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the rear feels considerably more spongy
It will do, on account of the longer cable run.
i have to grip pretty hard to lock the rear wheel
Sounds good: being able to easily lock the rear wheel under braking, is not desirable.
i'm a bit unhappy with mechanical rim brakes given my first "road" bike had hydraulic discs.
No doubt. But if you want disc-brake-braking, then you need disc brakes: trying to make rim brakes perform like disc brakes is a fool's errand.
sram red hydro rim brake
A lack of a transfer of force, isn't why disc brakes and rim brakes differ.
Scilly.Suffolk-
maybe not easily but lever effort is quite a bit more than i'm used to is all.
so you are saying the sram hydro rims are only marginally better than cable calipers?
and well yea isn't it? the big difference is that there is essentially no friction in pushing a fluid through a tube compared to a cable in housing.
zmjones_
yea i have 6800 calipers, standard (new) housing and cables. calipers look centered, not sure i have toe-in right though. pads are standard shimano ones on hed ardennes aluminum rims. the rear feels considerably more spongy. it goes through a port on the front-underside of the top tube and out a port on the left side of the rear of the top tube. think i have the run done well (at least according to a mechanic i showed it to). i have to grip pretty hard to lock the rear wheel.
i guess maybe i should try polymer coated cables? is there another pad that is significantly better for alloy rims? i thought the kool stop salmons were for carbon rims? the bxp is for alloy though?