The only aspect of the bike that has not yet subject
to technical scrutiny was the brakes.
During our review of the current mid-range women’s time
trial bikes we noticed most of them still compromised with conventional road
bike callipers and cables in front of the forks tarnishing the clean lines of
the sleek carbon framesets. We were
really hoping to find something with an integrated front end and hidden brakes, a feature of many many modern triathlon
superbikes that pushes them into the higher price bracket.

When we made the decision to re-use and upgrade the Cannondale Slice frameset the standard brakes was one area of compromise we thought we'd have to accept. The existing Tektro centre mount dual pivot callipers had ample stopping power and we figured they would get a service and be retained.
While gathering ideas for the project we often referred back to the Felt B2, our preferred option in this years range and we evenetually noticed something different about the front brakes! They were still front mounted but a much sleeker centre pull design.

The simple stem mounted cable hanger was also available from TRP and I could see how this could be adapted to work on our Slice.
So a front brake upgrade was added to the list of upgrades and as usual I start with a criteria list:
FRONT BRAKES CRITERIA
U-Brake Style Symmetrical Callipers
Centre Fork Mount (U Brake Adapter)
Centre Pull Actuation
Stem Mount Cable Hanger
45mm reach (See note below)
Sleek and Aero Design
Improve Visual Impact
After some enquiries with Tektro and TRP I learned that the Centre mount, centre pull, U-Brake were OEM only and not available aftermarket!
- Felt B2 - Tektro T726R - OEM only, and not very aero
- Specialized - TRP T920 - Very aero but twin mount only
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TRP T925R U-Brake single bolt 31mm-49mm reach |
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TRP T920
Symmetrical Aero arms
Centre pull linkage
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I found one second hand (unused) and the other directly from TRP for a total price I was happy with so I took a gamble and ordered the parts along with the TRP cable hanger.

I eventually discovered that Tekro actually sell a U-Brake adapter separately as shown (Right).
NOTE: I required a 45mm pad reach. This is the distance from the caliper mounting bolt down to the Rim braking surface. I chose the TRP T925R designed for 39mm-51mm Pad reach. The T925FR version had an offset adapter and a 55mm-67mm pad reach designed for installation behind the front forks.
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