TRP

G-Spec Quadiem Disc Brake

Since it's designed in collaboration with Aaron Gwin, you might expect TRP's G-Spec Quadiem Disc Brake to be more than equal to any DH abuse we mere mortals can throw its way. You'd be right. The brakes are aggressively responsive, so some riders may prefer to alter their forks' ramp-ups in order to compensate for it. The payoff comes while pushing for every possible fraction of a second leading in to every corner, because the G-Spec Quadiem's smooth modulation means you can hover over the levers with confidence that the brakes will respond instantly when you need them to. A combination of cooling fins in the caliper's CNC-machined body and four ceramic/steel hybrid pistons help to dissipate heat on long descents that are more chunder than flow, so that confident modulation won't fade as fast.

The lever blade itself is the result of Gwin's direct input, and it looks and feels the part. The action is smooth and the style is an effective blend of industrial strength and anatomic shaping. The titanium hardware used throughout represents one final pro-tier finishing detail, and it contributes to bringing the brake system's weight down to a level competitive with similar offerings from Japan. For obvious reasons, we don't always spend a lot of time worrying about weight on our flow/gravity sleds, but every lost gram helps when the sidecountry lures you away from the lift lines and you have to pedal out.