Kinesis Crosslight Pro 6

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

So, after a winter of riding through floods, mud, potholes etc and hearing that horrible sound of brake pad grinding on alloy rim, I decided it was time for discs and an excuse for a new winter bike. So out with the old ( a 5 year old KInesis Racelight TK) and in with the new:





Build spec:

Kinesis Crosslight Pro 6 frameset. 60 cm

Helping to keep costs down the following was swapped over from the Racelight:
Campag centaur front and rear mechs
Campag Xenon levers
Stronglight z light chainset 48/38, FSA titanium BB
Modded SKS mudguards
FSA carbon seat post
Charge Spoon saddle.
Time RSX pedals.

New parts for the build incl:
FSA K Force compact carbon bars
Deda Zero 1 stem
Campag Veloce 13-29 cassette
TRP Spyre mechanical calipers with 160mm rotors

Wheels handbuilt myself:
Mavic Open Pro CD rims 32/32
Novatec Hubs
Sapim double butted race spokes and alloy nipples.
Challenge Paris-Roubaix 27mm tyres.

Overall weight incl pedals is approx 8.75 kg which I recon is pretty good for a large size alloy frame with dics brakes and guards.

Maiden ride today, and very pleased. Has a relaxed head angle so feels really stable My first experience of discs and very impressed, powerful but good modulation, and silent! The rear feels a little spongy but Iḿ using standard brake cables so this could probably be improved with a compressionless outer. Generally felt faster than my Racelight, this might be due to the Challenge tyres which seemed to roll really well.

And before any one comments, Iḿ still experimenting with my position so haven´t cut the steerer yet.

When the weather dries up Iĺl remove the mudguards and might explore some of the canal towpaths that are in my locality.

luv2ride

Looking good. Think I had ready decided this would be my next bike purchase (for the same reasons you said!) but those pics have sealed the deal. Very nice indeed. Enjoy

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Thanks Luv2ride, I dont think you will be disappointed.

majormantra

Very nice. This bike looks best in green.

Rear mudguard seems a little short?

(Oh, and nice lawn.)

mattythemod

Thats nice ...i have to decide on one of these or one of the new Cotics Escapades frameset ...choices choices

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

¨Rear mudguard seems a little short¨

Yes I cut my rear guards short, means I have 1 less set of stays and gives a more sporty look, still keeps the muck of the bike and myself. I only ever ride solo so dont have to worry about muck being thrown up on a rider following me.

majormantra

Ah. I'm so used to the look of full guards that it looks visually unbalanced to me.

ilovedirt

That looks tidy, I just got myself a saracen hack CX bike for winter training (I'm a mtber) and the brakes are awful. Reckon those TRPs are worth the money?

bendertherobot

ilovedirt wrote:

That looks tidy, I just got myself a saracen hack CX bike for winter training (I'm a mtber) and the brakes are awful. Reckon those TRPs are worth the money?

Very very much so. Honestly a monkey could set them up. They are that good.

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Itś my first experience with discs, but Iḿ really impressed with the TRP Spyres, as above easy to set up,progressive and powerful. Prefer the design compared with the Avid BB7 s for example, which are bulkier and where the force is only applied to 1 pad.

ilovedirt

Yep, I've got some cheapy 1-piston brakes at the moment, and they are truly awful. I don't know why someone hadn't come up with a 2-piston mechanical brake before.

ugo.santalucia

ilovedirt wrote:

Yep, I've got some cheapy 1-piston brakes at the moment, and they are truly awful. I don't know why someone hadn't come up with a 2-piston mechanical brake before.

Probably badly set up, single piston are good. The problem with dual piston is that they are too wide and the spokes run at 1-2 mm from the piston, which is not ideal. Things get a bit better if you use a factory wheelset with straight pull spokes, but it's a bit of a drag that you are limited in the wheels you can use by a wide caliper.
I have had BB7 and Hayes CX 5 and they are both very good when correctly setup...

ilovedirt

They're set up fine, single piston brakes are just a crap idea. They're budget brand calipers anyway.
Spokes 1-2mm from the piston makes no difference as long as it doesn't touch.

ugo.santalucia

ilovedirt wrote:

They're set up fine, single piston brakes are just a crap idea. They're budget brand calipers anyway.
Spokes 1-2mm from the piston makes no difference as long as it doesn't touch.

There are reports of them touching and single piston works fine as I said before... everybody was raving about BB7 until the Spyre came out, now they're all going on about how bad the Avid are... it's just fashion... I lock the rear too often in traffic to even consider a more powerful system

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

On my wheels there is about a 3 mm spoke clearence with the Spyres, so thats fine by me. The BB7s may work well in practice, but the mechanical engineer in me just doesnt like the design, 1 pad is effectively trying to push, and therefore flex, the rotor against the other pad. I also think the Spyres look a lot nicer

majormantra

+1. I'd be very surprised if Avid don't come out with a dual piston design, assuming they can avoid infringing any patents.

ilovedirt

ugo.santalucia wrote:

ilovedirt wrote:

They're set up fine, single piston brakes are just a crap idea. They're budget brand calipers anyway.
Spokes 1-2mm from the piston makes no difference as long as it doesn't touch.

There are reports of them touching and single piston works fine as I said before... everybody was raving about BB7 until the Spyre came out, now they're all going on about how bad the Avid are... it's just fashion... I lock the rear too often in traffic to even consider a more powerful system

If it goes into your spokes, you haven't set them up right.
1 piston is a crap design. You can make a more powerful brake, or an equally powerful brake with less lever travel with two pistons. I wouldn't imagine bending the rotor like that does it much good either. Presumably you've never actually tried decent disc brakes before?

ugo.santalucia

ilovedirt wrote:

Presumably you've never actually tried decent disc brakes before?

