ZRace Disc Brakes

[TidyDinosaur]

So, I did my first ride with the new Onirii BR-05 brakes. 100km on asphalt... The front one is still with the standard housing and pads. For the rear one I used the compressionless housing and metal pads. They are a HUGE improvement over the old BR-02 brakes. In the past I was never able to lock up the rear wheel not even on gravel. With the new brakes, I have to modulate braking to NOT lock up the rear wheel.

The front brake is not as strong, so I guess this will be because of the pads and/or housing. But they still work nicely.

[TidyDinosaur]

Did my first offroad MTB-tour yesterday. 40km offroad and afterwards 30km road to get home. Still no complaints about the new brakes...

[jonathanf2]

I ended up ordering the rebranded ONIRII BR-005 calipers. ONIRII has a sale right now with 12 day guaranteed shipping the US. For the price, it was too good to pass up, plus I need them for a 1x road bike build I'm working on!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803891651369.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802n8fk9G&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

[coffeebreak]

I ended up ordering the rebranded ONIRII BR-005 calipers. ONIRII has a sale right now with 12 day guaranteed shipping the US. For the price, it was too good to pass up, plus I need them for a 1x road bike build I'm working on!

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803891651369.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802n8fk9G&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

I too am currently looking at this or Zrace pair and interestingly only the black pair of Onirii has free shipping every other color and combination has paid shipping while everything from Zrace has paid shipping. I like the Zrace logo over Onirii but Zrace doesn't have silver/chrome option. Decisions decisions!

[TidyDinosaur]

Another update after a 50km MTB ride and a 130km road ride with 1500HM...

I changed the pads in the front to metal and this also has made a very big difference. Still very happy with the BR-05 brakes

[coffeebreak]

I too am currently looking at this or Zrace pair and interestingly only the black pair of Onirii has free shipping every other color and combination has paid shipping while everything from Zrace has paid shipping. I like the Zrace logo over Onirii but Zrace doesn't have silver/chrome option. Decisions decisions!

My Onirii brakes were (finally) delivered on Friday after spending 10 days in California. First impressions are good. The machining looks good, no obvious sharp edges or oil leaks. Interestingly, they are marked IIIPro on the inner side of the calipers. So may be these two are the same companies? Have installed them on my build but only rode the bike in our little cul-de-sac. I will report how they work, soon!

[jonathanf2]

My Onirii brakes were (finally) delivered on Friday after spending 10 days in California. First impressions are good. The machining looks good, no obvious sharp edges or oil leaks. Interestingly, they are marked IIIPro on the inner side of the calipers. So may be these two are the same companies? Have installed them on my build but only rode the bike in our little cul-de-sac. I will report how they work, soon!

I also received my Onirii brakes as well. To be honest, this will be my last time I order from Onirii's store using "guaranteed" 12 day shipping. It actually arrived later to California than my other AliEx orders w/regular shipping which I made after the Onirii calipers.

Also I'm still trying to dial mine in on this particular bike build, they still don't have the same braking "bite" as my Juin Tech F1 calipers on my other road bike. I would have just paid extra and bought another pair of F1 calipers, but this particular frame won't accommodate 160mm calipers on the rear. The Juin Techs don't do 140mm rotors.

[ChrisB]

I also received my Onirii brakes as well. To be honest, this will be my last time I order from Onirii's store using "guaranteed" 12 day shipping. It actually arrived later to California than my other AliEx orders w/regular shipping which I made after the Onirii calipers.

Also I'm still trying to dial mine in on this particular bike build, they still don't have the same braking "bite" as my Juin Tech F1 calipers on my other road bike. I would have just paid extra and bought another pair of F1 calipers, but this particular frame won't accommodate 160mm calipers on the rear. The Juin Techs don't do 140mm rotors.

For best break power make sure to try alternative break pads, that improved braking power on mine... close to my Juintech F1's.

BR Chris

[coffeebreak]

For best break power make sure to try alternative break pads, that improved braking power on mine... close to my Juintech F1's.

BR Chris

I have ordered semi metallic ones. Any other suggestions?

[jonathanf2]

For best break power make sure to try alternative break pads, that improved braking power on mine... close to my Juintech F1's.

BR Chris

I'm thinking it might be an issue with my Ltwoo GR9 gravel shifters I'm using. They don't seem to play nice internal drop bar cable routing. There's no way to modulate brake pull on the shifters either. I'm going to try swapping the GR9 shifters for a pair of Sensah shifters and see if that helps. If not, I might have to just buy a pair of Shimano shifters, which I'm thinking I should have done in the first place.

[TidyDinosaur]

I'm thinking it might be an issue with my Ltwoo GR9 gravel shifters I'm using. They don't seem to play nice internal drop bar cable routing. There's no way to modulate brake pull on the shifters either. I'm going to try swapping the GR9 shifters for a pair of Sensah shifters and see if that helps. If not, I might have to just buy a pair of Shimano shifters, which I'm thinking I should have done in the first place.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Chinese groupsets... I must say the sensah SRX Pro groupset and those hybrid brake callipers looked good in the beginning, but I too am now questioning my decision... I think it would have been better if I went for Sram or Shimano in the first place... Especially if you buy used, you can do good deals... You can get second hand 11 speed ultegra shifters and combine them with a GRX rear derailleur for example...

