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I picked up one of the bargain Specialized Como Turbo SL 4.0 bikes from Evans in the week. Figured it was cheaper than continuing to kill the car's DPF on short journeys.
However this new bike comes with 'TRP Flow Set Control, hydraulic disc, metal-ceramic pads'. Google searching just yields posts and blogs from other confused people. They're not explicitly listed on TRP's website, I think it's some kind of combo with a microSHIFT hub gear shifter.
The brakes seem particularly woeful - I'm trying to bed them in but I think there's possibly air in the system too. I've got a full Shimano/TRP bleed kit at home so I'm going to tackle that side of things tomorrow.
From what I can tell, the stock TRP F10RS pads should cross-reference to the narrower K02/K03/K04 road disc pads for Ultegra / Dura-Ace. I grabbed some cheap finned pads for Ultegra/Dura-Ace from Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CM9KT5ZR
Had a quick look tonight ahead of sorting the bleed tomorrow. The finned pads fit into the caliper, but I'm a couple of mm short of the holes lining up and being able to put the pad retaining bolt (or a cotter pin) in
Is it just something as simple as the shape of the non-Shimano caliper is a mismatch for the fin patterns on these particular pads?
Equally can anyone chime in with any experience of these TRP Flow Set Controls?
Many thanks
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Not a direct help, more a warning...
I can't remember which brake brand it was that came on one of our bikes but I think it may have been TRP where we couldn't even get a definitive view on what fluid was in it when the thing needed a bleed.
Solution a set of much better and bargain prices Shimano brakes.
I've had real mixed eperiences with TRP/Tektro. The Hylex drop mounted hydraulics on my Pinnacle Arkose 2 are nothing short of superb. Haven't bled them since new (2016), and done several thousand miles, though I did swap the pads for the normal Shimano B01s.
The Tektro M275? fitted to my partner's Covid-shortage era Liv Tempt 1, are shocking. Same brakes on my eldest's GT Aggressor (a third of the cost of the Liv) and they're 'OK'. I thought most hydraulics would be comparable (or at least not as bad as I remember Avid BB5 cable discs), but yeah, take your point. Even the cheapest Shimano M355s I've had in the past have been great, and certainly better than the ones on this new bike.
There's an awful lot of internal routing on the Specialized though so would be a chew on to change them out.
Unfortunately those brakes are poor, and combined with terrible cable routing and daft lever shape means you are either stuck with them, or just cut them out, find the best Flat Mount brakes that you can and just route the hoses externally. The factory bleeds might also be poor, and the mechanic that built that bike probably resigned halfway through the build or shot himself / herself in the face.
From memories that I've managed to largely suppress, I think replacing the brakes is pretty well a 'take the effing bike apart again' job, and then you have to put it back together again and deal with the cable routing......
Thanks walleater, sounds like the voice of experience!
I bled them this morning and the fronts took two goes. The lever port is on the side which means the usual attachments wouldn't fit. In the end fashioned something out of the connectors I had and it was a tight enough fit to work with the two syringe method.
Been on a ten mile pootle and they're noticeably better now, still not superb but I'll live with them.
Had to remove the calipers as not worth the chew on to remove the wheels. Nearly stripped a bloody mounting bolt such is the lack of access.
Had to remove the calipers as not worth the chew on to remove the wheels
Crikey, what happens if you get a puncture…😬
I can't believe you'd use the p word, uncensored, on a public bike forum!
Nah in all seriousness, the front looks to be some kind of thru axle on a standard allen bolt, but removing the rear has its own multi-page section in the owners manual. Cross everything and touch wood...