BRAKE UPGRADE

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.

A bit more reading revealed that Specialized  used a similar setup their Transition & UCI legal Shiv TT bikes.

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

I could get a centre mount, side pull or dual mount centre pull which would not fit my centre mount limitation. So the only solution was to buy a few different sets to mix and match the parts which was going to double the cost.  The parts I wanted needed were:

TRP T925R
U-Brake single bolt
31mm-49mm reach

TRP T920 

Symmetrical Aero arms

Centre pull linkage 

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.

At this stage I am not sure that the T920 Arms will actually fit the pivots on the T925R adapter bracket or whether the combined assembly will align nicely on the front of the bike but I think it is worth a try.  My Shiv TT already has very similar brakes on it so I am confident they will provide adequate stopping power.

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.