TiHabanero

Set up another road bike this past Saturday with Spyre discs and 105 brifters. Even without compressionless housing they work wonderfully well. Makes me think that they were designed with 105 in mind.

BlazingPedals

I've been pretty happy with mine for a couple of years now. I have them on the front of both of my lowracers.

Slightspeed

I've been very happy with the TRP Spyres on my Culprit Croz Blade. They came as OEM on the bike which I've had since new in 2013. No issues, they work great with Ultegra Di2 levers too.

Not the "brake" side, but they're there.

Maelochs

Not impressive braking, but reliable and they stay adjusted. I like mine.

radroad

It seems like mechanical discs aren't even being spec'ed anymore on road bikes. How do these compare with entry or mid level hydraulics?

bakerjw

I run Spykes on our mountain tandem. They work great.

luevelvet

The difference between mechanical and hydro is definitely noticeable (to me anyway) but the mechanical are definitely a bit more responsive and better than rim brakes (again to me anyway).

jefnvk

+1. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy them again, but they stop the bike as well (or crappily, depending on your glass of water) as pretty much every other type of brakes I have that aren't hydro discs.

radroad

I wonder if the latest round of DA/Ultegra/105 dual pivots have closed the gap some. I have ridden mechanical discs on road and mtb's and am usually disappointed. I have ridden bikes with hydraulics and was very pleased with higher end xt but found slx and deore to be merely good or competent.

I find v brakes to be very powerful but with less power progressively after the strong initial bite.

TiHabanero

When I compare the Spyre disc brakes to the hydro disc brakes I had previously, the hydro discs really grab hard and require less hand effort to grab. The Spyre discs grab nicely, but not hard like hydro brakes, they slow the bike down equally well, but require more hand effort than the hydro brake to get the same result.
Modulation is much the same, again hand effort is vastly different between them. When it comes to maintenance the hydro discs should be flushed annually. Spyres are simply maintaining cable slack.

I much prefer the Spyre brakes and recommend them to those that want a low maintenance disc system. I do not like the big brake lever reservoir of the hydro systems as they look bad and don't fit my hands as well. If one must have high powered braking, the hydro brakes are the way to go. If quality braking is desired in rain or shine, then the Spyre brakes are the ticket. They feel much like XT parallelogram V-Brakes with better modulation.

radroad

Thats pretty much the consensus. Hardly thread worthy.

luevelvet

I have the Spyre mechanical disc brakes on my Fuji Jari gravel bike and the latest 105 Hydro discs on my Domane and I definitely feel a big difference. When I first got the Fuji I thought the brakes were great but then I tried the Trek with Hydro disc and I was amazed how much better they were. My wife has the dual pivot 5800 rim brakes on her 2018 Domane and she claims she has more control on her mechanical Spyre discs than the rim brakes but hasn't complained other than noticing less stopping power. We don't ride faster than 25mph at the moment so I'm not sure if she'll notice a bigger difference at higher speeds and we don't have hills to ascend down (central FL) so we're not the best test subjects for such scenarios.

Maelochs

I think my Ultegra rim brakes stop me better than the Spyres---but that is on a bike which weighs ten pounds less. The 105s, about on par? I haven't used a tape measure. I also haven't played with pad compounds.

redlude97

This just tells me that you are just used to the way braking with caliper brakes/mechanical discs are. Once you use hydro your adapt to the modulation quickly and it becomes even easier to feather. I've made the progression of ~10 years from BB7/BB5 to spyres to HY/RDs to now shimano/sram hydro. The majority of the time from the hoods or the drops I can use one finger to come to a stop. Can't say the same for any of my mechanical disc brake bikes ever

Maelochs

This was one of the first things I had to learn when i started MTB---braking was two fingers at most. Roadies will soon realize how good it feels to ride with one finger, not four, covering the brake lever, and to hold firmly to the bars while braking as hard as needed with one finger.

kcblair

Bought my first bike with disc last year, came with Spyre's. No issues, but I didn't know they needed to be , bedded-in , at first. Now they work great.KB.

TiHabanero

Fortunately for me I don't need or desire one finger braking. Spyre's work really well for my applications. Used hydro brakes for 3 years on the mountain bike and didn't figure they helped more than the rim brakes used before that. Of course I don't ride beyond my ability, either.

radroad

I'm sure they're fine. It's a solid, budget, low level disc brake that works well enough just like most other brakes on the market. My standard v-brakes have far more power than I absolutely need. My mini v-brakes have good stopping power and lock up a little too easily during the occasional panic stop. Old school rx100 and 105 dual pivots were very good two (edit: THREE) decades ago. Discs are unnecessary for at least 90% of road riders.


The dedicated, higher mileage, big ticket bike riders on the forum aren't representative of cyclists on the whole either here in the US or anywhere else in the world. Worldwide, 95-99% of riders are well served by standard brakes. On the other hand, anyone who rides frequently in rainy and/or muddy conditions are well served by disc brakes.


As always be aware of the tradeoffs: additional weight, aerodynamics penalty, heavier frame and fork required in addition to components. An additional possibility of being cut (chainrings and discs), rotors can overheat and injure if you touch them accidentally, and if you squeeze too hard (far easier with discs esp. hydraulic), you may be taking a different type of ride. An aerial ride over your bars that is.


For road bikes, discs are overkill. You don't need a forklift to eat a caesar's salad. Choose the right tool for the job.

Slightspeed

Based on this logic we'd all be riding Pennyfarthing highwheelers, or Sears balloon tire beach cruisers. Beware of cycling overkill! 😱

radroad

Yet you hate e-bikes.

fietsbob

Maybe shimano cable pull*, in general?... you can gather data and post you findings on differences of 105 and the pricier 2

and the lesser , + while you are at it , test SRAM too . do they have a different MA /Cable pull or match... ?


As I understand ,, Campagnolo has a greater MA, so pulls less ..
Bodges used in Hy Rd, show shortening the actuating arm to match..


I note: Pauls 'Clamper', offers 3 actuating arm lengths , one made for using Campag, the Shortest ...







...

Clem von Jones

All the hydros have tiny little seals under high pressure so you can be certain they will fail, and this is the reason why Bikecorp™and its shills push them.

RiceAWay

There is slight difference in braking from manufacturer to manufacturer but there is no such thing as "entry level hydraulic disk brakes". They are good for one thing on road bikes - now that carbon wheels are so common, disk brakes extend that life of a carbon rim by wearing out the disk and pads. Unlike so many claims I have never seen any "improved modulation" from rim brakes and it is a HELL of a lot easier to lock disk brakes than rim brakes.

fietsbob

Let's just say a road bike entry price tier for one with hydro brifters is going to start off significantly higher
than you a bargain seeker may be willing to pay..

might as well go for electronic shifting too If you are going to drop the big bucks..

Or Go C&V and hang out with that Group of Eroica Tifosi ..

luevelvet