[gat3keeper]

Any feedback on this brake model from Tektro? One of the bikes I'm considering have this as a kit.

 

[slomtbr]

A friend has them on his Rail 5. We typically do 1500ft descents on our rides and he's had no issue with them.

 

[theMISSIONARY]

Once bedded in they work ok, Shimano "dual-piston" brakes(the M745 being a four-piston brake) with good pads and rotors are almost as good for power, they are a PITA to bleed and metal sintered pads can be hard to get.

Personally, I would just get Shimano brakes if its a price to performance question

 

[jindustry]

I've read that saint / zee brake pads work in them, so I don't think metal pads should be hard to get.

 

[theMISSIONARY]

I've read that saint / zee brake pads work in them, so I don't think metal pads should be hard to get.

I was tempted to get some to try out but $$$ wasted if they don't fit

 

[slomtbr]

I was tempted to get some to try out but $$$ wasted if they don't fit

Several companies list their pads as cross/compatible. For example: Tektro Orion 4P HD-M745 HD-M750 HD-M735 Multi compound Disc brake pads – Gorilla Disc Brake Pads Shimano Sram Hope Formula (gorillabrakes.com)

 

[Joe Handlebar]

I ran some here in the Front Range of Colorado and honestly, I'm a bit miffed at myself for getting rid of them for some Shimano's (the Shimano's are great, but they're not a big upgrade, so it was a little bit of a worthless swap). And yes, Shimano pads work. You do need a Tektro specific bleed kit as noted, but anything TRP will work of course too.

 

[Balgaroth]

I spent a season with those on my GT Force Elite. They are reliable and consistent ... and that's all the good I have to say about these. Spent my season chasing power with these, if you plan on racing and/or plan on riding long stuff like in the Alps they will not let you down but you better have big and resilient forearms. First mod that helps a little bit is to swtich the hose with the Shimano BH90, the original hose is super flexy and bulges a lot. TRP actually introduced a new hose on their EVO product line for this reason. Second mod you can try is shimano servowave lever (deore, xt, whatever), this gives a much more aggressive bite point which at first seems like you have more power but at the end of the day the hydraulic leverage remains the same and max power isn't affected so I reverted back to the original levers which at least have a consistent bite point. I tried brake pads and 220mm discs, it helps, same as the shimano hose. Currently I dug out some old M810 calipers from my toolbox and run these with the Tektro lever, you get more power due to the bigger pistons of the caliper. If you can find some cheap 4 piston calipers from shimano it can be a good way to upgrade these. Again it all depend of the use you will have, trail or light enduro, 150/200m of elevation or not too steep and they will be ok.

 

[Joe Handlebar]

I spent a season with those on my GT Force Elite. They are reliable and consistent ... and that's all the good I have to say about these. Spent my season chasing power with these, if you plan on racing and/or plan on riding long stuff like in the Alps they will not let you down but you better have big and resilient forearms. First mod that helps a little bit is to swtich the hose with the Shimano BH90, the original hose is super flexy and bulges a lot. TRP actually introduced a new hose on their EVO product line for this reason. Second mod you can try is shimano servowave lever (deore, xt, whatever), this gives a much more aggressive bite point which at first seems like you have more power but at the end of the day the hydraulic leverage remains the same and max power isn't affected so I reverted back to the original levers which at least have a consistent bite point. I tried brake pads and 220mm discs, it helps, same as the shimano hose. Currently I dug out some old M810 calipers from my toolbox and run these with the Tektro lever, you get more power due to the bigger pistons of the caliper. If you can find some cheap 4 piston calipers from shimano it can be a good way to upgrade these. Again it all depend of the use you will have, trail or light enduro, 150/200m of elevation or not too steep and they will be ok.

LOL....all I read here was "try to turn them into Shimano brakes".....without buying Shimano brakes. Be aware though swapping hydro hose between brands, Shimano uses 5mm OD hose and Tektro uses 5.5mm.

 

[Balgaroth]

LOL....all I read here was "try to turn them into Shimano brakes".....without buying Shimano brakes. Be aware though swapping hydro hose between brands, Shimano uses 5mm OD hose and Tektro uses 5.5mm.

Not quite, I tried to see what was needed to make them work well enough for the use I have of my bike. I had in my parts bin all the shimano components I used so it didn't cost me anything. I tend to prefer to modify and play around with stuff rather than just dumping stuff and buying something else. It takes more time and sometimes fails but I learn and get to understand plenty of things. For instance I never had problems with hose before, but now I realized why I had similar issues with TRP bakes. I definitely don't want to go near a shimano brake lever and their damn wandering bite point. Learned about hydraulic leverage, considering that the pistons on the Tektro have less surface than a XC dual piston caliper it is no surprise in the end that those are massively underpowered.

As for the hose you are right, it is recommended to use the right oliv and barb as the Tektro ones tend to be to big but you can make them work with a bit of persuasion.

For the same result you can use the new TRP brake line, TRP Quadiem or DHR caliper, Cura 2/4 caliper, MT5/7 caliper. I already had the shimano parts so it was free to try and more educative than slapping them together to build a shimano brake. Additionally since Tektro/TRP use the shimano 4 piston brake pad it allowed me to keep disc/pads and change only the caliper to do some A/B testing. But I am sure you'd get great results with the Tektro Lever, TRP evo hose and a MT5 caliper if you can source these for cheaper.

 

[gat3keeper]

I tried the brakes this morning. Just a short ride and nothing crazy descent. I cant tell the difference compare to my slx brakes before.

Since Im not an extreme rider. I think this is good for now.

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