Anyone know anything about disc brakes?

Oh hi! ;)

on my current project I've paired these

to these

But after filling the system with brake fluid as per manual, the pistons hardly move when pulling the levers... Are these levers & calipers thoroughly uncompatible? I've done a combo of 105 11 speed levers with the same SLX calipers before, and these worked fine.

They should work fine, I've got GRX levers hooked up to 4 pot deore and have made various other mix and match shimano stuff work.

That's what I thought... I can't put any more fluid in I think, I'll have another go at it. But the levers can be pulled effortlessly/with no resistance at all and only come to a stop when they hit the bars.

the levers can be pulled effortlessly/with no resistance

I'd bet good money there's still air in the system

hope so! feels like a lot, too, then ;-) but where...

As per manual? Please do elaborate.

"attach syringe and plastic hose to caliper and fill system with fluid until fluid, without air bubbles, appears in little cup screwed onto lever."

but then the fun starts, apparently, with this set-up ;-) last time I didn't have to do anything it just worked from there.

That's what'll do too!

Tried shutting the caliper bleed nipple, pumping the lever, hold it down, then close the lever bleed port yet?

Also do check where the hose nut connects to the lever body and make sure there's no bulge and/or cracks.

Does anyone have / can comment Clarks M3 Hydraulic Disc Brake Set?
Costs only 68€ - to good to be real?
Or Clarks Clout Hydraulic Disc Brake?

They're cheap AF but work fine, great value.

Pretty sure low-end Shimano comes in at that price too. I mean assuming you can find any in stock.

Tried shutting the caliper bleed nipple, pumping the lever, hold it down, then close the lever bleed port yet?

didn't know this trick! cheers.

SRAM red pads, any recommendations? And in stock…

Uber bike are my go to for disc brake pads. Something like this should work for SRAM red, unless you have Red AXS

https://www.uberbikecomponents.com/view-product/Uberbike-SRAM-Red-Force-Rival-CX1-700-B1-HRD-Apex-1-Sintered-Disc-Brake-Pads

Ah sounds good.

Getting a backdated pay rise in next months pay and fancied buying some nice hydros (22.2 clamp mtb style) for my Unit but there’s two problems,

1 - I’ll be using them on some bars I made which are quite like Surly Corner bars so my hand sits on the top/back of the lever clamp when I’m riding in the ‘hoods’ position so anything where the clamp isn’t rounded is out ie Hope, Magura, Formula.

2 - Stock. No where I’ve looked seems to have a front and rear of the same brake in stock, regardless of what price level I’m looking at.

My brain says go functional and just get some Shimano SLX or XT or something but my heart says go bling. First choice for bling would be Hope but the lever design just won’t work for me.

I see you can buy Hope calipers on their own and you get the choice of dot or mineral oil so would I be crazy to buy Hope caliper and pair them with some Shimano levers? Can you even buy Shimano mtb disc levers as separate items or would I need to go the eBay route? (I have a lot of history of buying leaky hydro kit off eBay)

Make new bars and buy whatever brakes you want?

.

The hope calipers for different oils are road ones but they should work with Shimano MTB levers if you go mineral and want flat mount, I've not tried it though. All shimano parts are sold separately via Madison but I've not checked stock, can do so though. Answer is just get shimano though.

I've got ultegra shifters with hope calipers on one bike. Works perfectly.

There's also stock of brakes in some of the big Euro sellers. Just bought a set of Magura MT Trail Sport from bike-discount but no idea if they ship to the UK any more.

I use Galfer because that's what's in stock here. Everyone seems to like them

Not sure how shimano 2 finger brakes would work as a drop style brake. Nicest "gravel" brakes going are Rival AXS, GRX Di2 or Ekar IMO. 12 speed Shimano too, if you can find some.

The bars are designed to have a flared drop position while taking mtb controls so it’s not like I’m just papping a two finger lever in a drop bar.

A photo speaks a thousand words…

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A bit more reading last night suggests that Shimano have always used the same size piston across their entire range of calipers so if a GRX or Ultegra lever can push enough fluid for an RX4+ caliper then so can a Deore or SLX.