Looking to the collective brain trust for a little help here - what are some solid/well-performing options for mid-reach rim brakes? I’d like to fit around a 35mm tire, perhaps even up to a 38. The Cane Creek eeBrakes are a bit cost-prohibitive, so I’m searching for other options. Shimano R451? Paul Racer?
Are you talking abt the limited run of longer reach EE brakes? For a custom build or a “production” bike? I find that unless the frame and fork are carefully made so the brakes mounts as high as the pads will allow, you cant utilize the brake’s full clearance. I have some mid reach TRPs that work well. The whiskey fork they are on is such that the pads end up in the middle of the height adjustment range, which is annoying. No such problem on the back bc the builder set the bridge at max height. Even with the whiskey IMHO sub optimal design, they could take wider than a 32 but an inflated 32 barely makes it through the brake pads. Regardless of how the frame/fork are designed to maximize the clearance, the brake QR only opens so wide, so getting an inflated wheel in and out is a limitation. I could inflate after putting the wheel in but I seem to always forget that, so I stick w 32 max. My recollection is that the TRPs were comparable to the VeloOrange mid reach brakes when I got the TRPs abt 2 yrs ago. I chose the TRPs based on looks preference. bRob English would be a good source of info, i think.
Thanks, yeah, I was referring to the longer reach eeBrakes that Rob and CC collaborated on. And, yes, certainly chatting with him as well, but thought it would be interesting to gain the community’s perspectives. It appears that TRP is no longer making rim brakes, which was unfortunate news to me when I began this search. Velo Orange has the Grand Cru. Is that the model you’re referring to? They look fine; I’d like to hear from someone who’s ridden with them…
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Yup, the grand cru. When I was shopping, I concluded they and the TRP were performance wise equivalent. Sad to hear there is one less option out there.
I have them on a well-loved Soma ES, ridden year-round in Chicago (so: flat, but weather). They replaced some Tektro 539s that eventually died. They’re fine. The modulation is a little better than the Tektros. I’m not really sure what I was thinking spending that much on marginally better brakes and probably would not again. I’m also stopping from at most 20mph on flat roads, so that is not much of a stress test and would not reveal a moderate performance difference if there were one. They are very pretty though.
Editing to add: the bike has nominal 32mm tires on it, and they do need to be deflated partially in order for a wheel to be removed.
I immediately had to think about this beautiful build here – and just realized that you wrote that article 
I use a Paul Racer on the front of my road bike because I have S&S couplers - medium reach when I used 700c wheels, long reach once I converted to 650b. I’ve been happy with the braking performance in both cases. In the rear, I used a Dura Ace dual-pivot caliper with 700c wheels, and now a Tektro 559 long reach caliper with 650b, ditto. I do use salmon pads.
Paul Racer does require a cable hanger, since it’s a center pull design (which also means the cable can be unhooked easily - why I use it with my coupled bike).
Among 47-57mm dual pivots, Shimano R451 has unpretty finish, but is inexpensive and works well (fairly stiff compared to, say, Tektro offerings). That would be my recommendation unless you’re looking for aesthetics as well. Velo Orange dual pivots have a nicer finish, but have their own odd aesthetic lines depending on what you care about.
Clearance of course mostly depends on the frame (axle to brake bolt) but there’s some variation wrong caliper options if your frameset has pads mid-slot or higher. Mike Varley (Black Mountain Cycles) has a nice blog measuring/comparing a bunch of dual pivot options from ~2012 or so. The original Shimano (Ultegra 6600 level) had better clearance than the 451, along with a prettier finish.
I don’t think any of the medium reach are mechanical-advantage optimized for Shimano 11-speed mechanical brifter cable pull, as the market demand for this disappeared with disc around the same time as demand for wider tires grew. But 451s and others will work fine.
Also, if you’re open to Paul Racers, medium reach dual pivot centerpull brakes from the 1970s still work great and have amazing clearance. The dia-compe versions are still produced, I think from the exact same forging molds (or at least unchanged design). But then you need to f*** around with cable hangers. My commute bike has a dia-compe centerpull front, and medium reach single pivot sidepull in the back for convenience and because it doesn’t take much braking power to lock up the rear wheel.
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I don’t know if they are still available, but the TRP RG957 are working like a charm on my steel groad bike. They take a gravelking SS 35mm that balloons to 37mm with a bit of space left.
Tektro R559s are a fine brake.
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The r559 is long reach (55-73mm), and it sounds like Josh is looking for medium reach (47-57mm).
Although maybe his frame is in the long reach zone (from brake bolt to rim).
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I have some vintage Shimano dual pivots (20 years old). Don’t even have a name on them beyond Shimano and they clear 38s and work so great. They are my “bad road” bike and are strong enough for all the underbiking I have ever been able to throw at them.
I think those are the 6600 (?) Ultegra level, that has the most clearance based on Mike Varley’s blog from ~2012.
Of course the frame’s axle-to-brake-bolt dimension is what it is, but may as well be able to max out that clearance without brake caliper adding in more limitation!
You can stop looking once you’ve found these. Performance is great, looks are great. Most others look cheap and nasty, or look too much like they’re trying not to be cheap & nasty - the Grand Cru are eeBrake power (genuinely) in a classy package.
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My everyday road bike is from 1977 and uses these brakes. It’s full of things that make me think about lost wisdom. The bike came stock with 165mm cranks, even though it’s sized for a full grown man. It has tons of tire clearance and brakes that are more than powerful enough. It has “engineered flex” by way of a quill stem, 25.4mm bars, and skinny steel tubes, so it rides nicely, especially with 32mm tires.
Sorry for the tangent, centerpull brakes just have that effect on me.
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Yeah, it’s striking to see a brake from the late 60s function as well as actually out there now (at least medium reach dual pivots) and also that its market position died out within 15 years. From what I understand, part of the reason was Campagnolo cache made single pivot sidepull brakes culturally more desirable. And it’s nice to not have to f*** around with cable hangers (which I suspect played a role in v-brakes taking over from cantilever brakes).
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This is a tangent, but I think v-brakes took over because of safety and liability issues: front straddle cable opening onto MTB tires if the brake cable fails = potentially catastrophic crash. In that sense, ease of setup is a (non-trivial) bonus.
I still have a post that Rivendell used to sell that mounts to the fork crown and catches the straddle cable, to keep it from landing on the tire and potentially locking the front wheel.
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What Rich said.
There is one upside to Paul Racer Mediums, which is that they open wider than Gran Cru if you change the standard MTB length brake pads for shorter Kool Stop CX shoes
IMO the Racer has better modulation, the Grand Cru feels more powerful
Either is excellent
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I prefer velo orange > shimano > tektro in terms on power/feel, all with kool stop salmon pads.
Velo orange and shimano are close. The velo orange has a bit of a bulky aesthetic. Wasn’t sure about it on a Rivendell Romulus I acquired but the brake feel combined with 38mm tire capacity makes me smile. So would shimano’s frankly.
Here’s a link to all the brakes available Josh! I made this for my RASA Frame but it’s a great resource for any rim brake nerd.
All Mid-Long Reach Brakes + Tubeless Rim Brake Rims in 700, 650 & 26
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