Tektro Lyra Disc Brake

STI compatible mechanical disc brakes have been enjoying something of a boom thanks to the relative explosion in popularity of disc braked equipped cross bikes, and a somewhat lack of hydraulic options. Tektro’s Lyra lines up in the market place as the ‘light-weight’ option, and is certainly good value, but are they any good?

The Lyra calipers are tidy little units and a far cry from the bulk of the Avid BB range, and it’s not hard to see where their relatively svelte 300g weight (w/160mm rotor) comes from. They’re single-piston as you’d expect (one pad pulls the rotor onto the other pad to clamp) with a hex bolt to adjust the static pad position. Although not tool-free like the Avids, it is easier to get at and it’s a doddle to adjust even with the wheel in (which is preferable anyway).

The rotors are Tektro’s wavy style ones which we had mixed feelings about visually. Rotor performance was ok but we found noticeably improved braking performance with both Shimano XT and Hope Saw rotors. There was a tendency to judder under heavy braking which was alleviated a bit by other rotors as well as giving just a little bit more bite.

Talking of performance, the Lyras sit in that window of still definitely better than rim brakes, but still someway off a decent, affordable hydro disc. They’re not as good as the Avid BB7s for power and bite either, but they’re comfortably a match for BB5s and lighter than both. They comfortably trump Shimano’s M495 and we’re yet to test the newer M545. So while it’s an adequate performance, the tiny little Lyras are paying for that slender build in outright power.

Tektro Lyra Disc Brake

While we were pretty pleased with the performance of the Lyras, they do need a good deal of attention in terms of setup and maintenance to keep them running to their best. They seem to pull a short amount of cable (in our Shimano STIs anyway) and it’s essential that you run the pads a literal hair’s breadth from the rotors to make sure you’re not pulling the levers back against the bars. Of course this makes them pretty fickle about the straightness of your rotors. We also found the need to tweak the pad adjustment every couple of weeks and taking the wheel in and out often necessitated a tweak.

Pad life has been exceptional, we’re a year in on two sets of these and we’re nowhere near a pad change on any of them. Wet weather performance sees some degradation in performance but nothing like a rim brake, although the do like to squeal a bit!

In all there’s a lot to like about the Lyras and they’re best viewed as the adequately powered, light-weight option. They need regular attention but at least they’re uncomplicated to fettle. And if you’re prepared to live with a bit of routine tweaking and want to limit the weight impact of cable discs over rim brakes, the Lyras are probably a good place to look!