Daan

Got my Dominion A4 back from warranty: they gave me a brand new brake. Just two rides in, and also this one has started leaking past the piston seals. Must be a new record. Oooo so bummed! How do you do it @Ali C?

Friend of mine also had this with his Pro4. Seen it a few times on the forums here too. So not that uncommon for trials riders it seems. I've noticed Hope's QC been lacking as well the last couple of years, for the products I bought at least, while before that they'd always been solid. So that might also have something to do with it. Or you simply might be cursed of course.

Quick update @Szymon, got some Clean carbon bars in the end, figured 730 mm would be better than 720. First impression was they look very well made and finished. One ride in and I didn't think I'd feel it much, but the geometry is also noticeably different from the Arcade bar, if run in the same position. I always run my bars perpendicular to the ground, and with this bar the bike feels bigger. Felt better for trials moves and a bit more effort and slight rebalance needed for manuals. It's also stiffer than the Arcade bar. I like it so far. Let's see how it lasts.

Blowing some life back into this topic. TMS Silex 26", 10.85 kg. Spec is different from pic, weight above is with a carbon Clean handlebar, Hayes Dominion A4 front brake, 90x30 stem, Shigura rear brake, Billy Bonkers tyres (tubeless, rear with insert), DMR lock on grips.

Ah thanks! Judging by the type of cutout in the head tube and shape of the seat stays, it's probably a predecessor to the Angel S2 20", using a mid section similar to the 26" version. Did find a Dutch pro rider using this exact frame, but only for a few months it seems, then he switched to the S2. I'll see if I can get in touch with him, might even be his old frame haha (or he cracked it after a few months of course).

Been looking for a cheapish mod bike for a while now, just to see how they ride, looks like fun, but might hate it also, so don't want to spend too much. Not much on offer around here, but found this Scorpio, might be something? Seller doesn't know anything though, and I can't find any archive pages for this bike. Perhaps any of you know if this is any good, for the money? And what the geo's like? https://www.marktplaats.nl/v/fietsen-en-brommers/fietsen-crossfietsen-en-bmx/m2046167591-scorpio-trial-bike

Well, that's the end of them as well. Howl of death slowly started a few rides ago, and now all bite is gone, super creaky/howly, and sure enough, wetness around one of the pistons and on the back of the pad. Back to Shigura again then. Only 4 months for the A4. Damn.

Watched the entire video this time (was on the train previously), and it's funny they mention a stiffer axle causing more wear on the pawl pockets of the freehub body. This is exactly what I saw on mine, with the 10 mm bolt on axle, which is stiffer and doesn't break. I even posted a video about the pawl pockets deformation here on the forum, after just a very short time of use. Recall Adam saying that it was more wear than he'd like to see in such a short time, so it must be true

Whilst having had issues with my Hydra skipping, and axle length tolerance being off causing too much preload on the freehub bearings, I've never had an axle break, and I break a lot of stuff. I believe their 12 mm axle may just not be up to the task. I use a 10 mm bolt on axle. Also, flex happens in any axle, i9 just chooses to use it to their benefit.

Have been wondering the same thing. Aluminium snaps very suddenly, and I sometimes do break stuff. Thinking carbon might be safer. You don't notice the Comas being 1 cm smaller @Swoofty? At least, I'm very used to the Inspired Arcade bars. Was thinking about the Extentions too, but you mentioning two broken pairs @Szymon , not that great, can't imagine there being that many out there, and Extention feels like an AliExpress brand to me 😛 Then again, I've also seen the Arcade bar fail more than once (not mine, I only broke a Deity Highside bar, also aluminium). Edit: found a good deal on the Comas bars, will be giving them a shot, my Arcade bars are running on almost 4 years anyway.

Probably not great, at least the dual compound crossmark were a bit ass on wet concrete and brick.

Cool, so definitely no difference in power/leverage

So, does the diameter differ? We need a venier calliper pic

The master cylinders are also the same, as far as the piston goes at least. It's just some marketing to justify the blingy MT7. Of course, the MT7 also has some adjustability features on the MC (and optionally the HC3 lever) the MT5 lacks. But with the longer lever, the MT5 actually has more leverage, and hence power, than the MT7.

