The new TRP Hylex singlespeed hydraulic disc brake drop bar set up took everything that was easy to make about the Di2-based Hywire system they showed two years ago and dropped the electronic shifting hopes.
The result is a lean looking full hydraulic brake setup that’s perfect for singlespeed road and cyclocross bikes. TRP’s reps said with Shimano’s change to the e-tube system, it became more difficult to integrate their electronics into custom buttons, so they just left those out and focused on the brakes.
A quick test ride on them felt really, really good with solid braking and linear modulation. They were mounted up to Raleigh’s Brian Fornes’ personal bike, which was raced at Cross Vegas as shown. He had other rotors on it, but the system will ship from TRP with their TR-14 rotor, same as what comes with the Spyres and HyRD calipers.
The kit weighs in at 352g per wheel (without rotor) and will retail for $159.99. That’s only $10 more per wheel than the HyRD caliper on its own. They’re available now.
The lever body still has the slots where the Di2 wires would plug in. They could have kept that original version as an option, but figured the market size of people willing to ditch a set of expensive original 10-speed Shimano Dura-Ace levers jut to switch to hydraulic brakes was pretty small.
