Cyclocross - Anyone using/used Tektro Lyra disc brakes?

I can't find any reviews or much any other information online about how these brakes perform, so I'm hoping that someone on here might be able to give a reasonable, brief review on these brakes. How do they compare to BB7s?

Thanks!

If their like the mountain versions of the mechanical tektros, they are sucky compared to avids.

Well, I guess I'll be the first person on the freaking (internet) planet to try these brakes out. I just ordered some and will post a review after I ride them for a bit.

First review of Tektro Lyra brakes!

Weights (per wheel):

Caliper: 148g
Rotor: 103g
Mounting bits (adapter + 4 bolts): 35g


The good:

Weight - nearly 100g lighter than the Avid BB7 Road per wheel.
Looks - they are damned pretty.
Brake action/modulation feels smooth, if a little stiff.
Cable tension barrel adjuster on caliper - you don't need an inline barrel adjuster.


The bad:

Nearly impossible to setup. The mounting bolts don't have any concentric adjusting washers (like the BB7), so if your caliper mount point isn't _exactly_ aligned/square, you're SOL. I ended up borrowing the concentric adjusting washers from a set of BB7s just so I could get these set up.
Rotors were warped out of the box and they're so flimsy that truing them was nearly impossible. I spent an hour getting them fairly straight, but there was one spot I couldn't get quite right.
Outer pad isn't adjustable, so you have to adjust the outer pad by partially closing the brake with the cable arm then tightening the cable. Any further adjustments must be made using the barrel adjuster on the caliper.
Requires too much cable pull. Even after jumping through the hoops to get the brakes reasonably set up, I was unable to get much braking power before bottoming out my SRAM Rival brake levers. The cable supplied with the brake kit is useless. A compressionless brake cable would help here, I suspect, because the crappy cable that came with this brake kit is not even close to a compressionless cable.
Brake pulses under hard braking. This is due to the design of the rotor and where the brake pads contact the rotor--the brake pad extends partially down the arms that attach the outer part of the rotor to the inner, and when that part of the rotor passes through the caliper, it grabs more and results in a strong pulsing under hard braking that made my fork (Nashbar carbon CX) shudder violently.


I ordered a set of BB7 Road at the same time I ordered these so I could compare them side-by-side. In short, there's no comparison to even make, because the Lyra aren't useful as they stand. The BB7s are smooth, setup was much simpler, more substantial rotor is easier to true (yes, one of them was a bit warped out of the box, too).

I'd really hoped the Lyra would work for me, because it's very appealing to save 200g over the BB7; in fact, the Lyra would actually have saved a few grams on the rear of my bike compared to the cantis I had because I can remove the canti mounts from my frame.

Tektro, if you're listening, you can fix the Lyra by making a few simple changes.

Spend $1 extra and include the concentric adjusting washers on the caliper mount bolts!!!!
Make the outer portion of the rotor wider so that the pad overhang doesn't cause pulsing when it contacts the arms. This is the real show-stopper. These brakes are borderline dangerous due to the shuddering caused by the brake pulsing. Maybe use a square-ish pad instead of a round one, too.
Reduce required cable pull just a bit.
Consider a lighter spring so the brake action isn't quite so stiff.
Include a compressionless cable or don't include a cable at all.

You need some Magura HS77 levers and hydraulic brakes ;)

Have you tried the Shimano road discs yet? Thanks for the review!

I have been looking at these as well, and had some similar questions.

I had planned to use a different rotor and better housing anyway, but the cable pull issue is problematic. Do you feel it was because of the break-in period typically required? Has the braking force gotten any better since your review?

It seems they would have made the cable pull standard for road levers like the BB7s so I'm curious why there's a noticeable difference.

Thanks for the help!