Anyone know anything about disc brakes?

Do it. The spyres are designed around a shimano pad anyway.

Yup, you got the advantage of getting those nice new one with fins.

^ ,^^
So get the ice tech, what pads would you both recommend?

Standard Shimano resin is ample, and last quite a while once you wear it in.

Are the xt metal with fins just overkill, or do they perform better/last any longer?

@jontea Superstar components do some good value pads that fit Spyre brakes, both sintered and organic.

If you're talking about the pads, they won't fit.

Cheers @andyp and @edscoble. Very helpful, just trying to find out what my best options were. Think I'll go the ice tech centrelock discs, and then add some half decent resin pads that aren't too dear, see how long the last. Lots of rain and muddy roads up in Cheshire.

The stock Spyre pads aren't bad. I changed mine because cyclocross, but they were working fine before that, I just wanted something with a bit more bite.

Yeh, read somewhere they don't do wet and muddy too well. I'll change em, keep em for summer use.

Oh, cheers @Howard, for the offer of the adapters, won't need em, but I'll get you a beer if I'm ever down London Big Smoke, presuming that's where you are.

That's putting it mildly, worn mine out in one week of touring.

Yep - the spyre stock pads are for dry summer days only!

Hi guys I did utfs but couldn't find anything about the trp parabox. It's similar to the hope v-twin apparently. Anyone here tried it?

Don't buy it, get the TRP HY/RD and compressionless housing instead.

Why? It's complete crap? I've been offered an unused set at £80 which seems cheap. I've read mixed reviews. Have you tried them yourself @edscoble?

Both it and the Hope v-twin are evolutionary dead ends, a quick fix before full hydraulic systems were launched. They work okay, but not as well as full systems. £80 is not a bad price, but it's a quarter of the cost of the Shimano R685 fully hydraulic shifters.

it's a quarter of the cost

Exactly. I understand it's not a cutting edge product anymore but surely good enough for a commuter at the price? Just wondered whether there were issues with bleeding, things breaking easily etc.

I wouldn't put my money on something that requires careful setup and occasional bleeding if it didn't perform as well as the real deal. And those converters do not perform like the real deal. Avoid.

Both are a hybrid system, the parabox/v-twin is a much more complex version for similar performance as a HY/RD.

Best get decent compressionless housing and standard cable pull brakes if you want to keep a good budget.

Right, thanks for the input.

Questions for folks with TRP Hylex, is the brake line they come with the same size as for Shimano hydraulics? Ie: could one swap out the caliper for a Shimano one to get access to finned pads etc?

Well Shimano and TRP use mineral oil, and it's a banjo connector so you might be able to plug 'em in...but who knows if the piston size / volume is similar (think along the lines of lever pull ratio).

Yes it is possible:

Ive got a hylex lever (thanks to @Soul) and swapped out the caliper with a shimano xtr. The hylex brake uses standard fittings and both calipers have about the same size piston so equal power as well. It works!

(...and I save 30 grams in disc brake adapters!...)

Heathen ;)