After a couple of long rides with lots of climbing and descending the Avid Shorty 4 cantilever brakes quickly reached their power limits. The Shorty 4 is a decent, low cost cantilever brake that stops sufficiently well on flat land, but alas I’m a mountain goat. The best to cyclo-cross the Swiss Jura would disc brakes, but as long as Shimano or SRAM don’t have hydraulic road brake levers, rim brakes will remain my preference. Current disc brake cyclo-cross bikes either run mechanical brakes or attach a hydraulic adapter, most often below the stem. Pretty it ain’t. Anyone seeking the biggest stopping power with rim brakes will inevitably be looking at . My SRAM Red levers are best paired with the CX8.4. For quite some time TRP and any online shop were out of stock on these. I monitored a couple of shops with the help of the aging, but still invaluable WatchThatPage service and sure enough, in mid October had them stock. I received my pair this week, put in a late night shift to get them dialed on the Mares and spun around the block to test them this evening. Pad clearance is a lot tighter than with cantilevers, so wheels will need to be true and the brakes well adjusted to avoid rubbing. First impression - they feel good on the lever, a little squishy but I like that and lots of power. And oh, they looking freaking cool!
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