TRP is a company I’ve never heard of, it’s actually a “performance branch” of Tektro. You know the basic brakes that came on your huffy back in the day, and now are on many entry level bikes from the big box stores. They are trying to up their game and teamed up with a pro downhill racer to design these fantastic looking brakes.
They look nice, but a bit on the blocky side compared to Shimano, Hope, and SRAM. We’ll see how they perform compared to some others!
The polished look comes at a price, $100 more than the mechanically identical black model SL they make. So save some $$ if you’re not a fan of the chrome look.
I have ridden mainly Shimano XT and SRAM Guide R and RSC’s. My personal preference is the RSC’s for good braking power and incredible modulation. I’ll be comparing the g-spec to the RSC as reference.
It’s probably not a fair comparison as the guides are geared towards the XC rider and the g-spec are more for trail but it’s what I bought so I’ll work with what I got.
The first thing I noticed while riding these is the same great modulation of the RSC brakes. I ran a front g-spec and rear RSC for a few rides and they felt identical in that respect. The g-spec definitely had a more solid feel, making the RSC lever feeling very toy like, almost fragile in a way. Of course the RSC have taken a few nice spills with only scratches to show.
As I was waiting for a longer rear brake hose to arrive, I decided to give the fronts a go with the RSC rear. The RSC feel a little less responsive compared to the g-spec. The RSC comes in with light stopping power slowly and ramps up the power the more you squeeze. The g-spec did the same but with less effort or level travel. It still had the great modulation but in a more linear feel if that makes any sense.