# Quick Review-Tektro RX-5 Mini V



## jroden (Jun 15, 2004)

I bought a set of these mini v brakes for cheap off ebay and figured I'd give them a whirl. They are easy to install, but you need to have a shorter bolt to attach them to your bike, or hacksaw the ones that come with the brakes. The actual adjustment is kind of a picky affair becuase you have to be close enough to the rims to get braking action, but not so close that they rub. Unlike earlier mini-v's, the cable over the top of the tire offers plenty of clearance.

Well, as of the conclusion of yesterdays ride, I have a mini v still on the front, but who know for how much longer. I had to swap my froglegs back onto the back wheel as the clearance between the brake pads and the wobbly beat up wheels I use to train (and race) on made the brakes drag unless I had the cable set pretty slack. I tried some differen setups, but my concern is that during a race a banged up wheel would start to rub, mud would cause rubbing or if I set the cable looser the pads would wear enough that I would lose my ability to lock up the wheel.

It's a shame because they are great brakes, which is why is kept the front one on for now. They really work as well as a road brake without the mushy feeling of the canti brakes.

As it sits, they are a nice brake maybe for someone else with straight wheels and a nice tidy course to race on, but perhaps not the best for me.


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## CXinME (Oct 12, 2004)

Try them with the Jagwire adjustable noodle.


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## yashashana (Nov 4, 2005)

*Mini V-brakes*

I too have just installed these same brakes on my race and pit bikes. I ended up replacing my Shimano BR550 brakes on my race bike and Empella Froglegs on my pit bike. 

As compared to the BR550's, these brakes have roughly the same amount of clearance (2mm), have a much grippier feel, and hardly any brake squeal and almost no front brake shuddering. What I really like about the V-brakes is that the effort needed to brake is significantly less than either the Empella's or Shimano brakes, so that you can feather the brake with two fingers and still come to a complete stop, even when the course is wet. The braking is slightly less active in the rain and the stock pads became quite worn after several hard rides in the rain and mud, but it is noticeably better than withy my other brakes. Currently I have the SwissStop GHP brake blocks, which I took off the BR550's on my Race bike set up, and am quite impressed with the feel, power, and also the clearance of these brakes. I ended up buying a noodle with an integrated adjuster barrel to make this setup work.

As compared to the Empellas, the V-brakes have about half to a third less clearance. I was fairly inept at setting up the empella Froglegs so they were always squealing and the fork was shuddering pretty terribly on my steel 1 inch fork. I never really liked the Empella's due to the difficulty in setting these brakes up. I realize that there is a dark art of cantilever adjustment, but I also like things that are easy to setup, cheap to replace, and are effective in all conditions.

I will be bringing both bikes to Suckerbrook this weekend if you guys want to test out the setup. This will be the first race I do with the V-brakes, so I am hoping that the wheels will not rub the brake pads during out of saddle climbs.

Finally, the previous poster is right, the wheels must be very true for this setup to work well.


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## jroden (Jun 15, 2004)

yashashana said:


> Finally, the previous poster is right, the wheels must be very true for this setup to work well.


A visit to my wheel storage bin in the cubbord under the stairs at number 4 privit drive will reveal that I have no such straight wheels at this point in the season, maybe by spring.


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## yashashana (Nov 4, 2005)

*Wobbly wheels*

I can assume nothing is more soul crushing than hearing the rythmic sounds of out-of-true rims scraping against your brake blocks during a race. I always know I am going slow if...
1) The time in between the scraping noise gets longer and longer
2) If I look down and I can read the labels on my wheels.


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## Juanmoretime (Nov 24, 2001)

Nice reviews guys. I'm running the same brakes and dang do they stop! I would never go back to canti's. I bought the adjustable noodles and will be installing them this weekend.


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## CouchingTiger (Mar 5, 2007)

I have a set of those brakes on my spare cross rig and finally gave up and installed travel agent (leverage enhancers) with them. Work great now and you can have them adjusted out enough so that they don't rub and you can actually unhook the dang noodle.

-Couch


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## Juanmoretime (Nov 24, 2001)

Does anyone know if these will use the standard Shimano v-brake pad for a replacement pad?


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## elmar schrauth (Feb 19, 2007)

every standard shimanopad will fit on the tektros rx5

i am going in my 3. season with them.

if the rear brake doesnt work ,check the cables

we sold over 200 pairs of them 
all work perfect.


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## kajukembo (Jan 20, 2003)

i have em on my single speed and yes they stop very well and you do indeed need to keep your wheels true. however, i have no plans to put em on my two geared bikes. i don't prefer the lack of muc clearance.


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## atpjunkie (Mar 23, 2002)

*I have my canti's well adjusted*

and they stop me as well as I need to plus I feel I have superior modulation and clearance


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## turbomatic73 (Jan 22, 2004)

*another convert*

I installed the RX-5's on my recently built up Kelly and just got back from the first ride/cross practice. This brakes are great! No squealing, no shuttering and tons of power. I had to re-learn how to feather the brakes since a little squeeze goes a long way with these--if i grab the brakes like I used to on my cane creek cantilevers i come to a dead stop. 

No need for a travel agent either--I have more pad clearance than I used to w/ the cane creeks, so i don't think they're necessary. The STI levers do bottom out on the handlebars under hard braking, but you stop so quick it's not really an issue. 

For $30 on ebay, these are a sweet deal.


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