Alpinum wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 10:12 am
Edit:
You segment reminds me of a short stretch of track on one of the sides of one of my fav mountains for shuttle assisted riding. Every now and then I ride 4 - 5 x adding up to 7000 - 9000 m vert loss. That rather tame (not tech, just rough) stretch with some fist and baby head sized rocks becomes a sufferfest at the end of the day. Hands are sore, annular ligaments inflamed, some arm pump - despite 170/156 mm of travel and strong brakes. That's were strong arms/hands come in. Best advice I can give you is to train them accordingly.
Use a powerball 12 min each day to start off. 4 sets of 3 min; 2 left, 2 right. Obvs. change side after a set. After a bunch of weeks 2 x 12 min (like morning and evening) and later then 2 x 18 min. Being strong needs some work but will help much more than getting new bike parts
You were already there once(squealing). May want to re-read this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16952&p=214638&hili ... op#p214638
Some other stuff here (bite point):
Alpinum wrote: ↑Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:00 pm
If you have a wandering bite point, it's likely (since you have bled the system well already) that your brakes' orifice holes are too small.
I've had similar issues (so far with 8 Shimano brake levers) and was able to solve them (unless sub freezing) by using Plutoline HPX 2.5 wt oil. Lever feel is much better, lighter and snappier.
Another way is to disassemble the lever and drill the hole to 0.7 mm. Never done it myself, so can't comment further on it.
I tend to flush the system with about 40 mL of the new oil and do a (nearly) regular bleed afterwards.
Whilst I'm sure this doesn't solve the issues you have, here's what I think makes a decent DH brake (decent descent brake
):
Large rotors. Alu spider and/or thick braking area (>2 mm). 203 mm f/r or 220 mm f/r or mullet.
Good brake pads. There are organic and semi metallic compounds which work better than sintered (eg E compound from Swissstop vs. original Shimano). Usually semi metallic and sintered are the way to go in my experience.
Solid and regular bleeding.
4 pots.
Since I know you'll be wanting to know what models exactly;
Rotors: no specific brand, just what I get offered or is available. Going with the Jagwire Pro LR2 for a new build (big trail bike). Just for an example. Been using Magura MDR-P on the bike which will be replaced. Look huge, are ugly and heavy, worked great. Other rotors I quite like are some of Clarks.
Pads: Swissstop E pads. Best pads I ever used. Despite being (apparently) based on an organic compound, they behave more like sintered pads. Need a little warm up to develop their full potential. Last much longer then eg the equally powerful Trickstuff Performance pads.
I try to bleed once a year ("try"
). I use mentioned Plutoline oil. Been using it for some years know. Works well. Better than the Shimano, Trickstuff or Magura oils.
Lever/caliper: Currently I still have one bike with DOT fluids, but moving away from it with the new build. All my trail bikes will then have Shimano 4 pot brakes and Shimano levers. 2 x 4 pot XT's (M8120), 1 x SLX lever (M7120) with former 4 pot XT caliper (M8020).
Regard the brake as a system of many parts (brake levers, brake caliper, pads, rotor, hydraulics, hose). You can adjust this system's modulation, power and heat management by changing any one of the parts. I've tested many of the parts isolated and was quite surprised just how little a difference eg. 2 vs. 4 pot makes. Change pads or rotor shape and size and you may have a bigger differences.
You're bit of a nutter if you're still reading. I've a cold and am digesting after another huge breakfast, so have an excuse to spending this much time typing
Last words.
With your segment of some 12 % gradient on 80 m vert loss and the need to replace pads after some 2000 or 4000 m vert loss, I think you must have broken the matrix.
