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TRP Spyre DiscBrakes. Poor performance
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paulmgreenFree Member
STWbrakeworld……. I have a Giant Revolt adventure bike which I bought at the end of last year …. Since day 1 I have just not been able to get any decent braking from the TRP mechanical brakes…. I have changed pads and rotors to no avail…..
It’s a puzzler but performance is really bad ….. Like a cantilever brake on a wet day! I have struggled to find bad reviews for these brakes so it’s a real puzzler . Pulling the front lever hard I can still push the bike along. It’s very annoying!
Is anyone using these brakes and got any tips ?
fin25Free MemberI have the Spykes (same as Spyres but for mtb), I found I have to wind the pads in a bit regularly with the alan key adjuster on each side of the rotor to get them to bite properly.
stick_manFull MemberTwo things that might help – have you got the correct cable outer fitted (non flex one)? Also, is the cable inner trained onto the inside of the bolt on the caliper? (needs to be on the hub side of the bolt)
AjsMonkeyFull MemberHave normal and carbon ones on both my wife’s and my cross bike. Check usual rotor and calliper allignment and centring, then cable tension: found it best to actuate calliper a fraction before clamping cable and then adjust pads to rubbing then back off, finally barrel adjuster for lever feel. Added compressionless housing to mine and made bit of a difference but not much. Think biggest influence is lever, my 10sp Ultegra not as good as 11sp 105. Also never going to get sheer power and bite of MTB hydro, but will lock road wheel when you are on it and grab a handful of brake
paulmgreenFree MemberThanks fellas …. I’m intrigued by the compression less cable suggestion…. The bike also has two sets of levers …. It has the extra ones on the bars in addition to the normal drops position…… So in reality there must be some ‘give’ in that setup…. Might have a look at disconnecting the second lever and trying a full single cable to see if any difference
tomdFree MemberAre you adjusting the pads with the 3mm Allen key? They brake feel is sensitive to good pad position and sometimes folk use cable pull to adjust rather setting up properly. On mine they need adjusted every few rides but are good as mech discs go.
bobloFree MemberI have them on 5800 105 levers/Jagwire and they are ace. As above cable routing and setting the caliper slightly on before clamping the cable to take up some of the dead travel improves things no end. They also take a while to bed in. Mine were useless first couple of rides – dangerous in fact; couldn’t stop. They improved with use.
As an aside, mech discs are very cable/lever sensitive. I have BB7’s on another bike and they were OK/marginal on Versa levers/OEM cable but fantastic on Force 22/Jagwire.
onandonFree MemberI use mine with force levers and jag wire cables. I’m actually really impressed by them. Plenty of power for the CX bike.
tillydogFree MemberOut of interest, how much slack are people giving them on the allen key adjustment? (I presume that you turn the allen key until the pad touches then back it off a certain amount.)
simondbarnesFull MemberDitch the top levers and recable. They make all brakes feel awful IME.
bobloFree MemberOut of interest, how much slack are people giving them on the allen key adjustment? (I presume that you turn the allen key until the pad touches then back it off a certain amount.)
I just back them off enough so they don’t rub but I like a firm lever.
BadlyWiredDogFull MemberPlus whatever for compressionless cable outers. I was pretty skeptical but it made a big difference to my Spyres.
BezFull MemberSounds like you need some compressionless cables. First time I cabled mine up I just used what I had kicking about and the brakes basically didn’t work. Got some compressionless stuff and all was well.
orangewingerFree MemberI also have the Revolt (2015) with the same brakes and although they are no where near as good as hydraulics on the MTB they do work pretty well.
I have the M/L size and weigh about 90kg and can lock the rear up, but I do find I have to pull a lot of cable.
HoratioHufnagelFree MemberMine were terrible no matter what i did with them. Compressionless cables, no top brake levers, new pads, fiddling with pad position etc..
Mine had almost nothing keeping dirt out either, so performance deteriorated a lot when they get dirty. I think they come with a top cap thing over the pads now?
Less powerful than V’s, road calipers and canti’s on other bikes.
I got rid of them in the end.
jimmyFull MemberI have them on 5800 105 levers/Jagwire and they are ace.
Me too. They’re noticeably better than previous avid bb7s in feel and power.
