Planet X brakes

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Brandonnie
Posts: 94
Joined: Sat May 12, 2012 5:48 am

by Brandonnie

Seems powercordz wont work well with the clamping system. There are aluminum and titanium cables which are roughly half the weight if steel cables.

Velofreak

by Velofreak

awesome price!! could you comment about performance compared to a dula pivot shimano brake?

by Weenie


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Bianchi10
Posts: 836
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:53 pm

by Bianchi10

Velofreak wrote:awesome price!! could you comment about performance compared to a dula pivot shimano brake?


I personally have minimal experience with them. maybe 5 miles so far. I think the spring is stiffer than the Ultegra, but the modulation seems to have a very slight "squishier" feeling. When I say SLIGHT, I do mean slight. Paired with the green swiss stop pads they seem to perform very well. I felt that that more I close the barrel the "tighter" and harder it would brake, not just effect how far away the pads were from the wheel.

Skorp
Shop Wrench
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 12:54 am

by Skorp

Hi!

I have a set of these brakes:

Image

They have no power, and the feel of the lever is very soft.
Is this normal on these brakes? Are they just bad? Did i set them up wrong? Using some rubber carbon brake pads i cant remember where i bought or what brand it is...

Should i start saving for a Kcnc C7? :D

TimmS
Posts: 424
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2011 6:46 pm
Location: Amsterdam

by TimmS

No experience with those brakes, but I can advise you not to buy KCNC brakes either, they are also very flexible and have poor braking power.

Personally I have good experiences with M5 and EE brakes.
Bit more expensive, but worth every penny when it comes to performance!

brearley
Posts: 392
Joined: Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:08 pm
Location: Hull

by brearley

i use them on my race bike, not quite the stopping power of my campagnolo ones but with reynolds blue they work perfectly, no problems at all with them.

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Martin.F
Posts: 781
Joined: Sat May 28, 2005 9:21 pm
Location: Norway, Drammen

by Martin.F

I must chime in on the KCNC. Poor stopping power in my experience. How much do you weigh? I have come to peace with the fact that I need heavier brakes for my required and expected braking power.

Skorp
Shop Wrench
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 12:54 am

by Skorp

I am pretty heavy at around 205lbs/93kg
I have only had cheap tektro, cheap cannondale and these cheap planet-x brakes.. They all felt horrible compared to some of my mates brakes. They have only normal weight brakes. EDIT My friends brakes: 105, Dura-Ace, Ultegra, Centaur and TRP i think

aaric
Posts: 430
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:10 pm

by aaric

The planet-x brakes generally work decently - They won't stop like the high end shimano brakes though. They have pretty good modulation, but lack the bite you get with a stiffer brake.

That being said - you have to make sure to use decent pads, and tighten the cable stop very tightly. If you aren't deforming the cable, its probably not tight enough. If the cable stop slips, which I've seen on two separate installations, the brake just feels like you can't really crank down on it, lacking power. Bad pads are also the source of many braking problems. Additionally, braking on carbon is going to usually be worse off than aluminum, but depends greatly on pad and rim choice as much or more than the choice of brakes.

If you're going to save up, get eebrakes if you want light and powerful.

Skorp
Shop Wrench
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 12:54 am

by Skorp

Okay, maybe i will try out some new pads..
I have Hed Stinger 5 tubs and HongFu 38mm tubs
I feel no difference between these wheels when it comes to braking power.
What is a decent pad then?

I have Pro-Lite carbon brakepads
Image

aaric
Posts: 430
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:10 pm

by aaric

For carbon, the SwissStop Black Prince pads generally work pretty well.

However, brakes for carbon rims are a bit of a can of worms - most manufacturers only honor warranties if you are using the pads they recommend...

quattrings
Posts: 479
Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2010 10:25 pm

by quattrings

I'll do a stoppie with these brakes on my race bike, I'm not even joking. These things are not that far of shimano brakes as some would suggest.
Check setup, get swissstop green pads.

oops just saw you're on carbon wheels, in that case don't get swissstop green, get blacks or reynolds cryo

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btompkins0112
Posts: 2635
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 3:04 am
Location: Mississippi

by btompkins0112

You are certainly having these issues due to your weight. These brakes function well up to 165ish pounds.


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Skorp
Shop Wrench
Posts: 90
Joined: Thu May 30, 2013 12:54 am

by Skorp

I understand! My goal for the season is around 185pounds..

by Weenie


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eric
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Location: Santa Cruz, California, USA
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by eric

Besides getting the right pads make sure the brakes are set up right. The pads should be square to the rim with a little toe-in. (I use a business card under the leading edge to set it). The flexier the brake arms the more toe in you need. You can look at the wear pattern on the pads to see if you need more or less toe in.

The design of those brakes looks like the leverage is variable. I'd set the brakes so the little red arm is pointed down very slightly when the brakes are engaged reasonably hard.

Make sure the pivots are cleaned and lubed and if they are adjustable (like on Shimano brakes) are adjusted to be as free as possible without play. The less friction there is in the brake, the more braking power you get for a given pull at the lever.

The brake cable slack should be set so the brake lever is a comfortable distance from the bar when the brakes engage the rim. Some people set their brakes with very little cable slack because they're scared of the brake levers bottoming out on the bar or are worried that they will need to brake and taking up slack takes too much time (it doesn't). But then their fingers are too far from the bar when the brakes engage so they can't squeeze the lever as hard. On Sram levers with adjustable reach I adjust the levers in even though I have normal length fingers for a 6' tall man. They're way too far out in the out position. Most of my bikes brakes engage with the lever at around 1/2 of the travel.

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