Looking for an opinion on Brakes.

I'm in the same situation as yourself so here is my thinking.

Zero Gravity = too expensive for the sake of a few grams.  Unless you are doing seriously hilly courses then the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Dura Ace = the best value for money and they are perfectly OK

SRAM RED = lighter than dura ace and campy and I prefer the feel of them to dura ace (never used campys), they seem to provide a stronger braking force.

I've decided to go with the SRAM Red callipers because of weight, looks and power.  More pricey than dura ace but I've got plenty of time to hold out for a good deal

Why would you consider DA to be a better "value for money " than Ultegra (at half the DA price)?

fwiw

on the cervelo.com forum folks have written lots about brakes, and it seems most prefer DA over ZG for braking force and feel.

i'm cheap. i have ultegra. but i upgraded from (i thought) some decent cables to DA cables and holy crap it was amazing. so in the back of my mind i wonder if - except for a few grams weight over DA - a set of ultegra brakes with DA cables might be a great way to go

I've got 105's on my race bike, and 105 single-pivots (yup, OLD school) on my training bike. When I was bike racing I used the Brew brakes (also single pivot), which were very light and good enough with the Ultegra levers. After I got some weight on me, they got kind of scary though.

RE: Looking for an opinion on Brakes.

I'm in favor of them......

Oh, what kind?  I like shimano Ultegra with some nice carbon break levers...

Nah, no weight weenie, i roll at 240, what is a few grams????

Sram Carbon shifters and levers, Sram Red Crank and Ft DR, Sram Force rear DR, Have not decided on an Aerobar yet, have spinergy Stealth PBO wheels off my roadie that will be trainers, and going to go with Edge Elite 85mm rear with a Wheel cover and i would love a Nimble 3 spoke or a Corima or Ceepo d-botfly 4 spoke front in the future for a race setup. It'll be a few weeks or a month till i post porn pics, but i really have no idea what i want for brakes, the only stipulation is they must be black, so that really rules out most Shimano stuff, for some reason they do not like black and i do not like silver or chrome, i was actually leaning twords Campy Record Skeleton. I have tektro's on my roadie and am not happy with the rear brake.

Thanx for all the replies and keep them coming!!

I meant out of the top of the line brakes.  Sorry, should have made that more clear. 

If you're going for aesthetics, wanting black, Shimano 105s do come in black.  The Tektro R750s get good reviews, as do their TRP versions, all of them black. Which Tektro brakes are you not happy with?

Other black calipers that come tomind are Cane creeks - not sure what model.

I have a set of Oval Concepts A700 aero brakes (black) that I'm selling on ebay right now because I was given a set of ZGs that I'm going to try. They actually had great stopping power, the only downside to them was that they have no quick-release for fast wheel changes; the adjuster nut on the noodle had to be manually adjusted for this, but no biggie.

I have R750's on my Roadie, the front works great, but the rear hangs up all the time, it is a PITA, i have adjusted the cable, cleaned, tweaked etc... and it still hangs.

Is there that much of a difference or are you paying for name?? Will 105's stop as well as FSA's or Campy's or are there slight differences in material and performance. Obviously i am not cheaping out on the bike, but i do not want to waste $150 on brakes i do not need, when i can get a similarly performing unit for $100 bucks versus $300. Cane Creek has some nice stuff and i am looking at them also.  Thanx for the input!!!

Best all around would have to be Ultegras with Dura Ace pads on them (yes, they make a difference).

I love the feel and stopping power of the DA calipers and if it wasn't about weight for me, they would still be on my road bike (I do have them on my tri bike).

I have a pair Zero Gravity OG 06 Ti on my road bike.  Less than 200 grams for the set (including pads) and the dry stopping power is remarkably good!  I was pleasantly surprised by that.

Sorry, I was misunderstood: I was talking about the Oval Concepts not having a quick release mechanism, not the ZGs. 

I have Cane Creek SL's on my bike.  

(CCbrakes.bmp)