They also take a while to bed in.
This. Swap the stock pads for some sintered numbers.
BillOddieFull MemberAre you adjusting the pads with the 3mm Allen key? They brake feel is sensitive to good pad position and sometimes folk use cable pull to adjust rather setting up properly.
This is the most important thing. Adjusting for pad wear using the cable barrel adjusters will make them feel like utter crap.
HoratioHufnagelFree Memberbtw I was running them with 5600 levers, which i think pull more cable (= less power) than later 5700/5800.
epicycloFull MemberIf you have a decent quality brake (and the Spyres are) then any problems are down to the cable or your lever.
dovebikerFull MemberAgree on ditching the interrupter bar top levers and use a decent compressionless outer – I like Goodridge ones. The levers leave too much ‘slop’ in the system and flexy cables don’t help.
philjuniorFree MemberIs the lever pulling back to the bar? That’s all that fiddling with cable will fix, really.
If not, are they bedded in and aligned properly (alignment can I find have quite a surprising effect sometimes)? Are you mostly riding in wet or dry – if wet, can you get out for a couple of dry rides to get them bedded in then see if they improve in the wet? It would be worth having a good go at getting a bit of heat into them, to burn any contaminants off, in addition to normal bedding in. But from your description I can understand why that might be tricky/scary!
PeterPoddyFree MemberI started a thread on this over a year ago. Have a look through my history….
Basically first you need to make sure the cave is underneath the pinch bolt, not running over the top of it for a start. It’s a very common and easy mistake to make
After that noting I did really made much difference. Compression less outer? I might as well have burnt a £20 note for all it did. Some different rotors helped, as did Shimano pads, but not much.
Basically they’re nice brakes, easy to use, neat and tidy, but not very powerful.davidtaylforthFree MemberMake sure your outer cables are cut dead square at the ends. Facing the brake mounts is a good idea aswell.
damascusFree MemberPlus 1 for cutting cables square. You need to prevent any movement so when you pull the brakes it moves the calipers and not the housing.
Are your rotors still true?
I run bb7s and if I don’t keep upto adjusting them they get pushed over and bend slightly over time. Then when I do adjust them I can’t get them as good as I want as my discs are bent and I get that slight rubbing noise.
tillydogFree MemberHere’s PP’s thread, but his photos have disappeared.
Just to double check, these are wrong, aren’t they? (Thank you LBS!)
(The bike is only a week old – The brakes seem to be powerful enough, but need a good squeeze compared to hydraulics (Tiagra 4700 levers). They feel a bit wooden, but I’m sure they’re still bedding in as I’ve only done ~100 miles on it so far.)
[edit: Sorry for the hijack! 😳 ]
LeonFree MemberI had some and never had any success. I was pairing them with SRAM 10spd brifters.
I tried compressionless outer, different cable clamp to change the mechanical advantage, different pads, experiments with slack or tight cables (so the engagement is at a different part of the lever throw) etc. Since lots of people say they work fine, I came to the conclusion it was the pairing with the brake levers that was an issue. In the end I went to Shimano hydraulics. If I was going to have to buy new calipers OR levers, I thought in for a penny, in for a pound…
epicycloFull MemberIt amazes me that the cable brake manufacturers aren’t on top of this outer cable problem.
Imagine if the hydraulic brake makers left the choice of hose up to the consumer – there would be heaps of complaints about spongey brakes from people who had fitted crappy hoses.
tillydogFree MemberI corrected the cable routing on mine, and it improved the feel of the brakes (less wooden), but they still needed a good squeeze for a brisk stop – really only possible from the drops. Another 40 miles, including some extended down hills, didn’t change this, so I guess the brakes had done all the bedding in that they are going to do.
I realised that I had some Nukeproof “Enduro” semi metallic pads (left over spares for some Shimano M395) that would fit these calipers. I’d always felt that these were more powerful than the OE Shimano pads, so thought I’d give them a try.
I’ve only been around the block to bed them in so far, but the brakes are definitely more powerful – to the point of being better than rim brakes, with a reasonable amount of power available from the hoods.
I also experimented a bit with the amount of ‘preload’ on the caliper arm – I seemed to get the best braking with minimal preload, and the pads adjusted quite close to the disc (about 1/4 turn from touching on each adjuster).
