AICAN offset brake blocks review

If you want to run 28c tyres or more on a rim-brake road bike you'll probably need deep-drop calipers. Whilst you can get some pretty decent ones, they're not generally as good as the best short-drop calipers from the likes of Shimano, Sram and Campagnolo. But before you say "should have bought a disc-brake bike", there is another option.

These replacement brake blocks offset the fixing bolt from the braking surface giving you about a centimetre of extra drop. It’s such a simple and effective idea I’m surprised you don’t see more of these.

Fitting is slightly more fiddly than normal blocks because of the offset, but once done they work really well.

I fitted them to my Ultegra 6800 callipers and they feel just the same as with regular blocks. They certainly feel better the long-drop callipers I’ve tried that can give a bit of a spongy brake feel. One thing to watch is that you don’t get the same overall clearance around the tyre as you do with the purpose-designed long-drop callipers, so something to bear in mind if you have mudguards that require good clearance.

Overall these are inexpensive and definitely worth trying, especially if you’ve already got some short drop callipers lying around you can use. As disc brakes become more popular it may be that groupset manufacturers become even less interested in producing decent long-drop callipers, so these could be a good way of giving you more options on your long-drop frame in the future.

Around £16 a pair on eBay.

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