First season of cross racing and I’ve done 5 races on my new Carbon TCX. Granted the conditions up in Scotland are not for the faint hearted (heavy rain/mud/snow), but the TRP Spyre Mechanical Disc Brakes have become very crunchy. I had to change the cables after only 3 races as the 105 levers and rear caliper weren’t fully releasing.

While there are full internal cables and I’m taking the proper care washing and maintaining the bike, two races later after new cables and the calipers are back to showing problems again – not releasing easily and the pull at both ends is very crunchy.

So I have a couple of questions:

1. Would moving to Shimano hydros fix the issue?
2. As the pads wear, I have to adjust the cable tension on the calipers to avoid the levers pulling all the way into the bars. How do you do this adjustment on hydro discs (constanting bleeding?), or do they adjust to compensate themselves automatically? (Hope that last question makes sense.)

Thanks guys.

1) yes
2) you don’t adjust them, just pull the lever more

I just did a CX race the other weekend, didn’t actually need brakes as it was so muddy. I just stopped pedalling and the bike stopped moving.

@Trimix, thanks for the reply. On your second answer, can I check, so as the pads wear the lever throw increases? I thought the hydro system would just adjust to compensate and the lever throw would remain the same.

Im sure i read that the TRP brakes had a weak return spring, so this could be why you are having so many problems. However decent cables shouldnt have that problem anyway, what were you installing?

Hydro would obviously be the best option as they self adjust like mtb brakes, but this would be fairly costly.

The pads on hydraulic brakes self adjust, just as the ones on mtb brakes do. Lever throw stays pretty much constant.

I’ve got 105 Hydros on my Arkose – they are pretty awesome, and much better than the SRAM mechanical discs on my old bike.

The 105s are as good as the Deores on my MTB

Thanks guys. Now need to decide do I go Shimano Hydros or Sram CX1.

Trimix loved his CX race last Sat so much he’s back for more this Sunday 🙂

I have the TCX with spyre brakes, the rear brake in particular is pretty sticky, I’m going to get some hydros when funds allow.

I have the TCX with spyre brakes, the rear brake in particular is pretty sticky, I’m going to get some hydros when funds allow.

I’m running full length compressionless jagwire outer with a Shimano polymer inner. It’s reasonably smooth, but not great. It did go sticky at one point – turned out to be a broken barrel adjuster.

As the pads wear, I have to adjust the cable tension on the calipers to avoid the levers pulling all the way into the bars

Surely you wind the pads in rather than adjust the cable. Am I reading your post wrong?

Thanks guys. Now need to decide do I go Shimano Hydros or Sram CX1.

Worth trying the lever shape on both as they are radically different.

I have both and with Shimano the levers are much longer than cable brakes so ended up with a shorter stem. Sram levers are much taller.

Both Shimano and Sram feel equally as positive as each other and both will offer a noticeable difference over mechanical, if nothing more than they require much less set and continual faffing.

For info, I found the same with Spyre’s. I don’t rate them that much. They’re good if kept clean, but otherwise they susceptible to mud.

On the other hand, Acor / juin tech r1 equivalent are brilliant. You still need to adjust for pad wear, but you can set your own bite point (can’t do that on hydraulics) and as the actuation mechanism is fully sealed hydraulic, they stay much smoother than Spyre’s. Still cable pull but they work great.

Review: Juin Tech R1 cable/hydro disc brake system

For a review of the juin tech.

Acor do the same model, different name, generally cheaper.

+1 for Acor/Juin Tech.