Trp Spykes vs bb7

[Imlach]

I'm running drop bars, with long-pull tektro levers as of tonight, similar to the ones in Woz's photo. If I keep my hands on the hoods, there's no bite. If I use the full lever from the drops, I'm starting to get some response. Part of the problem is the different pivot location and part of the problem is the longer cable pull I guess, but still, I expect a lot more bite.
Might take them on another wee cycle, but will be enjoying the bliss of caliper brakes on a different bike tomorrow morning.

I'm definitely not buying another disk brake frameset ever, even if that means that I'll need to braze my own frames from various Reynolds scraps that I can find at the tip. Enough is enough. Pizza cutters are for pizzazz.
I still have a few options with this frameset though.
- Ebay it and be happy
- Put in a flat bar and be happy.
- Put in BMX calipers (will require some epoxy & cf reinforcing work on the rear triangle mount ), build a new wheelset and be happy.

Ah I see, once I've finished this film and my beer I'll weigh in

 

[Woz]

I'm running drop bars, with long-pull tektro levers as of tonight, similar to the ones in Woz's photo. If I keep my hands on the hoods, there's no bite. If I use the full lever from the drops, I'm starting to get some response. Part of the problem is the different pivot location and part of the problem is the longer cable pull I guess, but still, I expect a lot more bite.
Might take them on another wee cycle, but will be enjoying the bliss of caliper brakes on a different bike tomorrow morning.

I'm definitely not buying another disk brake frameset ever, even if that means that I'll need to braze my own frames from various Reynolds scraps that I can find at the tip. Enough is enough. Pizza cutters are for pizzazz.
I still have a few options with this frameset though.
- Ebay it and be happy
- Put in a flat bar and be happy.
- Put in BMX calipers (will require some epoxy & cf reinforcing work on the rear triangle mount ), build a new wheelset and be happy.

First I think you should crack open some booze and join the "other" thread to drown your sorrows.

Second, I totally sympathise with you on this. Why. Why. Why can this be so god damn complicated?

It's like you do 4 + 4 and get 6. Get the right lever for the right caliper and end up with something worse. I don't get it too.

My own theory is that so called linear pull levers are not linear pull and so called linear pull calipers are not linear either. Somewhere there is rough approximation going on and in a complete system it just doesn't have that user feedback throughout the lever stroke and brake performance you expect. If someone told me my mind and muscle memory is utterly fried and fcuked up with cantis, caliper and V-brakes I would marginally accept it, but equally don't feed me shit about how good disks are.

Going to calm down now and hit the blood bag for some more red.

 

[Imlach]

So, with discs I find that the pull is far less direct and engaging than that you've got with v brakes, I don't know why. I don't know **** all about the mechanics behind things, but I know how to set up a brake and as a person who weighs 300 pound I have strict requirements else I simply cannot stop.

I find that my Spykes do brake equally to my rim brakes if:

1.Pads aligned so closely that they're rubbing the disc. Lightly.
2. I apply extra force to the levers. And by extra I mean excessive even by rim brake standards.

I have never been able to 1 finger brake with any setup. But putting 3 fingers on there and squeezing hard to get adequate braking power is annoying of course. I have no doubt that if my partner, who weighs around 120 pounds were to ride it, she'd find the brakes a bit too powerful perhaps. So that should be taken into consideration. I'd definitely recommend MTB type levers for additional cable pull, I've even seen roadies on road specific forums play around with that as they found brakes inadequate with road type levers.

I will keep running my setup as is and then in a month or two try different housing and more classic v brake levers.

 

[M_Chavez]

Unfortunately, I've quit drinking about 9 years ago, so the only way for me to deal with pizza cutters is to apply Woz's disk brake hack. Which is what I will do.
Agree - the cable pull must be different for each lever & caliper, so only some combinations work.
What grinds my gears, is that the answer to getting some basic braking performance almost always seems to spend more cash. Choose better pads, Choose better calipers, Choose better rotors, compressionless housing at £40 a meter. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish brats you spawned to replace yourselves.

My MTB experience is the same as yours - BB7 and spykes just help with getting the pads as well positioned as possible.

 

[Imlach]

Unfortunately, I've quit drinking about 9 years ago, so the only way for me to deal with pizza cutters is to apply Woz's disk brake hack. Which is what I will do.
Agree - the cable pull must be different for each lever & caliper, so only some combinations work.
What grinds my gears, is that the answer to getting some basic braking performance almost always seems to spend more cash. Choose better pads, Choose better calipers, Choose better rotors, compressionless housing at £40 a meter. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish brats you spawned to replace yourselves.

My MTB experience is the same as yours - BB7 and spykes just help with getting the pads as well positioned as possible.

I agree that is seems like it's always your fault for the disc brakes not working properly, never the manufacturers making ridiculous designs that just don't work. If rim brakes have done it so well that they're still holding up, I don't see why mechanical discs shouldn't still be a thing. Obviously hydraulic is the standard but that's just witchcraft to a coldblooded drunkard.

I could use the shittiest housing, decade old wires and still get a better performance than discs. This being said, trp definitely seem to be the way to go. The minor adjustments that can be made with a hex key allows for amazing pad control, and as long as I don't mind a bit of rubbing, I can actually get consistent braking power now. Mind you, with my weight, I've sometimes had to let v brakes rub a wee bit to get the performance I want so that's not a negative. So the conclusion we are getting to is: trp Spykes do the job. But can I make them do the job better? Time will tell. Might get in depth and making a drunken post ride rundown sometime soon. With video. With drink. Happy days.

 

[Betsy]

A proper bed in process works a charm for the breaking power of new rotors.. I find a long steep hill which isn't hard here in sunny Sheff, everything is either at the top or bottom of a f'kin massive hill, start from the top, gain speed, apply brake (say front brake first) slow bike down to walking speed but don't stop entirly.. gain speed, repeat, and so on till you're at the bottom of said hill. Ride back up and repeat with back brake giving front brake time to cool... rinse/repeat until brakes are fully bedded in, i think what you're trying to acheive is the transferral of a thin layer of pad material onto the rotor surface.. by not stopping entirely makes is more consistant.

 

[Woz]

@Betsy ,

So is the bed in process for new rotors or is it and / or pads too? What is this "rinse" step in process?

 

[Betsy]

@Betsy ,

So is the bed in process for new rotors or is it and / or pads too? What is this "rinse" step in process?

Just new rotors

Not to be taken literally..

"Rinse, repeat is an idiom roughly quoting the instructions found on many brands of shampoo. It is also used as a humorous way of pointing out that such instructions, if taken literally, would result in an endless loop of repeating the same steps, at least until one runs out of shampoo"

 

[Betsy]

I also like to get the rotors running perfectly true to avoid the annoying rub, i cut a slot in a piece of 1/4" ply to the same thickness of the rotor (usually 1 cut on the bandsaw) spin the rotor in the calliper and mark the rub with a marker pen, use the ply as a lever to true the rotor, set them up to just about rub and after the bed in process they should be perfectly silent.

 

[M_Chavez]

Yeah, I've done the "proper" bedding in. Otherwise there's no bite at all.
Set up the bike as a single speeder to ride with kids but I see it being replaced with cantis as soon as it is practical.