ZRace Disc Brakes

[Matt_C]

Hi!

I finally got my bike ready. I mounted these brakes and they actually work very well, only about 15min of work to place them and get them to work perfect! I wouldn't say they work as well as my full hydraulic set up but they come very close (I guess around 90% of the braking power)! I used Shimano disc rotors and pads and fully internal cables (jagwire compressionles housing). The brakes are very responsive and they work very well. Especially for the price!

I was kind of worried because of the bad reviews they are getting lately but as long as you set them up right they are brilliant!

What shifters are you using?

[Jarne]

I used the sensah 12sp shifters. Those are also working great (shifting is perfect on al gears except 1, but I guess that problem will be gone after I reinstall the cassette) ! I will post a review of my build later this week ont the vbr 168-thread

[Irideslowly]

Regarding the zrace brakes,

is it worth upgrading to Juin Tech R1?

[zxcvbnmjm]

Regarding the zrace brakes,

is it worth upgrading to Juin Tech R1?

trace velo recently did a comparison

[Irideslowly]

trace velo recently did a comparison

Yes thanks I've seen the video.

He makes it clear the juin tech brakes are better.
They are also nearly triple the price of the zrace brakes.

[ChrisB]

We have one set of the older Zerace brakes on a gravel bike and the piston actuation is not equal from both sides and this both in the front and the rear...
Braking is OK but certainly not ideal. Make sure to use a compassionless housing, we missed that when building the bike initially... 

I have a set of Juin Tech F1's on the way and was happy to be confirmed by the Tracevelo review.  ;-)
It seems he always tests the items I have en route from China.

regards
Chris

[TidyDinosaur]

After about a year with the ZTTO brakes, I must say they are really bad. I have changed the pads to metal a long time ago and that did give some improvement, but nowadays the brakes are simply dangerous. Yesterday there were 2 times during a ride I was afraid I would miss a corner because the brakes were so bad...

I am fed up with the ZTTO brakes and have now ordered the Onirii BR-05 brakes. These should be an improvement over the old BR-02 brakes. Will keep you updated when they get here...

[00Garza]

After about a year with the ZTTO brakes, I must say they are really bad. I have changed the pads to metal a long time ago and that did give some improvement, but nowadays the brakes are simply dangerous. Yesterday there were 2 times during a ride I was afraid I would miss a corner because the brakes were so bad...

I am fed up with the ZTTO brakes and have now ordered the Onirii BR-05 brakes. These should be an improvement over the old BR-02 brakes. Will keep you updated when they get here...

Thanks for the update. This is the type of long term performance info we need!

[TidyDinosaur]

I have also ordered a bleeding kit because I wanted to first try bleeding the old brakes. But the BR-05 only costs 57€, so it is not worth the risk of still having sub-par brakes after the bleeding (if successful...).

To summarise: The old brakes were never really good. Only after switching to the metal pads they performed a little better for a few weeks. I am now fed up with them and am going to replace them...

[ChrisB]

After about a year with the ZTTO brakes, I must say they are really bad. I have changed the pads to metal a long time ago and that did give some improvement, but nowadays the brakes are simply dangerous. Yesterday there were 2 times during a ride I was afraid I would miss a corner because the brakes were so bad...

I am fed up with the ZTTO brakes and have now ordered the Onirii BR-05 brakes. These should be an improvement over the old BR-02 brakes. Will keep you updated when they get here...

I can confirm your observation the BR-002 that we had in operation were not activating both pistons simultaneously and I found no way to fix it.
I even made a short video of the issue.


Here the link to the Youtube video since embedding seems not to work (Youtube code: rgyoI1MuSGI):


The BR-005 are certainly better but the original brake pads did not give great performance and were wearing out fast.
So I got some Cooma replacement pads on Ali which seem to work well.

BR
Chris

[TidyDinosaur]

So yesterday the BR-05 brakes arrived and they look like indeed a step up from the old ones. The "lever" is longer, so i guess there is more force on the cilinder. Another great thing is the construction and setup is different which make for a better fitting of the calliper in my small size 52 rear triangle. I was fearing the slightly bigger new calliper would not fit, since the ZTTo once only barely fit, but the lever of the new calliper falls on the inside of the frame so the small angle of the rear triangle is no longer a problem.

I only tried the brakes on my driveway and the front one already seems a lot better than the ZTTO one...

I managed to f*ck up the rear brake by contaminating it with oil so I can't comment on that one. I was trying to get some (...a lot) of oil in the cable housing of the rear brake because the movement between cable and housing seemed rough and I guess it must have gotten on the calliper and pads... Turns out my rear brake cable was also worn where it enters the frame in the front, so I immediately ordered a compression-less Jagwire brake-cable set (the old was not compression-less) I am going to install in the next days. I will keep you updated...

[jonathanf2]

So yesterday the BR-05 brakes arrived and they look like indeed a step up from the old ones. The "lever" is longer, so i guess there is more force on the cilinder. Another great thing is the construction and setup is different which make for a better fitting of the calliper in my small size 52 rear triangle. I was fearing the slightly bigger new calliper would not fit, since the ZTTo once only barely fit, but the lever of the new calliper falls on the inside of the frame so the small angle of the rear triangle is no longer a problem.

I only tried the brakes on my driveway and the front one already seems a lot better than the ZTTO one...

I managed to f*ck up the rear brake by contaminating it with oil so I can't comment on that one. I was trying to get some (...a lot) of oil in the cable housing of the rear brake because the movement between cable and housing seemed rough and I guess it must have gotten on the calliper and pads... Turns out my rear brake cable was also worn where it enters the frame in the front, so I immediately ordered a compression-less Jagwire brake-cable set (the old was not compression-less) I am going to install in the next days. I will keep you updated...

Would you say these new Z-Race brakes to be a viable option versus the Juin Tech calipers? I also have another question, is a hex wrench required to adjust pad spacing? The one thing I like about the Juin Tech calipers is they utilize a screw knob to adjust the pads. It's really handy to adjust Juin Tech brakes while on the road to fix any minor rotor rub.

[ChrisB]

The Z-Race calipers require a hex key to readjust the pads.
But the advantage is, it is more compact. In my Titan Gravel frame the Juintech F-1 adjustment knobs touch the frame...

For me the Juintech F-1 is a step above the Z-Race BR-005, but with alternative pads the BR-005 comes close.

BR
Chris

[jonathanf2]

The Z-Race calipers require a hex key to readjust the pads.
But the advantage is, it is more compact. In my Titan Gravel frame the Juintech F-1 adjustment knobs touch the frame...

For me the Juintech F-1 is a step above the Z-Race BR-005, but with alternative pads the BR-005 comes close.

BR
Chris

I'll be curious how the new Z-Race calipers perform with compressionless housing. Price-wise that would put it close to Juin-Tech calipers, though with the possibility of better brake feel/handling.

[ChrisB]

I run both the BR-005 and the F-1 with Jagwire compressionless housings, so there is no difference.
But I would strongly recommend to do so... my first attempt with the old BR-002 breaks were with standard housings, which was part of the sub-par performance.

BR
Chris