LEAKED: Paul Components Road/CX Disc Brake Caliper

Written by Andrew Stackhouse Sep 05, 2014 7:00 a.m. ET

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We have a sneak peek at the very nice looking mechanical disc calipers about to be announced by Paul Components. As a die hard aficionado of their road/cyclocross Minimoto V-brakes, I’m pretty excited. Execution and styling appear to be in line with Paul’s reputation, along with thoughtful functionality such as the frozen-finger-friendly adjustment knob. Keep an eye on Paul’s Facebook page for more details, and hopefully we will have a review after Interbike. No word on how this will effect T-Rex – Squirrel relations.

Andrew Stackhouse

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Jdog

9 years ago

Curious of the pad chosen.

9 years ago

It’s obviously bottom-loading and appears to use the same sandwich-construction used by a BB7, but it isn’t a BB7. Top-loading designs are so much easier for maintenance.

Crohnsy

9 years ago

Is it really a leak if they post this on their Facebook page?

MikeC

9 years ago

Road or Mtn bike application… or both?

MikeC

9 years ago

Ah (from FB): “Klamper CX/RD.”

topcheese

9 years ago

“PAUL” components.

Admin

Kristi Benedict

9 years ago

Reply to topcheese

Thanks, topcheese, fixed it.

Rob

9 years ago

The real question is if they will work signficantly better than a shimano or avid mechanical. If so, it might be a great alternative to taking out a new mortgage for a hydro system.

Jesse Edwards

9 years ago

@ Rob, 120-150 $ for a brand new set of deore hydrolic brakes is not a lot of money for something that works better than any mechanical brake. I have BB7s, and they are ok, but can’t hold a torch to any of the hydros I’ve used. I only like mechanical for the fact that I can give even less of a shit about them than hydraulic brakes, but for performance I’d never use them.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ca/en/shimano-deore-m615-disc-brake/rp-prod108802

groghunter

9 years ago

hmmm, one side fixed pad style like a BB7… not sure why you’d pick something like that when there’s a mechanical brake on the market that moves both pads…

mudrock

9 years ago

Don’t know what kind of improvement this would be, with just a single piston design.

9 years ago

@Bike Rob: given that they’re Paul, I’d guess they are going to be more expensive than any hydro, and won’t include levers.

If they came out with these 15 years ago they might have had something, now… what fool would buy a cable brake in 2014? People that want heavy and maintenance-intensive but don’t want performance.

Evan

9 years ago

I assume they’ll work with PAUL canti levers, so that’s cool. I’d never run hyrdo brakes on a touring bike, so these certainly make sense.

Dave

9 years ago

Really? Is bleeding a hydro system once a year so bad? It doesn’t even take longer than swapping in fresh cables and housing. Hydraulic brakes are easier to set up than cables, more reliable, have better modulation, and more power. As @Jesse mentioned, even the cheapish Deores are pretty damn good, no second mortgage needed.

Al Boneta

9 years ago

These would appeal to the Handmade bike show crowd. Nothing wrong with a Made in the USA brake to go on your Hand Made in USA boutique frame. I ride an $8000 Lapierre Spicy Team, my friend rides a $10000 handmade Titanium single speed 29er, I could see him wanting a set of these.

Joe

9 years ago

The PAUL demographic is not the performance-minded, but the design-minded and the MUSA-boner types. I don’t pretend that my Paul cantis don’t perform any better than properly set up Tektros would(they are, in fact, much more of a PIA to set up), but guess what? They look amazing, and a visually exciting bike excites me to ride it. Sven Nys could blow out a Cat1 field on a comfort hybrid more than likely. Your bike and the parts on it seriously do not matter. Physical fitness and riding a suitable bike that is properly maintained are the only two necessities for performance. Riding bikes is about having fun. If some dude wants to spend a boatload of money on what is essentially a very bling bling BB7 then it doesn’t affect anyone but Paul’s ability to pay his employees, and hopefully an LBS can make a few bucks too.

Joe

9 years ago

FYI all, these will use Koolstop pads, Paul has yet to state what type.

Forest

9 years ago

Do those little ridges on the top part of the pads look like Avid Elixir pads to anyone else on here? That would be an interesting choice to go with. What would be the advantage of that? I know TRP uses a Shimano style pad for their brakes now.

Heffe

9 years ago

Really hate working on hydraulic brakes. Lord what a pain. Corrosive, messy fluid that can peel paint and harsh out yer skin to boot…makes cable brakes a lot more attractive.

9 years ago

mechanicals were worth talking about it in 2003. Now that we have cheap and foolproof Shimanos that don’t even need to be bled once a year, I can’t see any benefit.

warthog

9 years ago

@Jesse Edwards and @PR,
I think you are missing that these are for road and cyclocross bikes, not mountain bikes. There is no Shimano Deore road/CX brake to compare these to.

Dockboy

9 years ago

I bet these work better than Avids, and they do give handmade bikes a mechanical option befitting of their quality. Plus now you’ll be able to get top-end brakes in the color of your choice!

Flip

9 years ago

@warthog – Exactly. Pay attention, people.

Nick

9 years ago

Looking at where the pads are held in on top, and the shape, they appear to be the latest Shimano-type pads, made by Kool-Stop…very cool! Would like to see an MTB version.

Tim

9 years ago

@Nick- you could use these for MTB- just use an older short-pull brake lever designed for cantilevers. Paul even makes one.
I am happy to see these, but doubt they will be any better than BB7’s or Shimano’s CX77 in anything but the aesthetics department.
To everyone who said hydros are easier to set up out of the box… What’s easy to set up depends partly on the brake, and partly on what you’re used to setting up. For me, with more practicing setting up BB7’s, it’s easier to work on them. As for function, I use the best levers and good quality cables. I’ve tried hydros and am in no hurry to switch to them, although they are def. lighter.

Tim

9 years ago

@Heffe- all hydro brakes have the *potential* to be messy. Only DOT fluid is harmful for bike paint and human skin, and only a small minority of brakes use DOT fluid.