£245 Argos Folder Improvements - complete story

[Peter.Bridge]

> possibly get some cable to hydraulic brakes

Keep us posted and good luck accessing that front caliper bolt!

ok - after much googling I have ordered a pair of these for £26 + £5 vat (flat mounted - these are the more expensive model !)

ZRACE BR-005 Cable Actuated Hydraulic Disc Brake Enlarge the Piston For Road Cyclo-cross CX Bike, CycloCross - AliExpress 18

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

vi.aliexpress.com

 

[saneagle]

ok - after much googling I have ordered a pair of these for £26 + £5 vat (flat mounted - these are the more expensive model !)

ZRACE BR-005 Cable Actuated Hydraulic Disc Brake Enlarge the Piston For Road Cyclo-cross CX Bike, CycloCross - AliExpress 18

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

vi.aliexpress.com

That was a good find. It'll save a lot of messing about.

 

[Waspy]

find the drop handlebar (with palms facing inward) position really comfortable, much to my surprise.

I believe this is called, "Riding on the hoods" and I think it is more comfortable than mountain bike riding positions. Mind you, modern mountain bikes have high head tubes and very wide handlebars which look a lot more comfortable than the museum pieces I ride.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

So that was all stupidly easy







I used the adapters off the old cable tektro calipers. All fitted very easily, no rubbing, didn't need to adjust anything.

Went out for a test ride - it's miles better, I can lock the rear wheel up now. Much less effort and better modulation. Possibly not as good as MT200s in mountain bikes but not far off. Hopefully should improve further as the pads bed in.

I asked the bike shop how much it was to get TRP HY/RD cable activated hydraulic pistons : £130 each front and back + £40 bleeding ? / fitting + compressionless cable
(I saw a tip to cable tie the brake cable every few cm as a alternative to compressionless housing so I did that)

So my alternatives were full hydraulic group set (£799 !), bike shop TRP HY/RDs (>£300 ) or these BR-005s(£26 + £5 tax) and fit them myself. (This was for a bike that cost £250 off marketplace)

Looking good so far, will post any relevant updates

 

[Nealh]

Good find their Peter , certainly a far far cheaper option.

 

[AntonyC]

Very nice, and if the rear's grabby it adjusts CCW by the orange dot. But I can't FTLOM see how you'd get even a 25mm hex bit into the upper front adapter bolt with the old caliper on there, or even a ball-ended wrench. Do tell!
P.S. Articles explaining the adapters here and here.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

Very nice, and if the rear's grabby it adjusts CCW by the orange dot. But I can't FTLOM see how you'd get even a 25mm hex bit into the upper front adapter bolt with the old caliper on there, or even a ball-ended wrench. Do tell!
P.S. Articles explaining the adapters here and here.

Haha, that does look tricky in the photos, must be an optical illusion, just used a standard Allen key, can't remember any difficulty to it !

 

[matthewslack]

Too late I know, but half a set of inconveniently American Shimano flat mount hydraulics for £12.95 delivered! Front, but left caliper. Same calipers as MT200, so keeps eyes open, the other bits will likely show up.

Shimano MT200 / UR300 Flat Mount Front Disc Brake | Merlin Cycles

Buy your Shimano MT200 / UR300 Flat Mount Front Disc Brake at Merlin. Free worldwide delivery available on most items!

www.merlincycles.com

 

[Peter.Bridge]

Too late I know, but half a set of inconveniently American Shimano flat mount hydraulics for £12.95 delivered! Front, but left caliper. Same calipers as MT200, so keeps eyes open, the other bits will likely show up.

Shimano MT200 / UR300 Flat Mount Front Disc Brake | Merlin Cycles

Buy your Shimano MT200 / UR300 Flat Mount Front Disc Brake at Merlin. Free worldwide delivery available on most items!

www.merlincycles.com

Looks good, but doesn't this need a groupset with hydraulic brake levers ? My groupset has cable levers, and I don't think you can just change the brake levers, it's all integrated, need to change the groupset which is very expensive !

 

[matthewslack]

Looks good, but doesn't this need a groupset with hydraulic brake levers ? My groupset has cable levers, and I don't think you can just change the brake levers, it's all integrated, need to change the groupset which is very expensive !

Oh yes, sorry, forgot that detail!

There is a curious Giant device that mounts on the stem and converts cable to hydraulic thus minimising cable length and friction. Cheap if noone else wants it.

Giant Conduct System and Shimano Compatible Hydraulic Calipers | eBay

Giant braking system, allows the use of mechanical levers with a hydraulic system. I found it works pretty much as well as full hydro, can’t notice much of an improvement since I “upgraded”. For sale are the parts pictured - the reservoir fits on the end of the stem, the calipers are fairly...

www.ebay.co.uk

a pair of hydraulic flat mount calipers, ending soon so may stay affordable.

Pardon our interruption...

Pardon our interruption...

 

[Peter.Bridge]

Haha, that does look tricky in the photos, must be an optical illusion, just used a standard Allen key, can't remember any difficulty to it !

@AntonyC had to go and try it myself . I couldn't understand it from the photo