Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

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Norvass
Posts: 38
Joined: 12 Dec 2008, 11:03pm
Location: Northumberland

Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by Norvass »

I have for several years used the Avid BB7 road disc brake and I am now just coming to terms with the Hayes CX Expert disc brake found on my Genesis CDF 931 2014 model. They both seem quite similar but I am interested to know if anyone has experience of the TRP Spyre disc brakes. I understand they were withdrawn but have been re-launched.
SoloRider
Posts: 49
Joined: 7 Apr 2013, 10:06pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by SoloRider »

Tektro Lyra? :lol:
grani
Posts: 227
Joined: 25 Mar 2014, 8:10am

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by grani »

I have used Spyres with Shimano 105 5700 STI levers on my commuter bike since February and have been very happy with them.

Compared to hydraulic brakes there is no real comparison but the Spyres have dealt with moderate mud and plenty of rain without any problems at all. Minor adjustments for pad wear has been all I've done to them.
reohn2
Posts: 45159
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by reohn2 »

Norvass
Is there a problem with the BB7's?
I find they give everything I want from a brake,plenty modulation with awesome stopping power,wet or dry :)
I've looked at photos of the Spyres,they seem to have no plastic parts which is a plus and they also don't seem to have the bulk of BB7 calipers.
Cost is about the same.
But how they perform is the crucial test,though Grani seems happy with his.
Grani
Is there an adjuster for both pads like BB7's ?

Edit:- just watched the TRP video for fitting Spyres,there doesn't seem to be an adjuster on the inside pad,and adjustment of the outer one is by a 3mm allen key :?
A bit small methinks,I'd want to treat the threads with copper grease and wind the pad in and out occasionally to make sure the adjuster doesn't get seized as a hex head so small could easily round off if stuck
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Neilo
Posts: 421
Joined: 11 Dec 2013, 4:15pm
Location: Swansea Valley

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by Neilo »

I have spires on my 2015 CDF 10. They're the cable ones, not the cable/hydro. I have not looked at them in any detail yet, apart from checking that the cables are firmly clamped. The good thing is that both pads move rather than just one like other cable brakes. They seem to have good stopping power, stopping me from 40mph quickly, not grabby and seem to have good modulation. I've not needed to adjust them yet, not done enough miles.

Neil
If it aint broke, fix it til it is.
grani
Posts: 227
Joined: 25 Mar 2014, 8:10am

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by grani »

reohn2 wrote:Norvass
Is there a problem with the BB7's?
I find they give everything I want from a brake,plenty modulation with awesome stopping power,wet or dry :)
I've looked at photos of the Spyres,they seem to have no plastic parts which is a plus and they also don't seem to have the bulk of BB7 calipers.
Cost is about the same.
But how they perform is the crucial test,though Grani seems happy with his.
Grani
Is there an adjuster for both pads like BB7's ?

Edit:- just watched the TRP video for fitting Spyres,there doesn't seem to be an adjuster on the inside pad,and adjustment of the outer one is by a 3mm allen key :?
A bit small methinks,I'd want to treat the threads with copper grease and wind the pad in and out occasionally to make sure the adjuster doesn't get seized as a hex head so small could easily round off if stuck


I wouldn't really say that the Spyres have any major advantage over the BB7s in terms of stopping power. The Spyres have easily the same stopping power and are very easy to set up so that the pads don't rub the rotor. They have excellent modulation and use standard Deore type brake pads.

I have done about 4,000 miles so far and have just adjusted for pad wear by tightening the barrel adjuster very slightly and adjusting the outer pad very slightly with the allen key adjuster. It is a good point that the adjuster bolt threads could seize but since I use the bike so regularly I think adjusting it every 3 months will probably keep it from seizing.

For me the brakes have been as near fit and forget as I could have wished for. Although they Spyres have seen relatively harsh conditions with minimal maintenance so far I would want another year or so of similar use to pass a final verdict on them.

The recall is a bit of a red herring as it was because the brake arm over extended when the brake pads wore away completely and disabled the already not working brake. The new model just prevents the arm from travelling that far.
stewartpratt
Posts: 2566
Joined: 27 Dec 2007, 5:12pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by stewartpratt »

I've had both Spyres and BB7s... Both are good brakes. Some notes from my experience, in no particular order:

- The Avid mounting bolts will easily cope with imperfections in disc tab alignment; the TRP ones not so much. I suspect this is rarely if ever an issue in practice (if it is, the solution is to get the mounts faced).

- Both seem equally powerful. I've used the BB7s with Tiagra 4600 levers and the Spyres with 105 5700s; the latter feel softer. This may be due to the brakes, the slightly different lever pull, or both. The pads may also be affecting this and I'm not sure what type each had/has.

- The TRP bodies are rather wide on the inboard side: they only just clear the spokes from my XT dyno hub by maybe 1mm, at the extreme of their mounting position.

- The TRPs don't have rubber boots for the cables. If your rear brake is chainstay-mounted then I suspect there may be a little more of an issue with water ingress to the cable.

