Moving from hybrid to road bike, braking

smacl

So after 18 or so months on a hybrid, I picked up a road bike a couple of weeks ago, having read so many comments here that it is the only way to go. Having taken a few rides on the flat, I took her up to the hills yesterday, and found everything pretty good apart from the descents. Not being used to the drops yet, I was staying in the hoods, and found the braking to be appalling. As in squeezing like feck without too much happening, and also sore on section of hand at the base of the thumb. Is this the norm, that if you're going down a steep hill, you really need to be in the drops?

Now at the moment the brakes are reversed to what I'm used to, i.e. front brake in left hand, but I've good grip in both hands so this shouldn't be a major issue. I'm planning on getting these swapped and a fresh set of pads fitted at the same time, and I've just changed the 23mm tyres that were on the bike to 25mm Durano plusses. I'm also planning on doing a number of flat runs to get used to getting in and out of the drops, and staying clear of the hills until I've got this sorted. Any other advice for someone new to drop bars?

Wishbone Ash

smacl wrote: »

Is this the norm, that if you're going down a steep hill, you really need to be in the drops?

Yes, when going downhill you should be on the drops as you've much more control of the bike and better brake leverage.

blorg

The brake thing has nothing to do with the type of bike, it is just how it was set up. Generally in the UK and Ireland right brake is front; it is generally the reverse in the US and Continental Europe. It is trivial to change.

As Wishbone Ash says, you get much better braking in the drops, yes. You should have better braking than you describe from the hoods though, it might need adjustment.

Lumen

You should be able to throw yourself over the bars from the hoods, at least in the dry.

smacl

Lumen wrote: »

You should be able to throw yourself over the bars from the hoods, at least in the dry.

I was more tempted to throw myself into the ditch yesterday. Some adjustment required, obviously.

doc1976

OP, I find the brakes on my road bike pretty irrelevant, especially in the wet. I was so worried on my bike during a bit of rain that I called into a lbs so they could have a look.

They said everything was fine.

The brakes on my hybrid are way better even though there only generic giant brakes.

ED E

Generally a road will have calipers while a hybrid will have vee brakes. I find calipers infinitely better.

blorg

They are as good as each other (should be capable of locking the wheel) if they are good quality and properly adjusted. Good calipers are excellent. I have found cheap Vs to be better than cheap calipers however.

recedite

smacl wrote: »

Now at the moment the brakes are reversed to what I'm used to, i.e. front brake in left hand,

In the days when all cyclists bought a frame and built up their own bikes, it was usual for a right handed person to have the rear brake on the right. Rear gives finer control of speed in the bunch, even if less stopping power than the front brake.

Holding hoods is not good on a descent; your hand can bounce off the bars when hitting a bump hard.

Civilian_Target

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

Generally a road will have calipers while a hybrid will have vee brakes. I find calipers infinitely better.

When they're well calibrated, I think v-brakes are better.
They're just more of pain to calibrate and maintain IMHO

squeaky crank

check your 'quick release lever' beside the brake calipers (the little lever you open to widen the brakes so you can remove the wheel). Similar thing happened to me when I started out a few years ago and my mate spotted that both were still open - thus halving my brakes stopping power on a downhill :eek:.

Lumen

Civilian_Target wrote: »

When they're well calibrated, I think v-brakes are better.

It's a bit of a moot point since this thread is about bikes with integrated shifters and v-brakes don't work with integrated shifters.

smacl

Big thanks for all the feedback!

blorg wrote: »

The brake thing has nothing to do with the type of bike, it is just how it was set up. Generally in the UK and Ireland right brake is front; it is generally the reverse in the US and Continental Europe. It is trivial to change

Planning on making this change over the next couple of days, having scanned a few videos on installing brakes and wrapping bars. Is the bar tape reusable, or if I unwrap the tape to get at the hoods, do I need new bar tape to re-wrap the bars?

Lumen

smacl wrote: »

Is the bar tape reusable, or if I unwrap the tape to get at the hoods, do I need new bar tape to re-wrap the bars?

Usually reusable, although it can look a bit tatty afterwards if you're not careful. Depends on the tape. Plain black electrical tape covers a host of sins.

cdaly_

smacl wrote: »

Planning on making this change over the next couple of days, having scanned a few videos on installing brakes and wrapping bars. Is the bar tape reusable, or if I unwrap the tape to get at the hoods, do I need new bar tape to re-wrap the bars?

You shouldn't need to get at the hoods to change over. You pull the cable inner out through the front of the lever, then switch over the sleeves between front caliper and frame cable stop, then reinsert the inners via the opposite levers.

The big issue you'll face is frayed ends on the inners which might make re-insertion difficult. If so, replace the inners with new ones.

smacl

cdaly_ wrote: »

You shouldn't need to get at the hoods to change over. You pull the cable inner out through the front of the lever, then switch over the sleeves between front caliper and frame cable stop, then reinsert the inners via the opposite levers.

The big issue you'll face is frayed ends on the inners which might make re-insertion difficult. If so, replace the inners with new ones.

Did this last night, and was way more awkward than I'd figured. Your name was taken in vain a few times there last night cdaly_ Caps for the outers were trapped in the hoods once I removed the rest of the cabling, which meant taking the hoods off, and removing same with a needle nosed pliers. Could not get the rubber covers off the hoods (Campag xenon), so ended up working around them which also slowed things down. One of the outers also needed shortening as it had been reaching from LHS hood to RHS brake, and is now RHS to RHS which is a few cm nearer. Inners in good nick and not frayed which was great, and managed to get the cable seals back on. New brake pads and bar tape ordered up, though I'll probably take her for a spin before that as the existing pads aren't too bad.

Thanks again for the feedback, I'll put up another post over the next couple of days to say how it worked out.