Posted on May 4, 2022 by Ron Frazelle

Check this out! Velo Orange is now the sole importer and distributor of Growtac products in the US. Growtac is a Japanese engineering and manufacturing company focused on cycling products. They are making a big ol’ splash in the market with their new Equal mechanical, short-pull disc brake sets.

According to Velo Orange, the Equal disc brakes “provide excellent modulation and power with a compact and lightweight design – perfect for your gravel, touring, or all-road bike.

In testing, we’ve found that the modulation is linear and predictable, the caliper and system stiffness is confidence-inspiring, and the lever feel is natural and comfortable – offering superior performance compared to most other mechanical disc brake calipers on the market. ”

Compared to most other mechanical disc brakes we’ve seen, the clamping mechanism has been pivoted 90º, making it flush with the top of the brake instead of the side. It will be interesting to see how these perform compared to other mechanical calipers.

Kits include calipers, cables, and housing, and are available in Post ($390 USD) and Flat ($350 USD) mount options, as well as a big, variety of anodized colors like grey, red, purple, very berry, gold, black, blue, and silver. These brakes are designed, engineered, CNC’d, and packaged in Tokyo, Japan.

I will be getting a review pair of these bad boys and will get you the skinny on them pronto…stay tuned!

Check out Velo Orange for more great products for you and your bike!

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What pads do they use?

shimano road specific pads like K03S/K04S

Shimano road pads, this according to Growtac’s website.

They use the Shimano “B01S” brake pad shape, as per the installation manual posted on Velo Orange’s site. For reference, if you’ve used any Tektro or TRP brake within the past 10 years, it’s the same as the pads used on those too.

I know the world has largely moved beyond mechanical brakes for largely good reasons, but I for one really like mechanical brakes still and am super stoked that someone has made a really high-end brake when it seemed like they would never see any future development. Would love to see these compared to the only other high-end mechanical, the Paul Klamper.

Same. That’s the comparison I’d like to see. Interesting that Growtac’s caliper is still a single-piston design fundamentally, just with the actuation arm pivoted 90 degrees. They’ve used it to introduce a visual brake force scale as well (the manual discusses this in more detail).

So fast and easy to adjust.

TRP Spyre, no significant flaws in my experience.

Not a big fan of the cable clamp method, which tends to destroy the cable and make it very difficult to make small corrections. The little cnc ball cable ends are fun though. Also curious to see the internals, how it keeps the moving pad square, what kind of rolling elements it uses to combat friction.

The ball cable ends are from Forager Cycles

yup that’s the reason i perfer the spyre vs the lighter spyre slc

I own a pair and it is great. Easy to install, no mechanical trouble, lightweight( caliper plus sti), controllable and stops well. I also love it because this has colors. Mine is shinny red and looks so special. Only things to consider are included outer cable is so stiff that might make some installation issue, and brake is not light as fluid caliper.

Come to think of it, I’d like to see a comparison of this and the Klamper with a plain old BB7. If blinginess is the real reason to get this brake, then that would be good to know. (Remember that hydraulic users are not immune to buying for bling, either- is there any strong reason to buy XTR brakes over Deore ones?)

Potential reasons to go with XTR mostly live in the lever – free stroke and tool free reach adjust on the 4 pot XTR add functionality. The XTR calipers are supposed to be stiffer, from a 1-piece design, and they use ceramic pistons for heat resistance.

Not necessarily a huge upgrade, but some practical advantages.

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