So what do I think of Prime?

Terrible. Meryl has never had the same zest or bravado since River Wild.

The other Prime?

Well, I got the Prime Pro brakes mounted on my bike.

And I got to ride them.

Then I bled them.

And then I rode them some more.

What do I think?

T-shirt production pending

Whenever you first mount up a new set of brakes you have to be aware of the fact that neither the rotors or the pads are bedded in. I went outside, rode around, and grabbed my brakes as per instructed per instructions. Convinced my job was done, I went ahead and set the Poppet Cam to the shortest throw setting thinking I'd want it that way.

Then I went for a ride. I was wrong about the bedding status of my brakes post initial bedding.

This is where it ended up.

That's about a hair shorter than the middle setting. I found the brakes to be quite grabby, quite a bit stronger than my Strokers, thus I was pulling like I was riding my old Strokers and getting a whole handful more than I was ready for. Wanna know why they are more powerful? Read all the marketing whiz bang science stuff here.

It took me a while to dial both the lever reach and the Poppet Cam to suit me, but I'm pretty sure I've got both where I want 'em now. The wider lever blade (than the Strokers) took some getting used to as well, but I can see where more contact with my braking finger would be a good thing, so I'm going to stop thinking different is bad (not really).

The rotors are the new blingy, two piece, lower noise, high Mu, models from Hayes. I looked up what Mu means on wikipedia and could only glean these facts:

1) Mu was derived from the Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol for water

2) Wikipedia is useless

The rotor is more friction'esque than the previous one piece design, and it's lighter as well. It is also cooler looking, bringing my hooptie up a notch... like spinners on a Chevette.

I am anxious to get these brakes to the mountains. I've gone from a 7" front rotor with my Strokers to a 6" rotor with the Primes, so I am curious to see if I'll notice a difference. Then, and only then, will I be able to make a final judgment on the brakes.

I'm not gonna bore you with all the technical jive that you could easily read over on the Hayes website. I can tell you that so far I'm impressed. Although the brakes are definitely in the "so far, so good" category, I must still only give them my...

SEAL OF SEMI-APPROVAL

Why?

First of all, they are black. I had this whole pro-level looking white thing going on, and when I lost the Strokers I lost 3.5% of my white pro-level look. In order to gain back .75% of my whiteness I had to go out and get this:

Black. It's better than yellow, but it's not white.

Secondly, they are different not only in color but in shape. It takes me a while to get used to different, not only from an ergonomic and performance standpoint, but also from the all important aesthetic balance aspect. I've been staring across the room at the brakes for almost two weeks, and I'm getting used to them... slowly.

Thirdly, and this is most important, I have Strokers on my Superbeast. It's hard enough going from squishy single speed to rigid single speed, but now I'll have to go from squishy Stroker equipped single speed to rigid Prime equipped single speed. That is unless I drop some coin and upgrade the Superbeast, which means I would buy white brakes, have to swap the trimmed lines and bleed them all over again....

Meh.

In other news, I got my Trans-Sylvania Epic photos from A E Landes. They are freaking sweet, and I shall leak them out slowly, saving the best for last.

Sorta proof that I did actually ride the Three Bridges this year without looking like a noobie.

I mighta posed.