My lad races downhill & enduro - that crowd use nowt else & to good effect. Sometimes I wish he'd use the things more! He always ran Hope up to his last bike & I would bleed them for him. He now runs XTR & I'm glad he has a job in a bike shop. They're probably easy enough to work on but I can't be arsed!
Trp Spykes vs bb7
- Thread starter Imlach
- Start date
@robfinger Some good input there about rotor size.
I was thinking about this the other day - the disk pad size just seem so small in relation to a small disk too. What pisses off a lot of people here is we need to go out again and spend more cash on adapters and rotors. These things often get sold in sets with the small rotors too (like the BB7 sets I owned).
Was reading some shocking stuff on a cyclocross forum about the TRP stock pads in wet muddy conditions - many reports of riders unable to finish a national race! Couldn't believe what I was reading and bare in mind a cyclocross race lasts about 1 hour! Recommendation was to immediately replace the stock pads with XTR. FFS.
All this reminds me of early rim brake pads which were thick, but had such a small contact area on the ( chrome
) rim. Useless.
I think I'm dreading this whole thing. Going to have one last go of this in autumn, and will do only a front wheel test with some Pace RC31 forks. There will be a trusty V-brake on the rear
I was thinking about this the other day - the disk pad size just seem so small in relation to a small disk too. What pisses off a lot of people here is we need to go out again and spend more cash on adapters and rotors. These things often get sold in sets with the small rotors too (like the BB7 sets I owned).
Was reading some shocking stuff on a cyclocross forum about the TRP stock pads in wet muddy conditions - many reports of riders unable to finish a national race! Couldn't believe what I was reading and bare in mind a cyclocross race lasts about 1 hour! Recommendation was to immediately replace the stock pads with XTR. FFS.
All this reminds me of early rim brake pads which were thick, but had such a small contact area on the ( chrome
) rim. Useless.I think I'm dreading this whole thing. Going to have one last go of this in autumn, and will do only a front wheel test with some Pace RC31 forks. There will be a trusty V-brake on the rear
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@Woz oh I totally get it why ppl get mad, you buy something you expect it to work. I've noticed a lot of brakes nowadays have rotor options tho, if you're getting a whole kit you can specify how large you want your pizza cutters and you'll get everything matched to that. Personally I've always wondered why so many kits come with just 6" rotors, but then again I tend to get my brakes one at a time so I build what I want on my own.
I remember disks coming into affordable mainstream around late 90s/early 2000s (Depends on your definition of affordable I guess). Everyone I knew (all riding mtbs) thought it was a giant leap forward. Dry performance was almost as good as clampers, while wet performance was in a different league, and you were not grinding away your rims with grit picked up from the trail or suddenly losing your front brake because a stone got lodged a the pad.
I've tried two almost identical mid-price flat-bar Mongoose (Mongeese? Mongooses? Mongi?) bikes last week - one with some tektro (I think) mechanicals and one with some tektro hydros. Both used for many miles, both recently set up by a bike shop mechanic (as a paid service so not grumpy old me being unable to put a bike together). The mechs behaved exactly as I remember them and pretty much how imlach described. The hydros had a huge amount of lever creep until they would suddenly bite and lock the wheels. No modulation whatsoever. Nil. Zero. Just incredible stopping power delivered instantly. What's the point?!
For drop bars hydro STIs are expensive, severely limit your choice of drivetrain, not guaranteed to work well. Most importantly, I've come to a conclusion that they are completely unnecessary, especially if you build your own wheels.
I followed @Woz 's solution, sold off all the pizza-cutting abominations, freed up a bucket of cash and found myself at peace with myself and the bikes.
I've tried two almost identical mid-price flat-bar Mongoose (Mongeese? Mongooses? Mongi?) bikes last week - one with some tektro (I think) mechanicals and one with some tektro hydros. Both used for many miles, both recently set up by a bike shop mechanic (as a paid service so not grumpy old me being unable to put a bike together). The mechs behaved exactly as I remember them and pretty much how imlach described. The hydros had a huge amount of lever creep until they would suddenly bite and lock the wheels. No modulation whatsoever. Nil. Zero. Just incredible stopping power delivered instantly. What's the point?!
For drop bars hydro STIs are expensive, severely limit your choice of drivetrain, not guaranteed to work well. Most importantly, I've come to a conclusion that they are completely unnecessary, especially if you build your own wheels.
I followed @Woz 's solution, sold off all the pizza-cutting abominations, freed up a bucket of cash and found myself at peace with myself and the bikes.
Retrorockit
Old School Hero
I did a direct comparison on my 26" XC Softtail between the existing BB7 brakes 185/160 rotors and metallic pads, versus TRP Spyre and Spyke brakes. I upgraded the cables per TRP to Jagwire Elie Link with Aluminum hardlines instead of flex housing as needed. Nice weight weeny stuff for the XC bike.
