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Brake calipers compatibility

by alanw56
Sat, Jul 06, 2019 06:23
8

I have Tektro calipers fitted on my road bike. After 3 years rust covered spring and screws, so decided that it is time to replace them and ideally upgrade them. Drop is 57mm and no direct mount. Shifters are ST5800. I asked all biggest online retailers and also two nearest lbs to advise which caliper will fit to my bike. lbs told me they will check and call back and they never did. I guess too busy to bother to reply. Merlin told me BRR561, but drop is too small IMO. Rutland Cycling told me old Tiagra BRR451 is the only one with such drop, but when checked with Shimano compatibility chart they are not compatibile with my shifters, unless I do not know, how to read their charts. I phoned Shimano distributor(Madison), but their sales person over the phone showed no interest and did not confirm if BRR451 will be okay with my ST5800 shifters or not. Perhaps you will know, if my shifters are or are not compatibile with BRR451?If it is true that old Tiagra is the only Shimano caliper that fits to my bike and I did not read Shimano compatibility chart correctly, then which caliper would be the best possible upgrade for me? 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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8 comments

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kil0ran | 5 years ago
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5800 series and above will easily clear a 28mm tyre, if your frame is compatible. 5800, R7000, R8000 all mid-drop calipers

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mike the bike | 5 years ago
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Miche do very good long-drop calipers at surprisingly low prices.  I've been running them on my everyday bike for seven years and they are truly fit-and-forget.  And, as they are owned by Campag', you will be blessing your bike with a touch of Italian magic.

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BehindTheBikesheds replied to mike the bike | 5 years ago
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mike the bike wrote:

 

Miche do very good long-drop calipers at surprisingly low prices.  I've been running them on my everyday bike for seven years and they are truly fit-and-forget.  And, as they are owned by Campag', you will be blessing your bike with a touch of Italian magic.

I thought the Miche long drops were a bit meh, not great but not bad either, I moved them on because they were no improvement over the A550s I had. The Miche were silly money though, I think I saw them around £15 a pair at one point and £20 the pair was common place. I've been out on my retro bike today and with non aero levers was still able to pull up fine with a pair of A550s from around 30mph.

I bought some of the TRPs and will likely be using them with an 11 speed for the rear plus a 10 speed triple. If I find that there's some lesser braking I might even swap them around.

As for Miche/Campag, Miche produces the vast majority of their kit in Italy, Campag outscources, they've had a relationship for a very long time with Miche producing for Campag (among many other famous names) but I didn't know there was a buyout, are you sure?

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AKH | 5 years ago
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Even though it was released in the 10-speed era, Shimano now list the BR-R650 on their website as part of the 105 5800 series...

https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/105-5800/BR-R650.html

If you want to confirm compatability, check out the official Shimano compatability chart here:

https://productinfo.shimano.com/#/com?cid=C-453&acid=C-456

Section C-456 covers road brakes.

All modern 11-Speed levers will work with their long drop brakes:

BR-R650
BR-R451
BR-R450

BUT, the compatibility chart says performance is slightly reduced, or be be exact "Braking power is slightly less than standard combination".

Shimano hasn't bothered to release new long drop brakes since the 10-speed era as far as I can tell. The pull ration slightly changed with the move to 11-speed era (Dura Ace 9000 released in 2012); not enough to prevent safe function, but enough to slightly impact braking.

All shimano long drop brakes are rated to 57mm drop max, so if one fits they all should, the only difference if weight and finish.

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alanw56 | 5 years ago
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Thank you all for replies and advice

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StraelGuy | 5 years ago
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Shimano R650 are pretty awesome and should do 57mm quite happily I think.

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hawkinspeter | 5 years ago
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Probably the best long-drop calipers are the TRPs. I got a pair of TRP RG957 calipers from FleaBay a few years ago and though they're expensive (got them for £99), they work so much better than the Tektros that were on my old Synapse bike.

Here's a review of them: https://road.cc/content/review/115645-trp-rg957-deep-drop-brakes

Looks like they're a bit cheaper than RRP from Sigma (£107): https://www.sigmasports.com/item/TRP/RG957-Dual-Pivot-Long-Drop-Caliper-Brake-Pair/75Z2

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Simon E | 5 years ago
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Probably best not to ask the box-shifters. Tiagra is a shallow (39-49mm) drop caliper, as are BR-R561 / 105 etc. Poor show from Madison, too.

SJS Cycles will be more helpful, they describe their stock and answer questions accurately. Shimano BR-R650 is probably what you should be looking at and often cited as the benchmark for longer drop brakes:

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brakes/front-shimano-brr650-caliper-brake-de...

Also listed in SJS's caliper brake category (which you can filter by drop, which makes sense) are Tektro R539, a good performer.

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