Swoofty

Brakes can become a very impassioned discussion in most all cycling disciplines these days. For trials, yes, pads can make a night and day difference. I'll cast my vote for Magura MT5s, but MT4s and the base MT brakes all work very well for trials too. Maguras definitely win the price/performance ratio. No matter which brakes you get, make sure they are set up properly and check the alignment fairly often.

Or you could use a hub designed to be 3x and radial ;-) Oh yeah!

Most of my bikes are 3x front. My pure trials stock bike is 2x front w HS33s up front. I have one street trials bike that is 3x disc side and radial non disc.

Rule #1. Just say no to centerlock. Any centerlock. Now you know why that hub was $10. :-( Good luck.

Is it better to have the rear cog near the spokes or near the frame? In a lot of single speed applications we have the option of placing the rear cog nearer one side or the other, assuming the rest of the chainline lines up, but is one better than the other? I usually try to put mine closer to the spokes in the belief that it's closer to the driven part and reduces the lever arm on the rear axle, but I've got a bachelor of fine arts degree on the wall and not an engineering degree. Anybody got a more authoritative answer? Cheers

If you're riding 3-5 times a week, replacing a chain every 3 months isn't unheard of; annually at the very least. Also has the benefit of not wearing out your cogs so quickly. The interval on a brake system is a bit more of a grey area. You can pretty much tell when pads need replacing and sadly I'm a bit of a cheapskate on rotors and only replace them when bent or too contaminated to clean properly. I don't own calipers that measure down to .01mm so the manufacturers guidelines are useless to me. I use hydraulic brakes so can't say about lever/cable/caliper. I've done a caliper rebuild once, but now I'm more likely to just replace the whole system if it comes to that again (I use Magura MT4 or MT5 so only $35 or $64 to replace). From what I remember about BB7s, the calipers were pretty solid. The levers can develop play, as you said, but unless that bothers you, they'll keep working fine. The cable can definitely do with replacing regularly, but no clue on a specific interval. I have yet to replace a stem or stem bolts. Handlebars get replaced when they have visible damage. It sounds like your already checking the appropriate critical areas. Just keep it up and you'll be fine.

I figured you would already know all that JT! Yeah ditto for what PeterH said. Clean the rotor with REAL isopropyl alcohol (99% or better, make sure it has no other additives). Clean it with a cotton cloth (old tshirt) and NOT paper towels. Burn the pads on a gas stove or with a torch. I used to sand the pads after that to remove the glaze, but the typical water bedding process will resurface the pads too (get the pads nice and wet, ride up to a nice speed and brake fairly hard for 3 seconds, but don't let the wheel stop; repeat until they stop squealing). I've had good results with maguras 9.p stock pads, but in the rear I usually go for trialtech, BBB sintered metalic or trickstuff pads. The 9.p is best for modulation, the rest are 'trials' pads. Good luck! Just for fun, check the alignment of the caliper if you haven't already.

BERD now offer BMX length spokes for all the little bike people. Somebody else will have to go first, I'm building a mountain bike right now. My son finally wants to MTB!!

The 15mm through axle is definitely a bonus. Curse Crewkerz for their 9mm proprietary B.S! That Extension fork will ruin the aesthetics of your bike I fear, but 24 pure is an exercise in poor tradeoffs. I didn't have the through axle version of the carbon WAW fork, but I ran a 203 rotor on my TMS Evo6 no problem. You can put a star nut down a threaded steerer no problem and cut it at an angle too.

Chrome would be pretty sweet! All I've heard is hearsay unfortunately. I got the frame from someone who spoke a little english and I speak no Japanese. What I got from him is that the Echo factory is closed, hence the unfinished items sale, but they have a warehouse with stock that is supposedly being used to fill open orders. The factory is closed due to loosing all their skilled workers to better paying jobs elsewhere when lockdowns were lifted. It was my understanding that Echo is effectively done. I hope none of this is true, but it's certainly believable. I was worried what might happen after Deng died. This frame is the 8th Echo/Czar that I've owned in my 13 years. A whole lot of my trials progress is due directly to Echo.

They are indeed (the locals call them "pawns"). That's my backyard Sadly, I've been trying to do the whole line unsuccessfully for 7 YEARS now!!!! You, sir, have a very good eye.