N.B. There is no issue with lever travel – the lever always comes up firm with plenty of clearance from the bars.
As ever, YMMV.
horaFree MemberTick. It’s the only thing (bar heavy OEM wheels) that I don’t like about my Defy
eshershoreFree MemberGet the shimano 11spd shifter/hydro lever/caliper kit.
Will work great with your existing rotors with +20mm adapters
PeterPoddyFree MemberJust to double check, these are wrong, aren’t they? (Thank you LBS!)
Yes, that’s wrong*
Just look where the serrated ‘cable grip’ part is on the small plate under the pinch bolt…Changing it gives a slight increase in leverage and helps. Not hugely, but it does. They feel rather wooden until you change it.
*Although not necessarily LBSs fault as such….
epicycloFull MemberI’ll happily accept donations of any under appreciated Spyres. 🙂
uwe-rFree MemberI would add to the above that you have to have them set up very sharp I.e. Practically rubbing. Once you get them set up tight and the pads are worn in they are as good as hydraulics but you do have to keep tinkering to keep them sharp.
tillydogFree Member*Although not necessarily LBSs fault as such….
I’m not disposed to give them the benefit of the doubt at the moment, after sending me out of the shop with mis-matched crank lengths, front mech cable incorrectly routed/clamped and cabling generally looking like spaghetti blowing in the breeze… They also told me that there was no point ordering ‘Plug and Play’ mudguards as they weren’t available in the UK (Ex stock at EBC and others).
…but they are the only shop that our RTW scheme will deal with 👿
/Rant
tillydogFree MemberA couple more pieces of the jigsaw:
I took some of the slack out of the cable (to reduce lever travel) and realised that the brakes lost power again! – My bike has the current Tiagra combined brake/shift levers which apparently have a variable pull rate. The brakes work noticeably better with more lever travel (bite point with the lever at a guestimated 50% of the way back to the bars – compared to about 20% that appears ‘correct and workmanlike’ to me). This needs a lot of slack in the cable, since the brakes seem to bite best with the pads set up quite close.
The other, more annoying, thing is that I noticed the movement of the arm on the front caliper started to feel rough and ‘gritty’.
Thanks to the very helpful rebuild guide I stripped it down and found that, as predicted by spangelsaregreat, the thrust bearing between the rotating part of the ‘piston’ and the caliper housing was dry and starting to go rusty. The bike is just over 3 weeks old!
(The outer race is still in the caliper housing in the photo, but it just lifts out.)
I cleaned everything up and gave it a thin smear of waterproof grease, and it’s operating smoothly again.
I don’t know how long it will last – I hate to think what will happen with Autumn / Winter commuting 🙁
I need to do the same to the rear caliper now as a preventative measure, but might get hold of some pukka brake grease so I can leave a bit more in there without worrying about it melting out.
I’ve probably invalidated the warranty on the brakes by doing this (they’re not supposed to be serviceable), but I can’t see the point of waiting for them to sieze up, then arguing to get them replaced with another set that will do the same. It wouldn’t have been difficult to add some seals to the design to make it bomb-proof.
Not impressed with them at the moment :-/
paulmgreenFree MemberI got fed up with trying to get them to work….. They tainted the whole bike so I’ve sold it !
onandonFree MemberDo they call you Paul green – drama queen 🙂
Isn’t that a bit OTT ?
bobloFree MemberI did that when my car needed refuelling/ashtrays emptied etc…
I suppose there are lever/frame combos that don’t work well but Spyres generally get good reviews. I’ve had mine in for 4k miles and apart from pads, haven’t touched them.
I rode the bike with BB7’s yesterday – all day in the rain. The front squealed like the end was nigh and the rear locked on so I needed bottom gear/standing to progress and my chums were still riding away from me. Investigation needed methinks…
paulmgreenFree MemberI came to the conclusion that by the time I’d tried changing levers etc to try and improve to the point where I actually felt safe to be able to stop on the ting it just wasn’t worth the cost and hassle….. Tbh I bought the bike ( Giant Revolt ) on an impulse and there were other things I didn’t really like too…. Although it was comfortable to ride the brakes were appalling to the point of being dangerous so less ‘drama’ to get rid than deal with a consequence !
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