Anyone know anything about disc brakes?

If you adjusted the brake to compensate for pad wear by pulling the arm through it’s ark with certain leavers you could get the caliper to barf out the ball bearings which resulted in total failure

It's due to the bearings being too small and the grooves not deep enough, so when under full braking, the bearings might pop out when the pads are pretty worn.

In that case I assume the brake wouldn't work at all? Mine is still working, it's just the piston that seems to slip back at the end of the stroke. Might have to get the LBS to have a look. Thanks!

Did you solve this? I've just bought a second hand set (they're the Spyre C version which are OEM but identical apart from the colour) off eBay and they suffer this exact problem.

I think it's just one of the (three) bearings popping out of the cam as the piston sits at a wonky angle when it does it.

Debating whether to strip them down and clean them or send them back; they feel pretty rough. If I strip them down and they're shagged, is it too late to then return them for a refund? Anyone know?

Anyone know where can you buy a proper SRAM road HRD bleed block? Loads of shops claim to sell them with the pads but they never actually do.

Guess I could make something.

wut? u need this shit now?! :(

Don't need just want to bleed both bikes properly ever now and then! Have bleed kit but no block for when the pads are out

Just chuck a 10mm allen key in the gap. Or ask your local mechanic really nicely. Chances are they have spares floating around.

10mm Allen key works pretty well, or whatever you can jam in there that just fits after pushing the pistons in.

And also leaves you free to move around the bike.

I just banded/glued together cut up credit cards to make custom-sized bleed blocks.

how big is the gap? get some shimano ones and file them?

I just banded/glued together cut up credit cards to make custom-sized bleed blocks.

This.

It's what loyalty and library cards are for: I'm not loyal and the libraries have been closed-down.

I never had loyalty cards to begin with - they steal your soul. It's all old credit cards for me. When they say destroy them I say "get to fuck, I'm such a rebel, I am!".

Stick it to the man, yo

Rise up! Rise UP!

I'm going to eat something that 'serves 4' by myself tonight. That will teach our insect overlords to fear me.

I haven't had a chance to look at mine yet, kind of nervous about what I'm going to find.

I'm also trying to work out if I want to repair it. Knowing that it can fail like this makes me a bit unsure. This summer is going to be spent touring, and I don't want to risk it failing when I'm in the middle of nowhere.

I just reread your previous comment and realised our issues are probably different. Mine only occurs when the actuation arm is right at the extent of it's travel, something that wouldn't happen on the road as the pads would've long contacted the disc rotor.

I'm not stripping mine down anyway; I've opened an ebay return as three of the pad adjusters are rounded off.

Something else I've remembered; once when I stripped a set down previously, I got the cams mixed up. They're different and need to go together a certain way (which is obvious), but if you're rushing it's possible to get them mixed up. I remember this made the brakes feel weird, possibly as you describe. I noticed immediately and reassembled them properly. Perhaps who you bought them off has done this?

I've been using these brakes without an issue for about a year, so I don't think it's been disassembled in the past.

I suspect that the pads being worn down might have allowed the actuation arm to over-extend, even with the rotor in place.

Will update if I manage to find a cause.

Just had a look and seem to have (hopefully) fixed the problem.

It looks like the worn pads meant that the actuation arm was cycling too far through its travel. After I wound the pads in manually with the 3mm adjusters on the side and released cable tension from the actuation arm it now seems to be working normally again.

I still don't know if I entirely trust it, but at least it's working

The arm should always return all the way on spyres (and bb7s and hy/rds) with the pads adjusted via the adjusters (or automatically on hy/Rd).

It would seem so. Definitely something I wasn't aware of. Thanks!

Yeh when you set them up, pull the cable tight and then clamp it in the actuator when it's in it's full released position; don't "preload" the actuator.

Got some Hope RX4 calipers on the way. Will report back.

Quite keen to try the RX4 flat mount for just the front brakes but currently the shimano one work well.

RX4 seems like a good idea as a gravel/tourer, pads have larger surface area doesn’t it? In theory with organic, better modulation and decent power compare to shimano metal pads.