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B’Twin Triban 500 – Braking Improvements

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  • July 3, 2017 at 12:17 pm #27304
    hughw

    Hi Guys,

    My Girlfriend rides a B’Twin Triban 500, with the 8-speed microshift triple.

    She rode the BikeBath 25, and really enjoyed it, apart from the long down hill at the end where she felt she wasn’t in control of her descending.

    Can anyone share any tips for improving the braking without spending too much money – my thought is an upgrade to 9s sora, but that’s 2-300 quid in parts on a 300 quid bike, which seems like a bit of a waste of money

    I think the problem is largely down to the rubbish plastic brake handles, which feel pretty flexy, but I’m not sure of the best way of dealing with them without replacing most of the groupset

    Thanks in advance,

    Hugh

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  • July 3, 2017 at 3:34 pm #896283
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    P3t3

    Replace the brake pads and

    Replace the brake pads and service the brakes for a start.  

    Some decent named brand pads will be a vast improvement, e.g. shimano ultegra or similar will work and are pretty cheap.  

    Lube the cables, clean and lube the calipers, get the toe and setback from the rim and the hand reach lined up corect.  Better quality cables/outers would be the next step but probably not required.  

     

     

    Upgrade to sora is not worth it with a bike like this when a decathlon bike with the same frame and a sora groupset is about £50 more than the value of the bike.  

    July 3, 2017 at 3:10 pm #896281
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    dottigirl

    So much to say, most of which

    So much to say, most of which I’ve written before.

    Starting with the obvious, there’s three main reasons why she may not feel safe:

    1. Bike setup – components, etc. Decent brake pads, tyres, etc. I’ll post a link to a piece later that I wrote about this.

    2. Bike setup – geometry. Does the bike really fit her? Remember that short stems plus narrower bars commonly used with a women’s bikes means twitchy handling. I see this all the time with women, and men not understanding that it’s not a practical method to make a too-big bike fit without consequences. I wouldn’t use a stem under 100mm. Distrust in your handling may also be exacerbated at speed. I know I never really pushed a couple of my bikes as I didn’t feel safe. I like speed and descending, so I don’t ride those bikes any more!

    3.Technique. Watch her descending from behind and check she does the basics correctly.  Foot positioning, looking around corners, weight distribution, line, etc. If not, sit her down with a few GCN videos, or preferably, get her signed up to a training course.

    Your question seems to be focussed on 1, but don’t forget about the other two. 

    July 3, 2017 at 1:53 pm #896279
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    StraelGuy

    Stock brake pads on any bike

    Stock brake pads on any bike tend to be fairly (to ‘very’) poor, including Shimano. You could upgrade the pads to something better like Koolstop salmons or even Swissstop Green pads (greens are very expensive but VERY good). Either would make a huge difference.

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