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 TRP. 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 Bikeman 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!
★ collideous