Help me decide TRP Spyres and or Spykes please

[gerrymcm]

I'm planning my new bike and I'm favouring the the Spyke but wondered are Spykes and Spyres functionally the same?

I've read that the MTB version of BB7's are better than the road version, is this the same for Spykes/Syres?

Thanks
Gerry

[reohn2]

The difference is cable pull.
Spykes/BB7MTN are designed for use with flat bar V brake pull levers.
Spyres/BB7 Road are designed for use with drop bar levers designed for Dual Pivot brakes.

Tektro RL520 drop bar levers are designed for V brake cable pull brakes such as Spykes and BB7 MTN,but if you intend to use Shimano STI's or Campag Ergos you'll need Spyres or BB7 Road.

I use BB7 Road and find them very good stoppers with very good modulation.
Not a direct comparison but I have Spykes on my MTB and can't say they're any better than the BB7 Road on my other three bikes.

[gerrymcm]

Thanks R2,
That's good to hear that your spykes aren't any better stopping performance than your road bb7s.
I'm riding around on a set Shimano M575s, which are slated in the press but I've been happy with their performance overall.

I'm thinking now maybe I should go for Spyres and give myself some room to change levers to STI lever as opposed to Spykes, which will limit me to a limited range of V brake drop bar levers.

Out of curiosity do you use "compressionless" housing?

Thanks
Gerry

[reohn2]

....Out of curiosity do you use "compressionless" housing?

Thanks
Gerry

Not on the BB7 road (two sets on Salsa Vaya's one set on a Cannondale tandem)The Spykes have Compressionless housings on the MTB(Genesis Longitude)as the bike came fitted with them.

I prefer the simplicity of the BB7's for maintenance,adjustment and general use.
Also the Spyke caliper runs very close to the spokes on the front wheel due to the dish,within 2mm .I had to space the rotor off the hub with 2mm washers and adjust the caliper outward before I was happy with the set up,I don't know how you'd go one with centerlock hubs but I much prefer the BB7's .

[stewartpratt]

I'm using Spyres with Centerlocks. The caliper body does come *very* close to the spokes but I'm ok with it.

Compressionless housing is well worth it: it transformed my rear (FWIW I have full-length outer). Performance is comparable to BB7s IME. Setup is no more or less fiddly for either, but slightly different; the Spyres have the advantage of easier compensation for wear and also avoid the BB7s' issue of the inboard piston being hard to adjust and occasionally seizing, but it's quite fiddly getting an allen key through the spokes to adjust it when you do need to, and a multitool even more so. They're both good brakes, and the Spykes should be no different to the Spyres except for needing different levers. I'd say if you are (or might be) using drop bars you'd be daft to buy Spykes.

[boblo]

I have both BB7's Road and Spyres. They are very similar in braking performance with the BB7's just edging it. I think the Spyres would be improved with some Avid discs and sintered pads. I'm still on the OE ones.

The Spyres are a little easier to set up but they're both a bit of a faff to get just so. Afterwards, they're both ace. If you want to go really daft, get Shimano 685's. That's the future

[Brucey]

.... If you want to go really daft, get Shimano 685's. That's the future

685 is the 11s STIs that you need to be able to use the 785 calipers, isn' it? If you go down this route you will have to drop ~£480 (RRP, less if you shop around) on STIs and calipers only. DIscs (and gear stuff obviously) will be extra.

It might be the future, but to me it sounds like a lot of money for a brake that shimano themselves admit (in the service manual) will be likely to boil up if you use it on a long descent....

cheers

[gerrymcm]

Thanks all for the info and feeback, that's killed the Spykes, so it's Spyres which will be safer for various levers flat and or dropped, however it's got me thinking maybe I should re-mortgage the house for R685's!!!!

Stewart, when you say "*very* close" what would your estimate be? 2mm or 3mm although to be honest I don't know if that's too liitle or not but at least it might give me something to go by when i build my wheel.

Boblo, interesteding what you say about the pads and the discs could be improved upon, I note that TRP decribe their OE pads as being "Ultra Grippy".

Also one more question anybody point me at some "compressionless" housing please?

Thanks
Gerry

[boblo]

685's can be had from ze Garmans for ~£300.... Go on, you know you want to.

[gerrymcm]

£300 on brakes would leave something other than just the mineral oil boiling!!!

[boblo]

You can pick up Spyres VGC s/h for about £80 per pair so there are relatively good value. The main downside to the 685 STI's is replacement cost if you damage one. That an a very complex bit of kit might not be the right tool on a long tour away from civilisation

[Brucey]

re pads; 'ultra grippy' is pretty meaningless.... the manufacturers have figures that characterise the frictional coefficient cold, hot, wet, dry and also wear data. I just wish they would publish them.

Personally I would avoid a hydraulic brake on a touring bike if I thought I could get the power/modulation I needed from a cable operated brake. There are two reasons

1) if there is a leak when you are out in the wilds, you are stuffed
2) it isn't a smart idea to fit sintered pads to hydro brakes.

Sintered pads work better for lots of folk; they have a high friction coefficient, tolerate contamination better than some other types, and crucially, wear far more slowly than other types in wet conditions especially. They also conduct heat better too; this means that sintered pads don't appear on many OEM pad menus for hydro brakes, because they just cause them to boil up earlier than they would do otherwise.

BTW just to go back to the OP, fundamentally any brake system that runs longer cable travel at lower tension is likely to work a bit better. It'll be less sensitive to cable type and condition, too, just like V brakes are vs other caliper brakes. Since you can get nice brake levers (with the right cable pull for dropped bars) to work the Spykes I'd probably choose those if I were not going to use STIs.

cheers

[freeflow]

Trp hy/rd. You know you want to.

[reohn2]

A point about sintered pads.
I fitted them to the Spykes on the Longitude,as the organic ones that came as standard wore out in less than 200 mucky off road miles.
The sintered pads don't half squeal when warm on downhill sections.
I was thinking maybe going back to organics now the rotors have polished up with use and would be less abrasive,or even fitting Avid GS2 rotors as a solution.
Anyone any ideas?

[boblo]

I find the Avid discs are better than the Tektro ones. I used Tektro discs with my BB7's initially and there was a significant improvement when I changed to Avid's. I haven't tried my Spyres with sintered pads yet but every other brake I've used sintered with has gone better after the change.