Echo brake quizzing

[Duncy H]

It’s been a while since I’ve been posting on trials forum about an actual trials bike, maybe ten years since come to think of it. Anyhow my boss gave a me a lil summer bonus in the form of an Echo 26 trials bike in amazing condition. (Maybe a pure, someone correct me on that, it’s one of their full builds that I remember being awesome value.)

Front brake needs attention, the pads are contaminated, brake feels good and doesn’t appear to be severely leaking. Is It worth investing time and money in these brakes or are they no good? If it’s worth fixing what are the go too pads?
 

Rear brake has some white looking pads, I assume the originals from the build, they worth using or upgrade them? Can the echo brakes be water bled? Likely will give the rear rim a grind. Also is it worth putting a brake booster on these frames? Seems to be a lil bit of flex in there.

Rear tire I don’t recognise the name of, might see if we have a maxxis downhill tire at work to replace it. 
 

Anything else good to know or to change on these things? Excited to have a play on one of these again, didn’t really expect to own one again anytime soon but here I am. There should be some amazing terrain over here in British Columbia to play on.

[Mark W]

That is indeed an Echo Pure (as TartyBikes would have called it, think it's a Mk3 from other places).

Those Echo disc brakes use Hope pads, so throwing some Trialtech or Jitsie disc pads in will improve things a lot. It's safe to say that they're not the most reliable of brakes, so you may need to switch out the O-rings in the lever if it's leaking up there. If it's leaking caliper end, you may as well just try putting a new brake on before rinsing through pads and rotors as it keeps leaking. With how cheap things like Magura MT-series brakes are there are some really good options out there that are pretty cheap.

The white pads are just standard Echo pads, so won't really be amazing. If you throw some tar on they'll do OK - as will almost all pads - but getting some grind-orientated pads and giving that rim a fresh grind will be best. A booster will help too. Those brakes are mineral oil based so theoretically can be used with water, but I'd put some anti-freeze in there too so you've got the corrosion inhibitors/lubricants that you typically get in anti-freezes.

[Duncy H]

Thanks Mark, still around sharing your wisdom and saving the day!
 

Think I’ll just go for a new front brake then rather than faffing around with this one, is it absolutely worth going with modern trials specific pads for a front disc? Have no personal experience with them. 
 

What’s the story with trials parts these days? A quick glance for me looks like stuff is not as readily available? I guess because production of trials parts took a backseat with the ol’ C-19.

Excited to play on this thing, feels super nostalgic throwing a leg over it.

[Mark W]

Haha, I wouldn't go that far...

So as far as pads go, the Trialtech/Jitsie pads are noticeably better than the standard pads from most brands. That's especially the case with Hope and Echo, although in my experience (and from talking to TB/Inspired team riders) the Magura pads are fine really, especially if it's for the front.

Production issues from the pandemic are the issue really. With the boom in general cycling sales, a lot of production time got taken up by bigger brands throwing their cash around trying to capitalise on it, so the relatively tiny orders that most trials brands place get bumped down the list. I think most of them have prioritised complete bike sales too, so aftermarket parts have been hard to get hold of.

It's a little different for Echo - the zero covid policy in China has meant that they basically had to close their factory almost since March/April 2020 until now. There are plenty of rumours swirling around that they might be finished because of it, which isn't too surprising. They own their own factory, and I imagine that owning a factory and not being able to produce any parts with it for 2 years would probably make life hard financially. I hope they come back as they've done a lot in the trials world, but... yeah...