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Re: Onirii M2 and M4 hydraulic disc brakes Finally got round to fitting them a few days ago, after a bout of illness has stopped me going out.

So not used in anger yet, but I thought I'd give a few details on how it's gone.

Firstly, they come set up front left hand. which, being British is all wrong for me. First thing to do was swap the levers.

This was as easy as it is with any brake. 8mm spanner at the lever, undo, pull out hose, swap round and luckily no need for a new olive.

The hose is fairly flexible, but doesn't seem to need, nor come with, a barbed end reinforcing thingamy.

Now, I said the separate lever and caliper and hose didn't come filled. that was wrong. the lever has a screw in cap in the end with 10mm spanner flats. the hose has a small screw with a rubber seal to seal the end. fitting is a doddle. cut to length, remove caps and screw, fit lever rubber cap, screw thread compression bit and olive. pop it all together and nip it up.

in theory you shouldn't need to bleed it. however I will. I say will, as the bleed nipples are not a size I've got. the caliper end is M3 (I think), the lever end is M5. I have a multi size kit coming, so I'll update on ease of bleed and exact sizes.

Fitting the calipers to the bike is easy, as you'd expect. The levers are easy enough, it's a similar type setup as avid/sram used, a wrap around clamp with a bolt that runs through the lever but it's worth noting that the edges of the clamp are quite sharp, so watch those carbon bars and make sure the bolt is undone more than needed when adjusting the angle of the lever.
The lever fixing bolt is a torx, couldn't say exactly which size, a T20 sort of fits, but is slack. T25 doesn't fit. it's like a t23, if that was even a size. fairly typical for chinese bolts to be a more vague size than expected. it is steel though, and you do need to give it a bit more effort to close the clamp. I'm going to look for replacements fairly quickly.

Back to the calipers, the pads on the X2 are shimano G04/G03 size. The stock pads look cheaper than anything I've seen before. I swapped them out with a set of used pads from my SLX/XT brakes to give them a try.

Aligning the calipers is easy, but for my bike needed a little fine tuning as they run close to the rotor.

first 'up and down the road' brake test was a little underwhelming. modulation was good, but ultimate power seemed to taper off a little. Now, I'm 90kg (give or take a few portions of cheesecake) and run a 180 rotor up front and 160 at the back, so figured maybe that was it. Then they started to squeal...and squeal.

so, back to the workshop to remove the glazing from the pads and clean them up.

decided to go with new pads instead of the well used ones, just to give the brakes a fair trial.

bought new resin pads, didn't want to risk the additional heat build up from sintered, even though they are my preferred in shimano brakes. Cleaned up the rotors with brake cleaner, cleaned up the caliper pistons, just to make sure there was no oil in there too, a light sanding of the new pads prior to fitting and out I go for a couple of road hill reps to bed the pads in.

immediately different from the near outset.

Modulation is on par with my shimano's, albeit the final bite comes a little longer in, but ultimate power had me endoing down the hill, even with my butt hanging off the back of the saddle. All pretty controllable too, had a couple of nice nose rollers balanced, to my surprise.

The lever feels firm to use, little flex in the lever and only a bit in the lever body on the bar. It has enough shape not to be too narrow and not to wide. it reminds me of the feel of my old Hope Mono Mini's, but with more bite.

ultimate proof will be in the longer riding though, but so far, I'm hopeful (no pun intended)

:-)


July 04, 2022, 05:55:50 AM
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Re: 2022 - Rotor recommendations?

The new Kactus look good. They're thickness is stated between 1.6 up to 2mm. Would be great if they're 2mm. Anyone tried them yet? Any rattles? How thick are they actually?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004323711635.html?gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt


Saw these on AliX under the Onirii store.  Apparently they have stopped producing them altogether.
They can still be found under the Cactus brand, but I wonder what the story is behind why Onirii stopped making them…

looks like the onirii cd-01 and cd-02 were discontinued because they had some problems

September 22, 2022, 10:14:59 PM
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Re: Juin Tech GT-F brake calipers (dual piston) I have 1700 miles on road bike and 750 gravel bike on 2 sets of br-05 calipers.  I have a lot of wear on the 1 set. I need to adjust the calipers so there is less play before engagement.  On my gravel I've only use them on flatter routes.  I kinda expected to here they'd have issues on the tougher descending gravel routes.

I will be buying some upgraded pads off aliexpress to see if they bite better and how long they last.

I just did a full bleed and new hoses on my shimano hydros. The shifters and calipers had zero oil to start.  That ended up taking so much time. I still need to put more oil in to get the feel I want.  The shimano hydro hoses I used were smaller and more flexible the compressionless. That made running the cables easier and faster. I've used these for my scary gravel rides where 45mph happens and you have bends or tight turns during thought downhills.

September 24, 2022, 04:42:37 PM
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Re: Juin Tech GT-F brake calipers (dual piston)
I bought the BR-03, after being very underwhelmed by the performance, I got myself the BR-05 for a better performance.

While I tried the brake in road setting (approx 500km) and they are ok, yesterday was my first proper gravel ride and required longer braking down FSRs for a longer period of time. I experienced quite a lot of fading at the end of the slopes where it seems the braking power reduces over time.

This with the announcement in the rotor discussion of the CD-01 and CD-02 that gets discontinued because of issues leaves me wondering if these semi-hydro/Onirii brakes are worth it, or if I should switch to a fully hydraulic groupset (either waiting for Sensah or going with SRAM), or start by switching to different brake pad/rotor combo (recommendation welcomed).

