Ritterview

I did some research on the Weight Weenie forum, asking which brake cable housing had the least compression. The consensus was Nokons. So, I used Nokons and the Spyre has been very tight.

dwmckee

Hey all, TRP offered to replace the gaskets on my Hy/Rd calipers so I sent them back a week or so ago. I just got them back but instead of reworking they sent me a new set of calipers for no charge! That is great customer service in my book. (I just wish they had better engineering before they released them, but hey, at least they are making it right.)

dwmckee

Hey folks, I have to tell you, TRP replaced my Hy/RD original calipers with new ones and the new ones are incredible. Slick as full hydrauilic but simpler, liner progression of brake force, smooth as glass feel, powerful, no fade, perfect self adjusting (finally), simply awesome. I am running Avid HSE 160 rotors front and back. I do not hate to put on the brakes anymore, the stopping feel is almost as great as the acceleration feel. The control is incredible. There should be no other brakes out there. And to think I used to think BB7s were great. These Hy/Rds have to be tried to appreciate them. If you try them, plan to bring the cash to just go ahead and buy them because you will like them so much.

mstyer

I've been pretty happy with my first gen Hy/Rd brakes. You have me curious about what is different with the new ones and how you had them replaced.

akexpress 

I am curious how many miles you have ridden them. Have you done any long descents with them yet. The problem many of us had is that after a long descent that caused some pad wear they did not self adjust for said pad wear.

colotandem

Agreed. I think we all thought that the initial performance was excellent, but were dissappointed after some long descents.

dwmckee

I live in Pittsburgh. I ride up and down steep windy hills all day every day. Many, many hills that I build to 30+ MPH speed and have a stop at the bottom to avoid crossing a busy road - every day. I am used to Avid BB7s fading as a normal part of daily riding all of the time here. The Hy/Rd calipers are a whole caliber (pun intended) of improvement. These are a light year advanced over BB7s. I have worn my new pads down about half way already and they readjust perfectly. akexpress is right that the originalcalipers were incredible for about a week, then you could do nothing about the wear except change pads way before they were due. The replacement calipers are simply outstanding. If my current tandem were disc brake compatible I'd be putting these on to give them a try.

Out of curiosity I have even tried to overheat them by riding just one brake on a long decent trying to hit the fade point. No dice. I lost my nerve before the calipers started to fade.

My only worry is that now with auto adjust working, I will not know when the pads are worn to the point where they must be replaced. I will have to remember to manually keep checking.

These ara an absolute joy to ride. I have let a few friends try them and they all agree!

dwmckee

The problem I had (many of us) is that the calipers did not adjust for wear at all. Your only option was to replace pads with 90% life left, or to take up slack by adjusting the caliper arm to be pre-pulled a bit (not good). I emailed TRP and described my problem. They said to send them in and they would replace the gaskets. Instead they just sent me a whole new set if calibers. My originals had probably only 200 - 300 miles on them before I had to pull the brake levers all of the way to the bars to stop. They also had lost a lot of the initial lever sensitivity they had originally. Now they have back that great lever feel they had originally. Brakes are now for CONTROL, not just for stopping!

canevodi2

Can you provide an update as I am looking to get the HY/RD (New Version) or the Spyres but I don't want to have the lack of brake power when the pads wear with the HY/RD as has been described in this thread ?

dwmckee

The problem is fixed these are outstanding brakes that self adjust properly now. What sort of update are you looking g for?

canevodi2

Well I didn't know if there are any changes to the "new" versions so I could make sure I'm buying the updated ones ?

canevodi2

Just for calification are you saying the new versions that you are raving about are not on a Tandem ? As it seem to be most of the issues with the HY/RD we think are due to the rear cable length on the tandem.

dwmckee

Yes sorry if there was confusion. I have the hy/rds on a single bike. I have used bb7 calipers on both single and tandem. I can tell you that comparing bb7 vs hy/rd on a single bike shows an incredible improvement and I would love to have them on a tandem. These out perform bb7s on a single bike so I would expect they would outperform on a tandem too. I am also using without compression less cable housings too so I would expect with compression less to be better still.

akexpress 

The problem I had and I think many others have had is that on a tandem there is inherently more friction in the brake cable. The actuator spring in the caliper is not up to the task to return the plunger in the caliper consistently so over a long decent and it does not refill consistently . I have had numerous discussions with them regarding this including in person at Interbike last year and they at first denied the problem then said they may need to make the spring stronger. They sent me a new gasket they claim will solve the problem however the only way to test if it works is to commit to a few long descents and I am tired of having to worry about the brake failing. By next week I will have converted our Calfee to the new Shimano DI2 hydraulic road system on the rear. I am using Jagwire hose to make a tandem length cable. BTW if you order the parts individually you need to order a banjo bolt for the caliper as it does not come with the brake which is pretty strange. I hope that in fact the new Hy/Rd is fixed because it is a simple replacement for the other mechanical brakes.

