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I gave up on rotor truing tools entirely... I found that I end up warping them worse then when I started. Knipex pliers are the move for me when truing rotors. Fortunately, that means one less tool to take with me on fly away trips.
That's just user error.
I've trued rotors with a screwdriver and even a butter knife, but purpose made tools are made for a reason.
The newest iteration of Park Tools version is the only purpose made tool I've found so far that can do a 2.5mm rotor in the deepest slot as well. That means it's the most future proof so far.
Mmh i loved the look, plus the 203mm have smaller cuts compared to the 160mm for example
I might listen to you on this one and get some radic rotors
Light and thick
Try some rubberized heat shrink on the levers. It might give enough grip without destroying gloves.
Silicone tubing.
Check out Lizard Skins DSP brake lever grips. It's a super thin bar tape cut specifically for brake levers. I use it on my Dominion A4 and Maximas. It is nice and grippy and as a bonus it helps with cold metal levers during winter.
Same as the other responses. I do wear out the rotor with red semi pads.
Amazing that this problem still crops up. Formula had the same problem about 15 years ago and the results was exactly the same as you describe.
At the time I was thinking that the best way to design a rotor is to have as constant a cross section as possible, making a hole smaller as you go forward in rotation should be making another one bigger.
It surprises me because it's near trivial to audit in your CAD model...
I had a bad run with TRP too. First sec of rotors with DHr Evo’s lasted less than a ride as it turned out the stock TRP pads had the blue backing plate paint contaminating the pad compound. It cooked in to rotor and that was that.
I got another set but just found they never felt powerful. I swapped in some Magura rotors and it was much better immediately. Ultimately I was never happy with the power of the DHr Evo. Someone I know at one of the distributors mentioned similar experiences and very small piston leaks might have been to blame.
I've always had issues with the blue pads. Swapped for purple Galfer, evo pro with r5 rotors are pretty good.
They are definitely not the most powerful but a friend runs the green galfer and Green sinter(brand) pad and they are awesome.
an early set of dhr evo regular's i had used to weep from the piston seals.
This was done by the red "Hope" pads made by Galfer. I only bedded in the pads, and over night I had to pry the pads off because they were stuck.
Thankfully I managed to wipe off all the paint with just isopropyl alcohol.
I have since just used the green Hope pads as I've seen others have similar issues with the purple pads.
How did the rotor surface look like given you state it cooked into the rotor, or was it just lacking bite?
what were they 'stuck to'?
The phenolic inserts where you see the red paint residue.
Am I the only one thinking it would be cool as if someone bothered adding a magnet to that phenolic insert to make the piston Magura style?
I think so. Doesn't work with aluminium backed pads (are not so common though), will pull any metallic wear particles, the magnets have to be high temperature resistant and can demagnetise if overheated, etc.
There's nothing really wrong with the pins that most brakes use.
What would be a good set of brake pads that work better “cold” rather than needing to be warmed up after a few corners before they start preforming?
I need to replace my Intend pads and while I thought they were ok I want something that hits operating temperature faster since my brake system has way more hear capacity than my 160lb rider weight can use.
Something organic or semi-metallic rather than full sintered. Galfer greens bed in like instantly, so that could work really well. I tried those and they felt great but wore down really fast. I'm about your weight, and prefer organics on my non-ebikes for that reason. For ebikes, I run sintered because their extra weight pushes me over the threshold.
I’m 150lb and I have 2 setups with MTX red pads. One with Hayes + 200x1.95 rotors (Hayes D) and another with Formula Cura 4 with Formula Rotors (200x2.3 monolith). I find the Hayes are up to braking power in cold faster than the Formulas. The Formula seem to stay cooler on heavy consistent braking though.
All that to say rotors width I believe may play a role in “warm up” and I like MTX reds.
Im on the 203mm TRP 2.3 rotors
My only disclaimer is that I have no problem with either being “cold”. It may take a few seconds of using it, but doesn’t impact me. I don’t ride in that cold so YRMV.
Obviously pads are the least cost option to try first.
Galfer green is the best for quick brake performance but comes at the cost of pad life.... however they are great.
Got a big ride in on the TRP S05e 220 rotor today. You guys were spot on. It was nearly perfectly true out of the box and took very little to true up. On the bike, they have a nice solid bite, maybe a little less sharp than the Sharks but somehow feel firmer at the lever. Waaaayyy quieter. They made 2 little squeaks I think in 3 hours that went away instantly. Anyways, pretty big fan of these after 1 ride. When I wear out my 203 Sharks I plan on replacing them with the 203 version of the S05e.
Swiss stop organic are good, go well with an alloy core Shimano rotor in cold temps.
Longshot here... does anyone fancy a trade on brake setups? My TRPs for your Mavens.
I have some TRP DHR Evos that I'd like to trade for Maven Silvers. I like my TRPs, but now my 3 other bikes have maven's on them and switching back and forth is a pain. I'm going to fire sale these at an insane deal for what they are... but I know that people in this thread are very particular about brakes like I am and figure someone may be in the same situation and going the opposite direction. This set of brakes if flawless, no odd lever issues, no bleed issues and under 400 miles on them.
TRP DHR Evos (silver), Freedom Coast Levers (silver), 2x Shimano Metallic Pads bedded to 203mm TRP RS01E rotors, 2x TRP Organic Pads (blue) bedded to 220mm TRP RS05E rotors, stock trp lever blades, 203mm trp brake adapters, extra bleed/olive fittings.
I have Dominions one one bike, and Trinity's on the other... the Intend brakes are brutal for a small chap like me. almost unreasonable power haha.
Dominions just work, 3yrs of nothing done they just work the same all the time.
Ah, another season and another leaking xt lever to my collection.
They are cheap af but it's a bit dissapointing - the collection is already quite impressive.
Did you try to swap the piston to some aftermarket ones from aliexpress?
https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ4cFlRjIsr/?hl=en
Would anyone know when or if there is going to be these new swing links for the mavens available to the public. Currently i think that they are red in the current brakes, these gold ones on luca's bike apparently have a lighter lever feel which would make the mavens way better. i might remember seeing some point during the world cup season troy brosnan was also running something similar.
I believe it's April (or somewhere around April '26) for the launch of a whole range of SRAM products, these included. I wonder if they'll make those available on their own to install on current gen of Mavens
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