No problem. And I'm calling BS on that Magura article.

Yeah that sucks. The A2 are not fit for trials abuse unfortunately. Also check the insane flex of the calliper when you squeeze the lever hard. The A4 does much better in that regard. The A2 have been fine on my mountain bike after that initial leak, but that doesn't see any trials moves. I do have a set of A4 in use on the trials now, gave them another shot after my Hope V4 blew themselves up and I wasn't really liking the feel of the Shigura I had installed after that. Still good, but only a month in.

Good one on the EBC reds, recall using them in my Formula T1 brakes on the trials bike. They had so much bite, the callipers started leaking instantly past the pistons 🤪 I also recall the HFX9 being quite reliable, so I'm sure they'll fare better!

Since Trickstuff Power is not available for the HFX, I'd try the Galfer Green pads. They're also a very soft, high performance (and fast wearing, but for trials that doesn't really matter) organic compound. I've also had solid performance from the Discobrakes Ceramic Pro compound in my Maguras.

I break a lot of stuff, but have yet to break a brake. First things first, don't use that flimsy Shimano adapter! The caliper is only as strong as its weakest link, and when your adapter goes, so does the caliper. And that adapter looks bent.

Sounds like a proper trials frame. Pre-bent for those inevitable crashes, and why would you measure anything when eyeballing it does the job as well?

Haha, well, the bikes keep changing in every photo too In all seriousness though, favourite so far is the Maxxis Ikon 2.35". It was a bit too wide for the frame (my old Hex), but had the best grip and felt nicely damped, maybe also because of the volume. Didn't last too long unfortunately, started wobbling a bit much. In all fairness, I might have damaged the bead with a tyre lever (plastic though, so pretty delicate bead). The Race King is alright. Does last longer under me than the Racing Ralph, ripped the tread right of them in the back. Grip in damp conditions is where I usually notice my tyres, but haven't ridden anything damp anymore after my wrist breakage, so can't comment on that unfortunately. And yeah, always tubeless, always an insert

Frustration or not, it does look spiffy. Throw it out though, what frustrated you most? On my Silex it was the stupid hose guide on the fork. Filed it off eventually. And a lot of bolts included for the rear wheel chain tugs, but none long enough to run it in the only position you'd want to run it in. But hey, at least the whole thing was welded together straigher than my Hex, both fork and rear end. I do see you don't want to run any Hope or straight connected brake with the way it's mounted back there haha. How many of these bikes do you have now? 😁

@Tharun Shiv 120 mm, dude, there goes your street cred! But if it rides well, it rides well; curious to hear how you get on. And just keep an eye out for cracks I reckon I've found the sweet spot with the 90 mm, also don't want to be changing stems much with the brake hose routed through the fork haha.

Always a good idea to let your customers test your products. Since they were also micro leaking at the caliper piston end, I've thrown on some Shiguras to do some more product testing. No wandering bite point at all, and that for a Shimano. Also, even on a bleed block, the T4 bite point consistently keeps coming out. It is consistent, in that it always does so by the same amount. Don't know if it's normal for the T4, or if my set is from the beta batch in this regard too, but the difference between initial bite point and bite point after repeated application is too large in my book.

@AdamR28Yeah I guess some pump-up is to be expected. But, have tested this on a Hayes Dominion A2, which didn't seem to pump up at all, and on a Hope Tech 3 V4, which did pump up a bit, but not nearly as much as this one, plus you really had to be much faster with flicking the lever for it to happen. You actually notice this on the T4 while doing back wheel hop stuff. @craigjames think that's a different issue, but could perhaps be this: https://vstatic.mtb-news.de/videos/2/8/4/4/5/1/_/video/487c190_154482_trim.ADF023FE-864D-4895-BA38-346EBBF6A4EA.m4v Has to do with a faultily sized lever piston/body combo due to an error with one of the CNC machines. Don't know why they didn't do a recall of the affected brakes, as there were quite a few. Had the same problem on mine, had to go back to Hope for them to fix it.