Across the expo from Formula’s competing system developed for Colnago was TRP’s HyWire hydraulic road bike disc brakes with integrated Di2 buttons.
First spotted at some of the supplier tradeshows, the unit on display here is darn close to production. Above, you can see the sharp edged bulge on the inside of the lever. That’s where the Di2 wires plug in, but it will be changed and smoothed before production. Resting my hand on it, I actually enjoyed the additional platform it provided, but it seems slimmer form factors are what’s in style.
Unlike Formula’s mechanical-levers-to-button interface, TRP’s uses custom designed buttons that run a small wire up to the plug under the hood. It’s still using all of Shimano’s electronics. Bleed port is hidden under the top of the hood, facing straight up…which should make bleeding a little lot more straightforward than the Parabox, which even they admit is a pain to bleed.
While I liked the thicker platform the bulge might provide, doing a little spin through the parking lot I’m not 100% sure about how far out the bottom of the levers stick out. Could be that simply rotating them inward around the handlebar could solve that…hopefully we’ll get a chance to test them out long term.
Like the second generation Parabox, the calipers get a larger 21mm piston front and rear. That’s up from 18mm on the back caliper in the original Parabox system. It has larger pads, too. With the original Parabox, they pulled calipers from their existing stock. The HyWire gets new calipers and, obviously, a new pair of master cylinders.
Lance Larrabee, brand manager, says this combo gives them more power with a sleeker design. It also helps with heat management.
Ships with the Lyra’s oval cut out rotor. HyWire hydraulic braking system should retail for $599 for the set.