Listen, if you want to discuss disc brakes, that's fine, but if you have to take that patronising attitude, then I am no longer interested. I have tried many MTB brakes, so yes, I am all familiar to the joy of excellent brakes...
No, if you read the posts, clearly the Spyres don't belong to me and I have not set up anything, look in the workshop section and you'll find the relevant topic where spokes rub the caliper. I have seen one myself where the caliper was running about 1 mm clear of the spokes. Maybe depends on the fork design, maybe the hub flange, don't know...
What I DID say is that having tried 3 different single piston systems I am indeed very impressed and overly happy with them. It could be the Spyre is a superior system and I am happy to accept that, but I don't need a superior system. I'm not the kind of guy who fits bigger tyres to his car to get more grip in the corners... my car corners fine wit the standard tyres. My brakes work well, my rotors, now 3 years old, do not get warped in the bending and my pads consumption is normal, so I really don't see what is wrong with a single piston system. Spyre is better? FIne, I still won't buy it, knowing it might limit my choice of hubs and spokes.
You said it yourself that your single piston is a cheapo, so probably that's a bad one, which doesn't mean they are all bad

bendertherobot

MajorMantra wrote:

+1. I'd be very surprised if Avid don't come out with a dual piston design, assuming they can avoid infringing any patents.

Avid's problem at the moment isn't whether the BB7's are good. It's why would you pay that money for them. The Spyres are as good, the Hy Rd even more so.

I'd considered getting the BB7 SL because, well, they look that bit nicer. But they're £115 or so. Which is bonkers for cable actuated discs.

So I went Hy Rd. They are better than the BB7 because they are easier to set up and they at least the same but probably more braking power. Given that Hargroves price matched someone else (can't recall who) I paid £84. It's hard to justify paying £75 for a BB7.

ugo.santalucia

bendertherobot wrote:

MajorMantra wrote:

+1. I'd be very surprised if Avid don't come out with a dual piston design, assuming they can avoid infringing any patents.

Avid's problem at the moment isn't whether the BB7's are good. It's why would you pay that money for them. The Spyres are as good, the Hy Rd even more so.

I'd considered getting the BB7 SL because, well, they look that bit nicer. But they're £115 or so. Which is bonkers for cable actuated discs.

So I went Hy Rd. They are better than the BB7 because they are easier to set up and they at least the same but probably more braking power. Given that Hargroves price matched someone else (can't recall who) I paid £84. It's hard to justify paying £75 for a BB7.

Yes, but offers don't only happen in TRP world and similarly you can get the BB7 for 54 quid without looking further than WIggle... The SL are probably a 10 grams lightened version for weight weenies with no particular merit

bendertherobot

Indeed. And, at Merlin the Spyre are a mere £8 more. That's where my money would go if I were buying now.

In the past few weeks the price of BB7's has fallen it seems. Personally it's falling to the level that they should be priced at.

the Road SL are still insane.

ugo.santalucia

bendertherobot wrote:

Indeed. And, at Merlin the Spyre are a mere £8 more. That's where my money would go if I were buying now.

In the past few weeks the price of BB7's has fallen it seems. Personally it's falling to the level that they should be priced at.

the Road SL are still insane.

To be honest BB7 were 55 quid 3 years ago when I got them first

ilovedirt

Which is insane because you can get a decent hydraulic brake (shimano Deore) for that price. Obviously they don't work on a normal roadie, but still...

bendertherobot

True, though, remember it's not the calliper that's the issue, it's the shifter. We're trying to pack hydraulics into the shifter which is the hard part. Cheap MTB brakes are cheap but they only have to contend with a braking lever.

ugo.santalucia

When we'll be on hydraulics, there will be folks who go back to cable for the feedback it gives when the pad rubs, as opposed to a numb feel of a liquid based system...
To be honest, I don't see that as an upgrade and will always live in fear of the liquid overheating.

majormantra

If that were true then 100% of decent mtbs wouldn't have hydro brakes. Good ones don't feel numb, they work bloody well.

ugo.santalucia

MajorMantra wrote:

If that were true then 100% of decent mtbs wouldn't have hydro brakes. Good ones don't feel numb, they work bloody well.

I get your point but on these issues we differ. You like new stuff, I like stuff that doesn't let me down. If my cable frays and fails, I fit another cable... if my brake line fails, then I have to go through all sorts of troubles... I am quite handy and a couple of years ago I built a stainless brake line for a Dodge Charger in the absence of the original spare, but I am still unsure whether I want that kind of trouble on a bicycle.
MTBikers are people who are hardly ever more than 15 miles away from their car and those who use the bike for off road touring normally go back one generation or two in terms of components.
I still remember my jaw dropping when I was quoted 150 pounds to fix my Fox Fork, which was ever so slightly scored and lose gas... it's all nice stuff, but it's stuff I gladly do without. Electronics, hydraulics, gas tight shocks... I really don't need that stuff for the kind of riding I do

bendertherobot

If the brake line frays on my Hy Rd, I fit another cable

ugo.santalucia

bendertherobot wrote:

If the brake line frays on my Hy Rd, I fit another cable

Yes, but see... next month I am going to Italy, this year it's entirely possible I can bag a few relatively high cols in late April as Spring has arrived so early... Maybe not the Grand San Bernard, but possibly the San Carlo... would I want to come down the Col San Carlo (10 Km at 10%) with a largely untested pair of semi-hydraulics with such a small fluid reservoir? Frankly not...

bendertherobot

Should be fine mun


http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... kes-47188/

Giraffoto

I'm quite surprised that neither Shimano nor SRAM have come up with a neat hybrid disc brake system like the TRP or Hope ones. With no more than 20cm of compressionless housing and plenty of teflon it would feel almost identical to a full hydraulic setup and get them straight into that end of the market.