Poor brake performance on front brake

[Sloth1987]

I have a rim brake Bianchi. The calipers are 105 R7000. I have set up many brakes in my lifetime. 

The front brake lacks power and brakes drag instead of biting. I have the same calipers on my other bike with proper stopping power.

I have tried everything with setting them up. Different wheels. Different pads. Toe in alignment. Different pad angles. Making sure everything is clean and not contaminated

The bike is 2 months old so the cables are still new,

The rear brakes are fine. Only the front brake performance is lacking

Any suggestions?

 

[WernerStrydom]

Sounds like you have it all covered, but perhaps the STI might be the problem, however not too sure. a Calliper & cable is such a simple device, and very unlikely to have an issue like this. Hope you win bud.

[lechatnoir]

have you given the rims and brake blocks a good clean? Perhaps a nice clean with alcohol on both and perhaps even a light sanding on the brake blocks will eliminate low friction issues?

[Martin PJ]

Maybe change front cable sleeve. Could be damaged somewhere, or not properly installed.

[100Tours]

Disconnect caliper, hold the cable with your fingers. Does the lever pull firmly? you should get a clean and firm ~2cm cable pull.

Now check the cable route through the caliper. no obstructions? Does the caliper actuate easily in your hand?

If that doesn't solve it then I'm a bit lost.

 

[Sloth1987]

Thanks for the suggestions. The lever feels nice and crisp and the cable pulls freely. I am still not sure what it could be. The performance changes with the angle of the pads. I am getting poor performance with toe in on the pads which is strange because I usually get good results if the front of the pad touches the rim before the rear does

[DieselnDust]

between the two bikes with simiarl brake set up:

• are both bikes using rims with alloy brake tracks?
• or are both bike using rims with carbon brakes tracks?
• What is the rim model?
• What is the brake pad material?
• How old is the brake pad material?

[100Tours]

I use one of these to tune my brake pads - have always had good results

Icetoolz 55B1 Croco Brake Shoe Tuner | Cyclelab

[Sloth1987]

3 minutes ago, DieselnDust said:

between the two bikes with simiarl brake set up:

• are both bikes using rims with alloy brake tracks?
• or are both bike using rims with carbon brakes tracks?
• What is the rim model?
• What is the brake pad material?
• How old is the brake pad material?

I have swopped the rims out between Aluminum Fulcrum, Aluminum shimano, Full carbon Token.

All the wheels and pads drag. Carbon pads are token and a few months old. Normal pads are  Shimano 105 and 2 months old

The carbon Token's braking is impressive on my other bike

[DieselnDust]

24 minutes ago, Sloth1987 said:

I have swopped the rims out between Aluminum Fulcrum, Aluminum shimano, Full carbon Token.

All the wheels and pads drag. Carbon pads are token and a few months old. Normal pads are  Shimano 105 and 2 months old

The carbon Token's braking is impressive on my other bike

this is even more confusing now.

So you're using the same wheels between two bikes and swap the pads with the wheels.

On bike 1 the combo works great

On Bike 2 the combo works poorly.

 

Are the rim brakes on one bike direct mount and the other bike conventional single mount dual pivot?

What manufacturer and models are the two bikes?

[Sloth1987]

3 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

this is even more confusing now.

So you're using the same wheels between two bikes and swap the pads with the wheels.

On bike 1 the combo works great

On Bike 2 the combo works poorly.

 

Are the rim brakes on one bike direct mount and the other bike conventional single mount dual pivot?

What manufacturer and models are the two bikes?

[Sloth1987]

Yes the one bike is fine but not the other. Both use the same single bolt 105 R7000 caliper.

Brake performance is worse on mine than a Bianchi of 15 years ago

 

[dirtypot]

If you take the wheel out and pull the brake lever, are the calipers moving properly and smoothly?  Pulling in far?  Or are they getting snagged and the lever becomes tight?

[The Ouzo]

i'm no expert, but random thought

Have you tried a different cable routing to the brake ?

Could the cable housing perhaps be compressing more on the one bike than the other ?

[Eugene]

Something simple which can be easily missed. 

Is that lever that open and closes the brakes for wheel removal in the closed postion? 

 

 

 

 

[DieselnDust]

If the brake are similar but pads and wheels are the same and the only performance differentiator is the bike then I suspect it’s a matter of fork or brake mounting flex.

or

It’s the dual pivot caliper cantering and spring tension that not set correctly on the bike with poor brake performance