ATTN: Drop to Flat Bar Converters: Mechanical Disc Brake Calipers & Levers
#1
Full Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: SoCal
Posts: 406
Bikes: Cannondale Carbon Synapse Road, Cannondale T2000 Touring, Vintage Mongoose IBOC Pro MTB, Vintage Peugeot 12spd racer, Old rusty Schwinn Manta Ray I neglected as a child, Diamondback Haanjo EXP Carbon & Metro, Specialized Roubaix Pro, RaleighSC Tandem
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 225 Post(s)
Liked 39 Times
in
29 Posts
ATTN: Drop to Flat Bar Converters: Mechanical Disc Brake Calipers & Levers
I have another thread involving brake levers, brakes and flat bar conversion.
I left my TRP Spyre (road) mech disc caliper on the front. I installed a TRP Spyke (mtb) caliper at the rear.
I just received my Avid Speed dial levers and got everything dialed in. My rear brake is now far superior to my front brake in all departments (even compared it with a separate canti -style lever on the front). A new TRP Spyke for the front is on the way...
Moral of story: Get MTB levers & MTB calipers for the best braking with flat bars on any terrain/surface!
I left my TRP Spyre (road) mech disc caliper on the front. I installed a TRP Spyke (mtb) caliper at the rear.
I just received my Avid Speed dial levers and got everything dialed in. My rear brake is now far superior to my front brake in all departments (even compared it with a separate canti -style lever on the front). A new TRP Spyke for the front is on the way...
Moral of story: Get MTB levers & MTB calipers for the best braking with flat bars on any terrain/surface!
#2
For The Fun of It
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Louisissippi Coast
Posts: 5,852
Bikes: Lynskey GR300, Lynskey Backroad, Litespeed T6, Lynskey MT29, Burley Duet
Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2135 Post(s)
Liked 1,647 Times
in
829 Posts
I have another thread involving brake levers, brakes and flat bar conversion.
I left my TRP Spyre (road) mech disc caliper on the front. I installed a TRP Spyke (mtb) caliper at the rear.
I just received my Avid Speed dial levers and got everything dialed in. My rear brake is now far superior to my front brake in all departments (even compared it with a separate canti -style lever on the front). A new TRP Spyke for the front is on the way...
Moral of story: Get MTB levers & MTB calipers for the best braking with flat bars on any terrain/surface!
I left my TRP Spyre (road) mech disc caliper on the front. I installed a TRP Spyke (mtb) caliper at the rear.
I just received my Avid Speed dial levers and got everything dialed in. My rear brake is now far superior to my front brake in all departments (even compared it with a separate canti -style lever on the front). A new TRP Spyke for the front is on the way...
Moral of story: Get MTB levers & MTB calipers for the best braking with flat bars on any terrain/surface!
#3
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,362
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 152 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6219 Post(s)
Liked 4,218 Times
in
2,365 Posts
I have another thread involving brake levers, brakes and flat bar conversion.
I left my TRP Spyre (road) mech disc caliper on the front. I installed a TRP Spyke (mtb) caliper at the rear.
I just received my Avid Speed dial levers and got everything dialed in. My rear brake is now far superior to my front brake in all departments (even compared it with a separate canti -style lever on the front). A new TRP Spyke for the front is on the way...
Moral of story: Get MTB levers & MTB calipers for the best braking with flat bars on any terrain/surface!
I left my TRP Spyre (road) mech disc caliper on the front. I installed a TRP Spyke (mtb) caliper at the rear.
I just received my Avid Speed dial levers and got everything dialed in. My rear brake is now far superior to my front brake in all departments (even compared it with a separate canti -style lever on the front). A new TRP Spyke for the front is on the way...
Moral of story: Get MTB levers & MTB calipers for the best braking with flat bars on any terrain/surface!
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#4
Banned
I've kept the Avid Speed dial levers, when changing from BB7 Mountain, to TRP Hy Road ..
the speed dial is another available adjustment, .. cable pull ratio ..., I have more on the rear than the front..
with longer cable pull shorter demand on the other end,
using cable slack before pads hit the disc, adjusts where the hand grip falls in the lever swing..
Bike Friday .. with Trekking bars ... 160 disc on 20" wheel is relatively huge..
...
the speed dial is another available adjustment, .. cable pull ratio ..., I have more on the rear than the front..
with longer cable pull shorter demand on the other end,
using cable slack before pads hit the disc, adjusts where the hand grip falls in the lever swing..
Bike Friday .. with Trekking bars ... 160 disc on 20" wheel is relatively huge..
...
Last edited by fietsbob; 03-17-19 at 09:58 AM.
#5
Full Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: SoCal
Posts: 406
Bikes: Cannondale Carbon Synapse Road, Cannondale T2000 Touring, Vintage Mongoose IBOC Pro MTB, Vintage Peugeot 12spd racer, Old rusty Schwinn Manta Ray I neglected as a child, Diamondback Haanjo EXP Carbon & Metro, Specialized Roubaix Pro, RaleighSC Tandem
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 225 Post(s)
Liked 39 Times
in
29 Posts
Wrong moral. Get the levers that match the brakes. Assuming that your bike had discs before your conversion, why remove the rear one and replace it with a different cable pull brake? There are any number of brake levers that work with flat bars and road pull brakes. SRAM and Shimano make many of them.
When the TRP rep told me the Spykes, pound for pound, all things being equal, provide better stopping power, I stopped monkeying around and spent the 60 bucks on a rear one to try. I became a fan. I'm ready to spend another 60 on a front, unless you can convince me otherwise, because I like the aesthetics of the Spyre better than the Spyke :-)
#6
Advanced Slacker
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 6,210
Bikes: Soma Fog Cutter, Surly Wednesday, Canfielld Tilt
Mentioned: 26 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2762 Post(s)
Liked 2,537 Times
in
1,433 Posts
What you found makes sense to me.
When looking at flat bar setups, the longer cable pull used in MTB disc brake systems works better than the short cable pull of road systems.
I noticed this with BB7s. The mountain versions work better than the road versions.
It does not surprise me that the rep said what he did about Spyres vs Spykes.
When looking at flat bar setups, the longer cable pull used in MTB disc brake systems works better than the short cable pull of road systems.
I noticed this with BB7s. The mountain versions work better than the road versions.
It does not surprise me that the rep said what he did about Spyres vs Spykes.
#7
Banned
Saw in a parts breakdown drawing, an 'exploded view' a ring is rotated by the lever arm on the caliper,
the ramps in that crown like ring are steeper with short pull version, than the longer pull ..
Unlike BB 5&7 spyre /spyke has 2, 1 for each pad ..
...
the ramps in that crown like ring are steeper with short pull version, than the longer pull ..
Unlike BB 5&7 spyre /spyke has 2, 1 for each pad ..
...
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,439
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 624 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 396 Times
in
274 Posts
There are brake handles in whatever pull you need that have more or less reach. My Paul Canti levers have more reach than any other straight bar brake levers I have tried. I know that TRP has or had MTB levers for the Spyke.