Spyre or Hy/Rd?

For the commute bike, which would you get? Do 35 miles a day on the Croix de Fer and hating the Hayes brakes.

I’ve had both, I prefer HyRd, I use them to commute off road all weather

Kinesis Tripster ATR by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

The HyRd are really very impressive. I put them on my cross bike after struggling to brake and still retain grip and control of the bars, on technical descents… glen tress and the like. I appreciate this isn’t really what a cross bike is for, but it’s fun.

They gave me great control and one finger braking.

On road, they are almost too powerful. If you’ve got big commuter tyres, they’re fine, but if you’re running skinny road tyres (25s ish) then you’ll possibly lock up a bit easier than you’d like.

Not tried the Spyre but heard they are very good… a touch better than BB7s, which I have on my tourer, and like a lot.

I’d go Spyre. They’re a classic cable operated disc brake. Reasonably light and easy to set up. The HyRd is a weird combination of cable and hydro that might have made sense at the time but not now we have Shimano STI’s that are also hydro brake levers.

There are two specific things I don’t like about Hyrd’s. The lever seems to pull most of the way back before you get any braking though it’s good when you get it. I prefer a firm lever with more initial bite. And they look heavy and clunky.

If I wanted hydro brakes and STI’s, I’d buy Shimano’s as they look ace and if I wanted cable I’d buy Spyre or BB7’s. I have both and there’s not really much too choose apart from the Spyres being a bit of a sleeker design.

I’ve bought Spyre’s recently to replace the fiddly BB7’s, and i’m not very impressed with the power. They feel less powerful than the BB7’s.

I’ve since upgraded the cables to those fancy Jagwire compressionless ones, and tried a variety of pads, but it’s not made much difference.

It feels like the return tension spring is too powerful. I’ve email TRP, and they said they the more recent Spyres have a more powerful return spring, after a few complaints that the pads weren’t retracting in muddy conditions.

Yeah , I’ve got Spyres as well and find them pretty underpowered to be honest .Tried different rotors and fiddled with the set up but not very good IME .Got Shimano Hydraulics on my main road bike and they are brilliant .

I’d either go full cable, or full hydro.

I know the HY/RD work, but it just seems a compromise.

I’m using Spyres with the stock pads and disks and BB7’s the same. The BB7’s are a slightly stronger brake but there’s not much in it. If I wanted to improve the Spyres, I’d use Avid discs and sintered pads. As it is, after breaking in, there’s plenty of braking for a cx/road bike. Before breaking in, they were useless (as were the BB7’s).

Got HY/RD on the front and spyres on the back of two bikes. Don’t notice much difference between the two. Spyres are much easier to set up but agree that they feel slightly under-powered compared to the BB7s they replaced. Much less fettling though and power is enough for my needs.

What about full hydro, like Hylex?

Hydro is important for me as the bike is used for doing this where good brakes are important (loaded up shopping trips, pulling a trailer, cycling with the dog)

Have been impressed with the power of them, 1 finger braking is fine in most conditions

I’ve considered the Hy/Rd’s or the Juin Tech R1’s, but I reckon i’m going to hold off until the 105 hydraulic levers come out, hopefully at a cheaper price.

I’d love to see a proper comparison off all the road disc options though.

Interesting that so many seem to be struggling with Spyres. I have them (replaced BB7s) and they’ve been great for the year or so I’ve had them – same power as BB7 but much neater and no rubbing.

Only thing I’ve noticed is that I need to tighten them up as the stock pads seem to be wearing faster than those I had on the BB7s but that’s nothing more than a quick spin on the cable adjuster (or the ‘piston’ adjusters with a 3mm allen key).

Do the ‘underpowered’ camp use them on the drops, with the lever reach adjustment sorted? I find them a bit meh from the hoods but fine on the drops, but then I’ve always preferred the more digital braking from Shimano than Hope.

I have HyRd. They need something like Jagwire compressionless housing and then they are really rather good.

Tempted to go full hydro now they’re available but not sure it’s worth the extra £ from what I currently have now tbh.

Any cable brake is only as good as the cable setup.

Very helpful .

Sounds like I’ll go Spyre. Wouldn’t want the worry of 25mm and locking up all the time

I use HyRd with 28mm tyres. I’d be surprised if you had any problems with 25mm tyres, unless you deliberately try to lock the wheel. You can lock up the wheel with good caliper brakes if you pull too hard.

@spyke85 I think I’d do the same or go the whole hog and get Shimano 685’s if cables are a bit old hat for you. For me, cables are about decent braking, low rim wear and simplicity. If I wanted the extra complication of a hydro set up, I’d go for the 685’s as they look a very sleek design. The two biggest downsides are cost related both initial and replacement of individual STI’s if you biff one.

If you wanted, s/h BB7’s turn up all the time for around £60 a pair in BNIB condition.

I took the pads out of mine and cleaned them with some GT40. Seems to have helped a bit with the power. They don’t appear to stand up to contamination particularly well.

“spangelsaregreat” has created a guide here (I didn’t dismatle mine)
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-trp-spyre-rebuild-guide