TRP Upgrade Kit: Make your current set up PRO
My main man Lance from TRP Brakes sent me the new upgrade kit which is coming to a bike shop near you very soon. I was able to converse with him this week all the way from Taiwan and he gave me an update on the upgrade kit...
There are actually two upgrade kits at the moment....the barrel adjustment kit and the brake pad kit. The brake pad kit currently retails for $79.99. We're examining the costs but these are particularly expensive to make due to the CNC machining of the post body. The barrel adjusters and straddle cables packed for one bike sell for $24.99. QBP has the pads in stock, so any shop has access to those. The barrel adjusters so far are only available at CyclocrossWorld.com, they are the only place that has both the pad kit and barral adjustment kit in stock.
I am working on getting the MSRP for the upgrade kit and ultimately all it includes. My box had a shed load of stuff (see below). The kit can be used on your TRP Euro X-style systems (magnesium, carbon or aluminum)...but truly the kit can be leveraged on similar designs to the Euro X such as Empella FrogLeggs or Spookys if you already own those systems and don't want to go PRO (like Sven) with the TRP's!
The goods....
The upgrade kit: 2 x Barrel adjusters/new cables/cable ends and a complete set of toe-in-able cartridges and aluminum rim compound pads. (Podium cap not included!)
If you haven't seen them up close, the TRP brake post system offering toe-in is absolutely awesome. No more bending brake pad posts for toe-in! If you look closely, you see that the end of the post has an allan key slot which when loosened, allows the cartridge to rock to your desired toe-in position. You then tighten 'er up and voila, toe in.
The barrel adjuster is trick. As you can see, it is designed to fit EuroX-style brake arms which leverage two arm plates that slide into each of the slots you see on the left and right sides. 
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 10:43AM
Reader Comments (9)
Ohhh, barrel adjuster! Me want. When is this kit "allegedly" coming to BCS? Before Sunday's champs race?
Still working on getting pricing and availability. Stay tuned!
Hey Greg,
This is Dennis McGovern from SF. I think you may remember me. Been reading your blog off and on... good stuff. What handlebars are you using on the cross bike? I like the shape but cannot figure out what they are.... If you don't remember me, you can refresh your memory here.
http://web.mac.com/dennis.mcgovern/
Thanks
i don't get it. you have to pay lots of money for the brakes, then pay even more money to make them "pro" or in other words, function like a modern day bicycle brake should?
sounds like the "upgrade kit" should be standard. or perhaps trp should do a better job of designing their standard brakes so they don't need to be upgraded.
i'll stick with my tektro's and my paul's, thank you.
It's a good point that's been raised on earlier points, Rosey. And I can't speak for the change of product planning Tektro/TRP may be planning on with respect to their Carbon Euro-X's (the mags come with them now). For Empella/Spooky users non ambitions enough to create their own barrel adjusters, it's a GREAT product to have available on the market. I hope they consider other style barrel adjusters that could be used on Paul and similar style single arm brakes. The toe-in-able cartridge upgrade is sick IMHO. I'd longed for that for years and was one of the primary drivers of upgrading to the Euro X mags.
DENNIS!
Holy CRAP! Great to hear from you. Your ears burning? Lauren C and I were JUST commenting o you the other day...as the Godfather of Cross in San Francisco. I hope all is well and will ping you next time I am in town (which is often).
I use Ritchey WCS Classic bend bars. The ONLY bars IMHO. I should have went to them YEARS ago. Ergo? Meh.
I saw them on cyclocrossworld.com for $80. WOW!
Oh that appears to be $80 just for the brake pads.....
Oh that appears to be $80 just for the brake pads.....