FYI, I have compressionless housing for the rear brake and normal housing for the front brake, and the conditions were very dry.

After longer use (1000km plus), I found the break power of the BR-005 to be lower compared to the Juintech F-1.
I also experienced fading especially in warm temperatures.... after changing the break pads to alternatives, the break performance improved consdiderably. I do not know yet if this also cured the fading on long downhills.

I changed to these Cooma break pads:


BR Chris

September 25, 2022, 11:32:03 AM
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Re: Groupset News Wheel Top EDS TX prototype & potential hydraulic caliper




Wheel Top EDS TX Rim lever, FD & RD weights (incl. batteries)




future Sensah mechanical RD prototype



L-TWOO eRX FD & RD weights


February 22, 2023, 12:40:47 PM
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Re: Chinese cycling clothes
...
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EupLGzJ

I purchased two pairs, my first first into non-black bibs and wow!
Even on long rides.
Bought another two and now, I only ride with these.
The only issue is that the S size are two cm short on the leg for me.

June 17, 2023, 03:46:03 PM
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Re: Chinese cycling clothes https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005368937229.html

$15. Just not on the official store. It was the color I wanted, I'm risking it.
Also buying the bibs from the official darevie store, both have been sitting in my carts for months.
No sizing guide, I'm usually a size L bibs size M jersey, 1m84/75kg. Referred to comments and got both in L

June 18, 2023, 12:24:30 AM
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Re: Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress? Here's my best of :
Elita one seatpost and saddles
Firespider handlebars
Uno stems too
Balugoe $24 86g bare carbon saddles(but tend to crack after a while)
xpresso pedals Ti, 160g F1Z bike shop
handlebar bags, for long rides(Loving Outdoor Store)
Darevie shorts
SK Cycle carbon seatpost clamp
Alpha cycling pink break pads
Nuga store tubeless syringe
Onirii M2 brakes
Balashov Electric Cooking Machine 1.7L, to wax chains
Magene Radar L508



I liked them but not anymore:
Gaciron lights, great but their straps are crap, I've lost them all

October 14, 2023, 08:23:20 AM
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Re: Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress? I want to throw out that TPU tubes have one major downside - they are NOT patchable long-term. Despite meticulous cleaning and application, every glueless TPU patch has failed on me after a few days or weeks at best.
Ridenow and Cyclami TPU tubes are still good value, but if you puncture, treat patches a temporary fix to get home and be prepared to throw the tubes out eventually.
I'm cheap and don't like being wasteful, so I switched back to butyl tubes for training rides which I can patch over and over again. I still use TPU tubes for racing and as a spare.

Other Aliexpress items I can definitely recommend:
- $18 2x Carbon bottle cages (Bontrager XXX knockoffs)
- $24 Elita One carbon saddle (the Specialized Power knockoff one)
- $425 Elitewheels carbon rim brake wheels with Powerway R13 hubs and Pillar Wing 20 spokes, 47mm deep and 27mm wide, 1500g. Used for ~3800 miles and no issues except having to retrue each wheel once. No issues braking even on 3000ft+ descents.
- $20 Magene H303 heart rate monitor with chest strap
- $8 2x CYCPLUS Cadence/Speed dual sensors. Yes I got two of them for $8.
- $20-30 Spexcel Jerseys and Bibs

Steer clear from these:
- Kactus Titanium QR skewers. I don't know what Trace Velo was thinking, these are awful. Lots of friction, loose rattling fit on the threads for the nut, extremely sharp edges on the lever that make it impossible to close the lever with any force. Just completely unusable.
- Cheap unbranded stems. The one I got had paint overspray in the clamping areas and screw holes which was a pain to get rid of. The screw holes faces on the faceplate weren't flat and could cause a stress raiser if I torqued the bolts up, so I had to use a faceplate from a different stem I had. Not worth cutting every dollar for an important part of your bike - stick to Kalloy/UNO alloy stems with lots of reviews or western brands.

October 15, 2023, 03:42:08 PM
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Re: Best and worst overall quality/value components/tools/gear from AliExpress? Second what others have recommended
Uno alloy stems
RideNow TPU tubes (36g in use, 24g waiting to try)
YBN chains (all my bikes run waxed YBN chains, including run about ratbike)
Rhinowalk bags (gym, handlebar, top tube and seat roll in use, quality is excellent)
XXX copy bottle cages (no worse at scratching bottles than other brands and more reliable than other brands, ie don’t break or eject bottles)

To add
Uno alloy handlebars, both road and gravel and my flared gravel bar has seen abuse.
MZYRH flat pedals
Wellgo red cleats (exactly the same as Favero and Powertap cleats)
Zeray ZP-110 look keo compatible pedals
AOlikes headband, sits under your helmet and silicone gutter stops sweat getting in your eyes.
TPU folding flask - make your own gels 250ml worth and stick it in your back pocket
Generic HR bands for Garmin HR, a consumable product but lasts as long as gamins, cheaper and comes in a range of colours.
Generic alloy computer mount (Garmin or Wahoo) with GoPro mount underneath that mounts to your handlebar with hinge.
Deemount tubeless sealants injectors
Deemount side loading bottle cages
Cheji cycling kit (just need to be aware pricing fluctuates madly)

To avoid
Generic alloy computer mount that mounts to your stem with two bolts, cracked too many to recommend
Plastic computer mount with GoPro mount underneath that mounts to your handlebar, again cracked too many.
Replica/copies/cheap cycling kit, especially bibs with the multicoloured 5D pads.

October 17, 2023, 11:55:57 PM
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