After a few weeks with my new BR-05 brakes and Jagwire compressionless housing I am beginning to feel deterioration in the rear brake, and I think I might know why... The open end of the brake cable housing is pointing upward where it is connected to the brake calliper. This means water and dirt can get inside and create extra resistance for the cable... I have ordered these rubber dust covers to put on there, but I don't know if it's not already too late 
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000154839195.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.38381802HfMcOW

[jonathanf2]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Chinese groupsets... I must say the sensah SRX Pro groupset and those hybrid brake callipers looked good in the beginning, but I too am now questioning my decision... I think it would have been better if I went for Sram or Shimano in the first place... Especially if you buy used, you can do good deals... You can get second hand 11 speed ultegra shifters and combine them with a GRX rear derailleur for example...

After a few weeks with my new BR-05 brakes and Jagwire compressionless housing I am beginning to feel deterioration in the rear brake, and I think I might know why... The open end of the brake cable housing is pointing upward where it is connected to the brake calliper. This means water and dirt can get inside and create extra resistance for the cable... I have ordered these rubber dust covers to put on there, but I don't know if it's not already too late 
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000154839195.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.38381802HfMcOW

I'm currently using a GRX drivetrain on my 1x bike build (RD + crank), but my original thought was to try the Chinese shifters as opposed to using Shimano 11 speed shifters and save on money. If I can't get either the shifters or brakes to work properly, I'll probably stomach the cost and get 105/Ultegra shifters and TRP spyre brakes.

[ChrisB]

I'm currently using a GRX drivetrain on my 1x bike build (RD + crank), but my original thought was to try the Chinese shifters as opposed to using Shimano 11 speed shifters and save on money. If I can't get either the shifters or brakes to work properly, I'll probably stomach the cost and get 105/Ultegra shifters and TRP spyre brakes.

Don't give up yet...
1) I use 105 / Juintech F1 on my Ti Gravel bike with great results, no need to go full hydraulic
2) On my second Gravel I use the Sensah SRX Pro Brifters in combination with BR-005 breaks and Cooma Ex Plus break pads. This combines with Jagwire compressionless housings gets it close to my other bike at a fraction of the cost.

Good note regarding the dust cover for the back break. I am considering this upgrade also....

Ti Gravel with Juintech F1's:


Gavel Blues with BR-005's:



BR Chris

[TidyDinosaur]

Yeah, I don't get whey they don't include dust covers. Mine arrived today and I am going to install them asap...
I use a lot of water on my bike when washing (just normal garden hose, no pressure washer) and sometimes spray the callipers for quite some time to get all the dirt off. So it is no surprise some water/dirt will get into the outer housing.
But I know it is the cable and not a problem with the calliper because they worked great in the beginning (and the front one still does.

But you absolutely have to swap the pads. The original pads are crap. I use these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32786421682.html?spm=a2g0o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.5.46eb7bb8CwkWEq&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21EUR%21%E2%82%AC%206%2C61%21%E2%82%AC%203%2C57%21%21%21%21%21%402101d68d16697213937682386eacfd%2163395555738%21sh

[jonathanf2]

Don't give up yet...
1) I use 105 / Juintech F1 on my Ti Gravel bike with great results, no need to go full hydraulic
2) On my second Gravel I use the Sensah SRX Pro Brifters in combination with BR-005 breaks and Cooma Ex Plus break pads. This combines with Jagwire compressionless housings gets it close to my other bike at a fraction of the cost.

BR Chris

I also have 105 (5800) shifters paired to F1 calipers on my road bike. Braking is so good, I don't even feel the need for compressionless housing. I also have a GRX gravel bike with full hydraulic braking and the Juin Techs with standard brake housing compare really well. I was hoping the Onirii/Zrace BR-005 calipers would be similar, but so far I've been underwhelmed. Like I said it could be the fact that the Ltwoo GR9 shifters I'm using just don't work well with internal drop bar cabling, despite using the same exact bars as my road bike w/F1 calipers. Plus there's no adjustment for brake modulation like my 105 shifters.

The thing is, the LTwoo GR9 shifters have spot-on shift indexing (I really like the campy style shifting) and weigh less compared to the Sensah Team Pro 2x shifters I've tried.  Also I'm not fond of the shared Sensah shift/brake lever setup. Though the Sensah shifters allow for brake adjustments via a hex screw which makes it easier to dial in braking. LTwoo shifters have no such adjustment.

So I'm considering:
- swapping out the shifters back to Sensah for better brake modulation (still own, was planning on using them on another bike build)
- swapping out the calipers for Juin Tech $$ or TRP Spyres $ (FYI - Spyres come with gasket covers)

I could go compressionless on the BR-005, but my road bike uses standard brake housing and they brake great as-is compared to my full hydraulic setup.