The story I was told was that when Echo closed recently, all the remaining stock, whatever state it was in, was sold off. This particular frame set had been painted, but had not yet received decals and was sold as is. It came to my attention in a Japanese shop labelled as just a Czar Neuron Pro, but this color was only used on the limited edition version with the BB30 bottom bracket. Since my first trials bike back in 2009 was a Czar, I though it would be fitting that I should get my hands on possibly one of the last Czars. Now with the first build out, I'm struggling with the best accent color to finish it just so. The absence of decals also makes the 'bass boat purple' really dominate. I had hoped that tiny orange accents would work, mostly because I already had a spare wheel with orange nipples, but orange isn't quite right. The Clean cranks have the heavily overused red accents, but I have to say the red is actually growing on me. The rear hub is my trusty Profile Elite from my Ozonys Iron build back in 2015 and it's purple so it will have to do for now even though that makes for a lot of purple. I tried gold and silver bolts all around, but they weren't the right colors either. Might need some stickers to break up all that galaxy purple. Had my first real ride on it today; so much fun. I'm gonna miss Echo.

I've got something pretty special in the workshop right now. I'm still in the process of figuring out the accent colors and awaiting parts to complete it. Full story when I have the first rough draft to show.

The Arcade is a better geometry for street riding, but yeah, heavier. The Arcade is a more specialized street machine than the 4play, which you'll appreciate if you really want to ride street. Put an alloy fork on the Arcade someday and the weight difference won't be noticeable.

I'm with Ali on this one, never had any good results from brake cleaners. I'll use alcohol (99% industrial stuff, not the drug store stuff w additives) if I have to clean the caliper or rotor and even that can be questionable. Flame usually does the trick - plenty of vids on youtube for that. Gas stove or a butane lighter works. From the photo you posted, it does look like something's on your rotor. When it's all working top notch the rotor should look mirror polished on the braking surface.

I read the press release for Trickstuff's new 4 piston brake caliper. It's $1000. I'll pass on Trickstuff. One 6 piston Racingline caliper on my VW GTI is less than $1000. With pads. I'll take some of whatever they're smoking, but I can't support those prices.

I hate to say it, but you're right about me and the MDR-C rotors When I first saw them I really didn't like the aesthetics and when I saw the weight I decided my HC rotors were fine! Honestly I haven't had any issues with my HC rotors in 180 or 203; I just like trying new stuff and these are $30 compared to trying new pedals or a new fork at over $100+. I must have some special kismet with MT5s. I always come back to them and they've always been 110% for me. Do you know anything about the Galfers? I think I've seen them in some street vids.

I'm pretty much MT5s all around with 1 or 2 MT4s. I usually use Magura Storm HC or Hope symmetric rotors. I'm about to order some of Galfer's Wave rotors in 2.0 as well. BBB pads or Magura 9.P all around.

Have any of you street warriors out there tried TRPs new 2.3mm thick rotors? I plan on ordering one next time I need a rotor, but at the moment I don't yet need one. Hopefully they'll offer less twist. Anyone tried them? I think they go up to 220mm in size.

The AS30 cranks WILL creak. They are my least favorite part of my Crewkerz. I have a set of Cleans on order, but they don't come in 175 (not such a big deal). Hopefully the Cleans are better.

I'm having this issue on my Onza Zoot now too (no snail cam though). I figure it's probably the fact that it's using M6 axle bolts and not M10 axle bolts, but unfortunately that's not an easy fix. I'm only on the Zoot for 2 more weeks so I'll just deal for now, but that's one of the reasons I've moved away form horizontal dropouts on all my other bikes.

I have the iFX version on my cafe racer but haven't tried them for trials. Luckily I can usually find Shimano cranks on sale for trials (street) use. They seem like regular cast alu, so no telling which side impact will snap them.

It does sound like a 26" street would fit the bill nicely and you're in luck because there are 4 new 26" currently available - Inspired Hex, TMS Silex 26", Extension Drax and possibly a Czar Neuron 26 if you can find one. I started riding trials at 35 and went straight to 24 street and loved every minute of it. Pure bikes are fun and impressive, but no fun at all to actually ride around on. I've been riding 26 street for the last 2 years now because they're just easier for pretty much everything except spins, give or take. The bike that you WANT to ride is often the best bike for you despite any other qualifications. If you're anywhere near LA, come on over and you can try out a bunch of different bikes. Good luck!

That's what happened to my first set of A4s, but Hayes replaced it no problem.