2manyoranges
Senior Retro Guru
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Grom (Cost Centre 2) has a Genesis Day One gravel bike with drops, and although the Spire brakes are good, he is used to the stopping power of four-pot Hopes, so the Spires are a bit lacking in raw power for him. So....since the Day One is single speed, I need some hydraulics which just have a lever and no gear mechanism. It seems that the only option is TRP Hylex - and I manage to pick up one secondhand rear and a new front. They are rare things, and it took a lot of hunting to find them.
Off comes the handlebar tape. A slight diversion into fitting a new Hope headset, then off with the Spires. We bought the Day One for 85gbp and it was a bit neglected - perfectly good but neglected - and I should have done a full service on the brakes - new cables, breakdown the calipers etc - but I hadn't. Wish I had, since the cables were tight and unlubricated in the outer housings, and the spire bearing races needed lubing, The cables were probably robbing a load of power, and I should have considered new sintered pads. Oh well. I have the Hyles now so let's get them on.
Drat, one of the three cable clamps on the down tube is stripped, so it's out with the drill to get it off. Tedious and meticulous work but all goes well and I clean up the thread with a lubed stainless bolt - all good.
Clean discs right down, anti seize on all the bolts and on goes the front, bit of disc straightening required - glad I bought the nice thick Unior disc tool. Then, after getting rid of a slight lack of true in the rear wheel - some very loose spokes - a bit of faffing to get the right slack in the hose in the right place in the run to the rear, and the rear is sorted too.
Nice adjustments on the levers - 3mm allen key to adjust the lever bit point, which is nice. Goodness these are powerful brakes, with a really good positive bike point. I had to swop levers over since they were continental - just a quick undo of the banjos on each lever and a quick careful swop - so I will do a full bleed, despite them already feeling very good.
These seem to be very good brakes. Lovely lever design which feel great in the hand, easy to stop the bike with hands on the hoods. Good adjustability and nice finish. Recommended for all single speed users with drops.
Off comes the handlebar tape. A slight diversion into fitting a new Hope headset, then off with the Spires. We bought the Day One for 85gbp and it was a bit neglected - perfectly good but neglected - and I should have done a full service on the brakes - new cables, breakdown the calipers etc - but I hadn't. Wish I had, since the cables were tight and unlubricated in the outer housings, and the spire bearing races needed lubing, The cables were probably robbing a load of power, and I should have considered new sintered pads. Oh well. I have the Hyles now so let's get them on.
Drat, one of the three cable clamps on the down tube is stripped, so it's out with the drill to get it off. Tedious and meticulous work but all goes well and I clean up the thread with a lubed stainless bolt - all good.
Clean discs right down, anti seize on all the bolts and on goes the front, bit of disc straightening required - glad I bought the nice thick Unior disc tool. Then, after getting rid of a slight lack of true in the rear wheel - some very loose spokes - a bit of faffing to get the right slack in the hose in the right place in the run to the rear, and the rear is sorted too.
Nice adjustments on the levers - 3mm allen key to adjust the lever bit point, which is nice. Goodness these are powerful brakes, with a really good positive bike point. I had to swop levers over since they were continental - just a quick undo of the banjos on each lever and a quick careful swop - so I will do a full bleed, despite them already feeling very good.
These seem to be very good brakes. Lovely lever design which feel great in the hand, easy to stop the bike with hands on the hoods. Good adjustability and nice finish. Recommended for all single speed users with drops.
