusting another LBS.

RonH

Try sanding the new brake pads. Sometimes the surface is "slippery" on new pads. They may just need a little were on them.

avidone1

This is why I always test ride a bike BEFORE buying it.

fietsbob

AFAIK, Windsor Wellington is a Bikes Direct item. did you get it used from a Bike Shop?
Or Did You have a Bike Shop assemble the Bike You Ordered from the bike shop skipping company?

Or was this Buying them to save money But having no clue to how to solve the Minor adjustments problems and then coming here ?

It Happens .. You Could Go To the Public Library and get a Book on Bike Mechanics for some General Learning. (?)

seperry

Here in Jacksonville, Bike Direct is affiliated with three LBS, they have a service for life benefit that goes along with the purchase. They order the same bikes that you can get online from the Bikes Direct website, except for they put it together for you. I have bought two comfort bikes and a hybrid bike since 2007 from one of the other affiliates already assembled in the store.. I still have got one of the comfort bikes, the hybrid was stolen and I used the other comfort outside at work and let it get badly rusted so I gave it away. They usually provide great customer service that is why I decided to try a entry level road bike with them.

seperry

I did test ride it, that is what I am reporting on and asking peoples opinion on. I purchased the bike on my credit card as a hold while they ordered and assembled it. Like placing a reservation for a hotel room. I have lost no money yet. I did not take possession of the bike due to the brakes. I actually enjoyed the rest of the ride.

fietsbob

Ah , more Pre-Worrying , others have done that as well.

Just take any issues with the bike back to the dealer you bought from.

Windsor was a Mexican Bike brand, when The country hosted the Olympics.

Paid Money at the time the Belgian Eddy Merckx set the Hour Record in their High Altitude Velodrome,
to have Windsor Brand painted on a DeRosa custom hand made frame..

Bike brand names are often just paint jobs.

seperry

Sorry fellow members, I misunderstood the purpose of this forum. I ride by myself mainly; I do not know anybody not vested in selling me something to ask questions. I went back to the bike shop and resolved my problems.

VegasTriker

You didn't misunderstand the purpose of the forum. It is just that some who post here get a little testy when the question isn't easily answered. Since braking is a basic safety feature (like steering) you did the right thing by returning the bike. If I really liked everything else about the bike, I probably would have opted to ask them to put a better set of pads on it (takes under 5 minutes) to find out if it was the brake or pad that was defective. If it was just pads, then I would keep the bike and buy the pads. Defective brake design - no way to keep the bike.

CycleryNorth81

Even cheap brakes provide adequate braking. The shop is trying to sell you a more expensive bike by telling you your bike is cheap. I would avoid that lbs.

The solution if you are not happy with the brakes is to buy some inexpensive Tektro brakes.

calimtb

I purchased a road bike this year, and the shop I bought it at had the derailleurs adjusted brilliantly.

The brakes? Not so much. Each pad hit the rim at a random angle. Braking, not surprisingly, was mediocre.

I had to adjust the brakes on my own, and along with perhaps a bit of break-in over time over a few hundred miles, they now work reasonably well.

I'm still experimenting with the adjustment, but it's likely that I've gotten the brakes to work as powerfully as they can.

Based on test riding, I don't think you get really nice rim brakes until you get to the ultegra 6800 level. Aftermarket, that runs about $100 retail online.

And yes, I tried kool stops, which for whatever reason, didn't work that well for me.

Brake adjustments are quite easy. Just get the appropriate hex key/s and adjust them yourself.

ltxi

This...Ultegra 6800. Swapped out the Tektro's that came on my Synapse for these and it was a serious improvement. $71 or some such from Amazon.

Tman1965

That would be nice, but sadly it ain't so.
Out of the cheap brakes, v-brakes usually work the best. Cheap caliper brakes generally suck, i.e. they slow down the bike, but it might take half a mile. Cheap mechanical discs are difficult to adjust, either they rub or they don't stop the bike.
With caliper brakes I would use at least Shimano 105 or anything Campagnolo.

calimtb

I spoke too soon. I adjusted the axis 1.0 (tektro's?), so the pads are a bit further from the rim, allowing for a bit more leverage from the levers. I have to say, I'm pretty darn impressed with the results now. Braking power and modulation are both at least good, maybe very good. This is the type of performance I expected from dual pivots in the first place.

I think even a budget dual pivot design, even with a not so soft pad, can work very well. Just set it up properly.

The difference with 6800's is that they seem to tolerate different adjustments much better. You don't have to get the setup dialed for them to work well immediately. The pads are softer than budget pads, offering some nice modulation. I like 6800's a lot, but my newly adjusted tektro/axis dual pivots are really working quite nicely now.

In the future, I'll definitely give the 6800's another look.

calimtb

I've tried some low end mechanical discs which are downright scary.

Having said that, budget v brakes and dual pivots can work very, very well.

In my experience, tektro dual pivots, once set up properly, work very well. The mistake I made in setup was setting the pads very close to the rim. This didn't allow for proper leverage from the levers. Once I moved the pads a bit further out, I could utilize the leverage of the brake levers and calipers more effectively, and now stopping power and modulation feel really good, with modest effort at the lever.

Tman1965

Tektro Dual Pivots aren't bad. Tektro also makes the cheaper Campy brakes. But some of the cheap bikes don't have dual pivot or some noname stuff.

calimtb

Assuming Axis 1.0's are tektros I'd say tektro's are at least good and once properly adjusted, very good.

I would rate 6800's as excellent.

The windsor wellington 2.0 in question actually does have dual pivots, based on the photos I've seen on BD. They are not cartridge pads, but the design should allow for at least good, and even very good performance once properly adjusted.

My shop made absolutely no effort in setting up my brakes properly. I had to spend a lot of time adjusting the brakes on my own, and through trial and error, stumbled upon the correct solution.

In theory, I would love to sing the praises of independent bike shops, but from what I can tell, the quality of their work is often sadly lacking.

I'm not surprised that OP's bike was not set up properly.

ltxi

In all fairness, my pads were rather worn when I when I replaced my brakes. But they were properly adjusted. Swapping for the Ultegra 6800 was a what the hell I think I'll just try this experiment that turned out really well. Little doubt 105s would have also have been an improvement but for the minimal cost difference it was an in for a penny, in for a pound choice. Also just bought a 6800 front derailleur as an upgrade from my stock Tiagra that I'll get around to installing sooner or later in hopes of making the front a bit less "adequate but a bit clunky". Fortunately, all other mechanicals on this bike suit me just fine.

calimtb

Yeah the 5800/6800 price difference for calipers is quite slim. 6800's are well worth the very modest price difference.

Hmm, I find tiagra front shifting to be very good as well. But I may check out 6800 front shifting again.

I better be careful, or else I'll wind up with an ultegra carbon or ultegra ti real soon after test riding bikes to check out ultegra front derailleurs.