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TriRig Omega, pt 3: Testing   Bookmark and Share
images by Nick Salazar   •   Jan 29, 2012   •   hits 34,262

With the Omega brakes and top tube cable routing, this P3 is as clean as they come.
 
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The Omega is now in production! Get yours from the TriRig Store.

The development of the Omega brake is incredibly exciting for me, but I understand how frustrating it is for all of you who are waiting for its release. Accordingly, I'm trying to share as much of the process as I reasonably can. The first working prototypes of the brake have arrived, and they work beautifully. There's just a little bit of refinement to do, and then these babies are going to production.



The first Omega prototype, which we are internally calling the mk1. It actually fits really well on the P3, and stops amazingly well. But the shape is being revised based on some great lessons I'm learning in Dr. Coggan's wind tunnel.

The Omega is a fantastic finishing touch to any tri bike with a standard brake boss, improving the frontal profile and allowing the bike's aerodynamics to perform as designed, unfettered by a jumble of cables and hardware.

Here's a shot of how the Omega's body mates flush with the fork for smoother airflow.

Yes, the Omega works as a rear brake, even on the P3's non-standard mounting plate! It's shown here with its optional integrated cable hanger, which is convenient for situations where it's not easy to rig up any other kind of stop.

I've been sampling pads from the likes of SwissStop, Kool Stop, and others, hoping to find a pad that works really well on either carbon or alloy rims, and has excellent wear life. The Omega is gonna come with a great pad.

I've settled on Kool Stop, which has an excellent reputation and makes a variety of REALLY great pads. The choice is basically down to their Carbon #2 compound (on top), or their classic Salmon (far right). Both pads are great, but the black pad is optimized for carbon, and the salmon is optimized for alloy.

I put the first set of Omega prototypes on a custom P3 that I modified to have cleaner top tube cable routing.

Another shot of the P3, complete with the very first set of working TriRig Omega brakes.

Here's where I routed the cables on my P3. No, I'm not going to tell you what was involved in doing it, but I wanted to show it off anyway. It works great, and really cleans up the cables.

With the Omega brakes and top tube cable routing, this P3 is as clean as they come.

The P3 has a bulging head tube, so the Omega requires a little bit of clearance. Most modern bikes have flat head tubes, so you could tuck the Omega in even closer with a thinner lock washer.




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