Customer Reviews

Tektro R556 Road Caliper Brake, Front, Silver Recessed Nut

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have an old 1970-something Raleigh and I had read that the older road bikes need a longer reach for brakes. This brake had plenty of space leftover to move the brakepads down - it's really quite perfect for older bikes. I highly recommend refering to Sheldon Brown's website [...] This brake was very easy to install; I will definitely be buying more of these for my other bikes.

Like at least a few of the other reviewers, I bought this brake because it's pretty much the only caliper that will allow me to use 700C wheels with my old steel frame. Now that I've gotten it on the bike it works great, but I had to drill a larger hole in my frame to accommodate the recessed mounting bolt (-1 star). Before you buy, make sure you know what kind of brake mount you need and what you're willing to do to make it fit. These other sites might also help if you're not sure:

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I very rarely write a review on anything, but having seen these reviewed in a lot of places by cycling eggheads talking about the longer arms providing less braking power etc etc. I felt what they all failed to say is that if you have a vintage racer with modern 700c wheels they are THE ONLY MODERN BRAKES THAT WILL FIT. It's either these or a pair of ancient Weinmann calipers or similar.

Having fitted these, I have to say that the difference compared to the old Weinmann calipers is astounding. They are an incredibly worthwhile upgrade that might even save your life. I decided to take the plunge after a couple of near misses due to my poor brakes, I am so much more confident and safer as a result that I would highly recommend anyone with a similar setup do the same. Cannot speak highly enough of this product, brilliant.

You'll have to get your frame drilled out to accommodate the new alan key style fittings but any decent bike shop will do it for just a few quid.

Even with the stock pads I am able to throw myself off the bike using just this front caliper, a most-excellent upgrade from the 80's Dia-Compe side-pull calipers on my road bike. I hesitated for quite a few weeks before buying these, because I wanted Shimano 105s to match the rest of my fleet, but I needed the extreme long reach these calipers provided.

If you are hesitating over a similar (upgrade) purchase, don't. The Tektro R556 provides at least twice the stopping power of old single-pivot calipers, and has superior centering to any single-pivot. The construction quality is equal to my Shimano 105 series calipers, even if the finish is not quite in that league.

My only complaints are in regard to the hardware choices. A likely point of failure is the cable adjustment nut. It is a round adjuster (not hex) with a rubber-band grip. If in the future the rubber should rot and fall off it will be neigh impossible to adjust the cable tension.

The other poor hardware choice is in the variety of hex wrenches required to service the brake. The wire clamp is a 5mm socket, the pads 4mm, the common pivot a 3mm, the adjustable stop a 2mm, and the quick-release axle nut something between 2.5 and 3mm. Needing to carry five tools in your bag to ensure serviceability is ridiculous. That is as many as the rest of my bike combined!

This is probably the only dual pivot brake I can find that can reach beyond 57mm which is what most long reach brakes can get to. I have a frame that used to run 27 inch wheels now converted to 700c and has a reach of 64mm. I bought this, installed it and I am pretty happy with the result.
One surprise I had was that cable adjustment was done at the barrel adjuster found on the top of brake and not at the lever where most modern brakes adjusts the brake clearance. The lever opens up the brake for wheel removal pretty much like how v-brakes and cantis do. It is not a big problem, just not as convenient as other brakes are.

reach was too long for my old peugeot frame. i was not willing to drill out my frame to fit the large mount nuts, the mounting bolts are really short anyway, you probably won't be able to fit any front reflectors on the bolt. i retrofitted the caliper with old mounting bolts, but the reach was still WAY too long, which is probably something i should have checked before i spent two hours retrofitting the caliper. OOPS. i guess i didn't really think about that because other reviews said these were perfect length for old retrofitted roadbikes. the brake calipers themselves seem really nice, smooth and durable.