So no brake cable compression there. The TRPs fit the Avid brackets, so no trouble swapping them around, and I got some flat bar road bike ratio brake levers for the Spyre road calipers. The SRAM 9.0 levers had the Speed dial feature, so adjustable ratio was not a problem. Metallic pads for the TRPs also.
TBH this test was a tryout for my 1500W 26" Ebike which had BB7s 203/185 metallic pads. I swapped and mismatched everything.
In the end the TRPS stayed on the XC bike. Mostly due to the custom hardline job. They work OK. But I saw no reason to replace the BB7s on the Ebike. I did duplicate the Jagwire cable upgrade there.. The BB7cable setup once done never needs to touched. The TRP pad adjuster requires a tool, and they have a barrel adjuster. So I think the pad adjusters are for setup, then the barrel adjusters for wear. Off the bike the TRPs feel like BB7s with sand in them.
The metal pads are huge on the Ebike. they don't get slippery at high speeds, and 1/5 the frequency of adjustment. Longer wear means they cost less to run also.
The big news for me which came later on are the Shimano ICE Tech RT86 rotors. they look like the RT76 but have an Aluminium core under the Steel braking surface. Minus 100*C brake temperature. But the big news for cable brakes is they don't make any noise when just one pad hits the rotor. The bimetal damps those vibrations. So quieter, longer pad life (less frequent adjustments) ,and smother more consistent braking. Not bad for a $10 each upcharge. They got tested on the Ebike first, and found their way at 160f/160r onto the XC bike for a weight saving there. I used the speed Dial levers to get a front/rear offset.
IMO on a 26" bike the BB7s can't be beat. But if you want to play around with lever ratios and such you can have fun with the TRPs 2 calipers, and assorted levers. You can make them feel a lot of different ways. But the BB7s just work the same way every time.
But on a seriously fast 26" Ebike BB7s are still doing the job.
So no brake cable compression there. The TRPs fit the Avid brackets, so no trouble swapping them around, and I got some flat bar road bike ratio brake levers for the Spyre road calipers. The SRAM 9.0 levers had the Speed dial feature, so adjustable ratio was not a problem. Metallic pads for the TRPs also.
TBH this test was a tryout for my 1500W 26" Ebike which had BB7s 203/185 metallic pads. I swapped and mismatched everything.
In the end the TRPS stayed on the XC bike. Mostly due to the custom hardline job. They work OK. But I saw no reason to replace the BB7s on the Ebike. I did duplicate the Jagwire cable upgrade there.. The BB7cable setup once done never needs to touched. The TRP pad adjuster requires a tool, and they have a barrel adjuster. So I think the pad adjusters are for setup, then the barrel adjusters for wear. Off the bike the TRPs feel like BB7s with sand in them.
The metal pads are huge on the Ebike. they don't get slippery at high speeds, and 1/5 the frequency of adjustment. Longer wear means they cost less to run also.
The big news for me which came later on are the Shimano ICE Tech RT86 rotors. they look like the RT76 but have an Aluminium core under the Steel braking surface. Minus 100*C brake temperature. But the big news for cable brakes is they don't make any noise when just one pad hits the rotor. The bimetal damps those vibrations. So quieter, longer pad life (less frequent adjustments) ,and smother more consistent braking. Not bad for a $10 each upcharge. They got tested on the Ebike first, and found their way at 160f/160r onto the XC bike for a weight saving there. I used the speed Dial levers to get a front/rear offset.
IMO on a 26" bike the BB7s can't be beat. But if you want to play around with lever ratios and such you can have fun with the TRPs 2 calipers, and assorted levers. You can make them feel a lot of different ways. But the BB7s just work the same way every time.
But on a seriously fast 26" Ebike BB7s are still doing the job.
Same
Retrorockit
Old School Hero
The TRP Spykes did seem to have a different ratio to them than the BB7s. Being newer perhaps they're more suitable for larger wheels?
There are some experienced Ebike builders who use them. I suppose Retrobike is not the place this test is going to happen.
I remember one "experienced" Ebuilder who was making a cargo bike. The long wheelbase led him to try BB7 for the rear. The frame had internal cable routing. He went back to hydro. I can just see 5 feet of loose cable housing flapping around inside the frame every time he pulled the brake lever.
There are some experienced Ebike builders who use them. I suppose Retrobike is not the place this test is going to happen.
I remember one "experienced" Ebuilder who was making a cargo bike. The long wheelbase led him to try BB7 for the rear. The frame had internal cable routing. He went back to hydro. I can just see 5 feet of loose cable housing flapping around inside the frame every time he pulled the brake lever.
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Retrorockit
Old School Hero
Since this is Retrobike 20 DH racing seasons should be enough. That would be-BB7s!
