Mikarad

I am currently using Avid BB7's on my touring bike and have come across some info about dual action mechanical disc brakes. The BB7's so far have been working pretty well and aren't too difficult to fine tune. I do feel they are just a bit soft for my personal liking. I have beenlooking at TRP brakes. Does anyone have any personal knowledge, good or bad, or is there any real difference in the two types.

xenologer

Bad experience with TRP Spykes
very weak brakes
unable to lock front wheel for endo/stoppie
installing compressionless housings helped a little, but not enough
replaced it with a BB7 and was happy.

so, if your goal is stronger brakes than your BB7, this is not going to help.

I ended up reusing the TRP Spyke as a rear brake
reduced power and better 'modulation' are useful there, since when off-roading I don't generally need to lock up the rear wheel.
plus having both pads retract mean less rotor rub on my bikes flexy rear end


Avid BB7 is the best mechanical disk currently available. TRP's double sided gimmick hasn't beat them yet.

Try swapping to bigger diameter rotors
or compressionless housing system
or going hydraulic

cpach

Well setup bb7s are pretty solid. If you aren't doing so already, I'd first consider metal brake pads and compassionless housing first. I haven't spent enough time on Spyres to have an amazingly informed opinion--the one set I tried riding on a new (probably not bedded in, possibly not ideally setup) pair of Spyres with Shimano New Super SLR levers was underwhelming. Perhaps they work better with more conventional pull brake levers. Also, if you're using V brake compatible levers, the comparable TRPs would be the Spykes.

maddog34

stick with the BB7's... TRP pretty much sucks.

fietsbob

Road or mountain? BB7 ..

... BB7 MTB, on my 20" bike Friday need careful application on the front, or over the bars I'd go..

ruppster

TRP Spyres feel much better than BB7 road on my Salsa Fargo. They’re also less fiddly to adjust.

BB7 mountain are much better than their road counterpart.

redlude97

TRP spyre can be set up well with a compatible lever, one of your complaints with BB7 is they feel "soft" which IME is worse on the spyres unless used with new generation Shimano Brifters. The cable pull ratio required is more than the BB7s, and the dual pad movement isn't required IMO. If upgrading I'd go all the way to HY/RD or to full hydraulic for a noticeable difference.

Mikarad

well that was extremely helpful folks. I will stick with the bb7's for now and see if i can't tweek them a bit more. I could try better quality cables and pads, as well as good quality housings. thanks

Leisesturm

Agree. I'm just not getting all the TRP hate I see on this and other forums. At the risk of insulting the intelligence of some, I have to point out that indeed the TRP's will appear to suck rocks if all you do is tighten the anchor cable bolt and go riding! You have to take all the slack out of the system first. I put what looks like a considerable amount of preload on the adjustment bolt but it all shakes out and full lever travel is available with no waste motion. This also works with BB7's, but as you say, not having to twiddle big red knobs that don't appear to do anything is priceless

hermanchauw

I used BB7, then Giant/NUTT DA8 (dual piston like TRP), then Shimano M447 hydraulic. All were a waste of time maintenance/troubleshooting. I am now using 130mm V brakes with 4 finger levers and Kool Stop pads and i am the happiest i have even been with the braking.

Andy_K 

My next step from there would be fully hydraulic. If you're using bar end shifters on your touring bike TRP Hylex are a great option. Those definitely do not suck.