New Brake Upgrade for my Giant Escape (from TEKTRO to AVID)

Finally, I have found my spare time to change and upgrade the current brake system of my customized Giant Escape 1 Hybrid Commuter Single Speed rig just in time the day before a Major Ride.

FROM: TEKTRO 857AL / CL 530 LINEAR PULL BRAKE SYSTEM

TO: AVID SINGLE DIGIT 7 / SPEED DIAL 5 LINEAR PULL BRAKE SYSTEM

Read on to see How I managed to do it...

Just to give you a good back ground, back then in the Philippines, I had only Disc Brakes on my mountain bike builds. they are easy to install and easy to maintain. I had used both the Mechanical and Hydraulic type of Disc Brake system. I never used, installed or maintain V-brakes on my former bikes so this will be my first time in doing so. The level of difficulty is around moderate, but much harder than installing disc brakes. It took me around 3 hours to remove the old one and install the new set. (damn)

Googled and Printed the User's Manual from AVID's website

This is my First time to deal with V-brakes so I need to familiarize myself before I do the upgrade to prevent me from messing up and waste everything. Lol!

Items and Tools for the Trade

All items shown above came from the Philippines where it is more cheaper to buy there than here in Doha, and the Avid Brake set is not even available here locally. I had chosen AVID instead of SHIMANO because of the  good reviews that I have seen in the Internet. Personally, I would Prefer to have a Disc Brake System on my Rig, but the Frame set (Fork & Frame) does not have disc mounts and is only intended for V-brake system. (Shown Above is as follows: Avid Speed Dial 5 brake lever, Avid Single Digit 7 brake calipers and attachments, MOB Cable ferules and cable ends, a Generic Cable cutter and Pliers and my Crank Brothers M-10 Multi-Tool.)

on my makeshift repair stand

I started at 03:30 in the afternoon, by the way it is summer time down here in Doha and since it is very hot outside (around 40 deg Celsius) I decided to just messed around inside the house.

Tektro V-Brake Levers on the Handle Bar

Dismounting the Front V-Brake (model: Tektro 857AL Linear Pull type V-Brake)

Front V-Brake Removed exposing the V-Brake Mount on the Fork

Removed Tektro 857AL V-brake Calipers form the Front

Dismounting the rear V-Brake (model: Tektro 857AL Linear Pull Type V-Brake)

Rear V-Brake was removed exposing the rear V-Brake mount boss on the frame's Seat Stays

Positioning the Avid Single Digit 7 brake caliper on the spring hole of the V-Brake Mount

Avid Single Digit 7 installed on the Fork's V-Brake mount

Installing the Rear Avid Single Digit 7 V-brake Caliper

Just removed the Handle Bar grip and the Brake Lever

Installed new handle bar grip and the Avid Speed Dial 5 brake lever

Installed the brake able with the ferule (sorry, the cable was a bit out of focused.)

Installed the brake cable with the cable end

I finished installing the new set of Brakes by 6:15pm, Just in time for me to attend my night time class. I was in a hurry that is why I forget to took a final Photo of the finished product.  (BTW, I am a Civil Engineer in profession and I currently enrolled myself on a Project Management Course in a night class.)

I have tested this on the ride the next day, and I was fully satisfied by the performance. This is more reliable than the former system, however, the Brake Pads which is included on the Avid Single Digit 7 is much thinner than those included on the former system.

THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG....

Related articles: 

Parts for my Upgrade Project

Giant Escape SS Conversion Project version 1.0

Giant Escape SS Conversion Project version 2.0

My Very First Customized Mountain Bike Build