- Both brakes do have pad adjusters on both sides. I've found the inboard ones on both are awkward: the BB7s are very stiff, and the Spyres are tricky to get at through the spokes even with a normal allen key, let alone a multitool.

- Most people say the Spyres set up easier. Personally, I would give the nod to the BB7s, but then I've used them for years and only set up Spyres once. But they are more finicky than you might think from reading the Internet. To get either working with a good bite point at the lever but zero skimming of the pad is a little bit of an art; rotors are generally not perfectly straight.

- Both need a little tweak of tension to remove the initial play in the lever stroke. It's easy to do this with both, but arguably a little easier with the TRPs' barrels.

- Pad availability should be good for both: the TRPs use a Shimano-compatible pad, and Avids are plentiful.

Overall, I've found them both to be good brakes. I was a little underwhelmed with the road BB7s because they're just a bit more fussy than the MTB versions I've used for years, and I was a little underwhelmed by the Spyres because a lot of people rave about them and actually the dual piston thing doesn't prove to be as much of a benefit as I'd hoped it might be. (It would probably be more compelling off-road, due to faster pad wear.)

If I was buying again, I'd happily buy either.
Last edited by stewartpratt on 15 Sep 2014, 9:02pm, edited 1 time in total.
don1
Posts: 107
Joined: 14 Jun 2013, 8:06pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by don1 »

I've specified TRP Hy/Rd on my new Croix de Fer build. I shall report back once it's delivered.
Norvass
Posts: 38
Joined: 12 Dec 2008, 11:03pm
Location: Northumberland

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by Norvass »

Thanks everybody for helpful advice
Brucey
Posts: 44522
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by Brucey »

to the comments already posted I'd add that the dual piston approach of the spyres is not going to yield any improvement in power per se because it doesn't change the caliper MA. My suspicion is that the spyre caliper is a bit flexier than the BB7.

In general terms there is a fundamental problem with most road disc calipers which is the stroke available in the mechanism. Most manufacturers make an MTB and a 'Road' version of the same brake. Usually the MTB version of the caliper has a useful arm movement of around 90 degrees, in which the brake will still work OK. But in the 'road' version the useful range of arm movement might look as if it is going to be 90 degrees too, but in reality it might be only a little more than half of that.

So my advice to anyone with a new cable disc for road use is to do these things;

1) with the wheel removed (and one of the pads too if necessary, move the brake arm by hand and see what its useful range actually is. When it gets to the end of the useful range one of three things will happen; the arm will just stop dead, the pads will stop moving inwards, or there will be a 'clunk' sound and the pads will suddenly move outwards not inwards. [It is my understanding that the first TRP spyres did the last thing...] If the brake wears so that you get anywhere near the end of the useful range when the brake is on normally, you are just about to be in big trouble. If the brake comes on with at least 15mm of useful cable pull at the caliper remaining, that would be a good thing.

2) when you set the brake up, if you can do, adjust the pads and the cable so that the brake comes on in the first 10mm of arm movement from the far stop (i.e. the arm position when the cable is slack or disconnected altogether). It is OK to use a barrel adjuster to take up a little slack (e.g. in the course of a single ride), but after that you need to back the barrel adjuster off and then use the pad adjusters on the caliper to reset the bite point to where it was before. If you do this you will never run out of arm travel.

hth

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
mattsccm
Posts: 5101
Joined: 28 Nov 2009, 9:44pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by mattsccm »

See Brucey's post above. Point one
I guess the clunk version is what my Tektro Lyras were doing.
mrjemm
Posts: 2933
Joined: 20 Nov 2011, 4:33pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by mrjemm »

Paul Klamper perhaps? :wink:

http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/09/16/ib1 ... l-weights/

Image

Styling seems a Paulified BB7, but those big Al dials look so much better to use than the so-so BB7 ones, and Paul quality is for me. As for price though? Hmmm, will be scary, I am sure.
reohn2
Posts: 45159
Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by reohn2 »

Yep,agreed,the Pauls look good.
I'd like to see metal adjustment knobs on BB7's,it would make a great caliper unbeatable IMHO.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
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AnAmerican111
Posts: 1
Joined: 13 Oct 2014, 3:19pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by AnAmerican111 »

Purchased a set of the Sprye SL brakes.
Back one replaced a BB-5 just fine.
Good mechanical brake feel and better stopping power with dual sided pistons

Front Spyre brake would not clear the spokes due to the inside arm side. Using a 160 rotor. Don't wish to go 180 on a x bike but tried it and still would not clear.
Tried 2 different wheel sets.
Really?.....TRP didn't check that out during design?

Still waiting from response from TRP?.....................

I would be careful if you're thinking about purchasing these Sprye brakes. They obviously did not do the necessary testing for inside clearance
Brucey
Posts: 44522
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Mechanical disc brakes for road bikes. The best?

Post by Brucey »

it might be helpful to others if you can say which hubs (and rims if they have a staggered spoke bed) you are using if there is a clash; I would suppose that it doesn't happen with all disc wheels.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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