TeamG

Great technical info..........but does anyone have any real or actual braking experience with this TPR on their Tandem......and how does it compare to the Avid BB7?

My BB7's fronts squeal constantly......obnoxiously!.........only get about 20-30 miles without squeal after I clean rotors and pads with alcohol.......considering the TPR as a alternative solution......can not go to a cabled brake system without changing my Co-motion carbon fork on the Calfee.

Footnote: Rear disc brake hardly ever squeals........

twocicle

Yes, many of us do have experience running T-R-P calipers on our tandems. It may be a bit confusing exactly what works and doesn't, because unfortunately this SPYPE thread is constantly highjacked by HY/RD users who can't seem to create their own thread.

Regardless of caliper type, most squealing can be resolved by choosing a different rotor because the resonance frequency will change. I have yet to have any squealing from the Shimano ICE rotors with either the BB7 or the TRP Spyre.

TRP has their own adapter bracket which is a different height than the Avid (which adds their CPS washers), but I've found the 203mm TRP adapter is not as thick and does not align the caliper perfectly centered horizontally... needing either/both filing or thin washers to place the caliiper centered over the rotor.

When properly aligned/installed, the Spyre does seem to have great stopping power and does not have plastic parts as with the BB7. We are currently using the 203mm Shimano Saint RT99 Centerlock rotor on the rear braking and it is very smooth.

chojn1

I had the same problem with the BB7 squealing. No such problem with the TRP Spyre using the same Avid rotor. Works great on the hills of the Adirondacks. At the moment, I am trying to fit a set of Hope floating rotors with the TRP. My problem with this set up is in the vertical direction rather than 2cicle's horizontal (the brake pads are scrapping the floating bolts). A couple of washers should do the job.
CJ

ksisler

\
dwnckee; Sounds like good news finally. Can you advise how to specify the new model or version? I want to order a set but don't want to get stuck with the previous ones and have the same problems....

thanks
/K

twocicle

Which IS/PM adapter are you using - Avid or TRP's?

If reusing the Avid, then you'll need to add some ~3mm worth of spacers to move the caliper higher up.

---

FYI, not all Hope floating rotor rivets are located the same. The Hope rotor I got has more braking surface (top to bottom) than some of the other models, and the rivets are lower - away from the pads so no problem with clearance. As seen here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I think it is far superior to one piece steel rotors.



I'll maybe use it again in the future via a DT CenterLock adapter (to fit on our new rear hub), but right now happy with the ICE rotor.

TeamG

Thank you for the insight! My bad on the TPR vs TRP….fingers flying….Chojn1…I will try it with keeping the Avid rotor and then change out the rotor if necessary……don't you think its odd that its just the front squealing….and not both the front and rear? Just a thought.

Thanks again!

gracehowler

[
My BB7's fronts squeal constantly......obnoxiously!........]
We also got tired of the noise, especially the front, not sure why front is worse. Anyway, my fix was organic pads. They are quiet, but, downside you should be aware of: they don't handle heat as well nor water. Thay also wear faster
R&J

dwmckee

I think you just have to order from top directly to be sure you get new stock. Talk to the rep direct
Tay to be sure. I am loving them more and more every day I ride.

dwmckee

This problem was not unique to tandems. My single bike and many others had same problem. The problem seemed to be even more than the spring as it required redesign of some internals to truly fix the self adjusting feature.

TeamG

Ok, so my week #2 update on the front pads squealing…had cleaned them with Windex…2 weeks ago…..rotor and pads….first 20-30 miles had virtually no squeals….then started up again but intermittently….based on modulation or pressure application to the grips…..after another weekend of riding and about 75 miles…..have a mixed bag of no squealing to slight and intermittent squealing but nothing like it was before….

Testing it this weekend on a metric ride in Ventura with some downhills of 8% grades and will report back….probably will transition to new pads and go from there.

Front disc is a Avid BB7 silver with about 600 miles on a 2014 Calfee Tetra Tandem

chojn1

Just a little update on my setup:

The 180 mm Hope floating rotor will not work correctly with the TRP Spyre. The floating rivets are too close to the braking surface and will scrape on the Spyre's caliper/pads. I played around with the different washers and mounts and did get it to fit. But, ultimately, I was not comfortable with the odd angle and slightly reduced braking surface the new setup entails. So these rotors are going back.

CJ