I have finished everything on the bike except the hydraulics and I must say that it is a very nice bike. It is NOT very light and the interior of the frame is a little rough and internal cables are an absolute pain in the butt to connect, but once
compleated the setup is nice,

Hydraulic kits inslude the hose and ends, but finding just the hardware is something of a contest. These setups are so cheap that no one other than local bike shops want to carry them so they are quite expensive. If you find a sourse on-line sellers seem
to treat them with contempt. I ordered one set 20 days ago and it quite obviously never even arrived at the USPS and I had to wait 20 days for a refund. A small box of small parts simply tossed and fallen off of a conveyer and no one concerned about it.

So now I have to wait yet another 2 weeks and hope that these don't get lost in an equal manner.

I used the GRX group because I had it here. But if I can get along with the disks, I will install a Campagnolo 12 speed on the Idol also.

The GRX group is not very well designed and the shift woirs are poorly routed. While I could more cheaply get a Ultegra hydraulic setup, the question is, would I miss the Campy which is on the other good bikes? I will have to think about that.

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On 2/20/2025 12:46 PM, cyclintom wrote:

I have finished everything on the bike except the hydraulics and I must say that it is a very nice bike. It is NOT very light and the interior of the frame is a little rough and internal cables are an absolute pain in the butt to connect, but once

compleated the setup is nice,

Hydraulic kits inslude the hose and ends, but finding just the hardware is something of a contest. These setups are so cheap that no one other than local bike shops want to carry them so they are quite expensive. If you find a sourse on-line sellers

seem to treat them with contempt. I ordered one set 20 days ago and it quite obviously never even arrived at the USPS and I had to wait 20 days for a refund. A small box of small parts simply tossed and fallen off of a conveyer and no one concerned about
it.

So now I have to wait yet another 2 weeks and hope that these don't get lost in an equal manner.

I used the GRX group because I had it here. But if I can get along with the disks, I will install a Campagnolo 12 speed on the Idol also.

The GRX group is not very well designed and the shift woirs are poorly routed. While I could more cheaply get a Ultegra hydraulic setup, the question is, would I miss the Campy which is on the other good bikes? I will have to think about that.

First search result is two pairs for $5.99 at Wal Mart:

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=shimano+brake+barb+%26+olive

--
Andrew Muzi
[email protected]
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

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On Thu Feb 20 13:20:02 2025 AMuzi wrote:

On 2/20/2025 12:46 PM, cyclintom wrote:

I have finished everything on the bike except the hydraulics and I must say that it is a very nice bike. It is NOT very light and the interior of the frame is a little rough and internal cables are an absolute pain in the butt to connect, but once

compleated the setup is nice,

Hydraulic kits inslude the hose and ends, but finding just the hardware is something of a contest. These setups are so cheap that no one other than local bike shops want to carry them so they are quite expensive. If you find a sourse on-line sellers

seem to treat them with contempt. I ordered one set 20 days ago and it quite obviously never even arrived at the USPS and I had to wait 20 days for a refund. A small box of small parts simply tossed and fallen off of a conveyer and no one concerned about
it.

So now I have to wait yet another 2 weeks and hope that these don't get lost in an equal manner.

I used the GRX group because I had it here. But if I can get along with the disks, I will install a Campagnolo 12 speed on the Idol also.

The GRX group is not very well designed and the shift woirs are poorly routed. While I could more cheaply get a Ultegra hydraulic setup, the question is, would I miss the Campy which is on the other good bikes? I will have to think about that.

First search result is two pairs for $5.99 at Wal Mart:

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=shimano+brake+barb+%26+olive

The brake barb and olive set should be delivered any minute now but the hose cutter etc. had to ber wouted up. I ordered and recieved a bleeder kit. All I have to do is remember how to figure the hose length fit and I'm in for free mow since I have the
nuts off of the levers and previous hoses.

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On 2/20/2025 2:24 PM, cyclintom wrote:

On Thu Feb 20 13:20:02 2025 AMuzi wrote:

On 2/20/2025 12:46 PM, cyclintom wrote:

I have finished everything on the bike except the hydraulics and I must say that it is a very nice bike. It is NOT very light and the interior of the frame is a little rough and internal cables are an absolute pain in the butt to connect, but once

compleated the setup is nice,

Hydraulic kits inslude the hose and ends, but finding just the hardware is something of a contest. These setups are so cheap that no one other than local bike shops want to carry them so they are quite expensive. If you find a sourse on-line sellers

seem to treat them with contempt. I ordered one set 20 days ago and it quite obviously never even arrived at the USPS and I had to wait 20 days for a refund. A small box of small parts simply tossed and fallen off of a conveyer and no one concerned about
it.

So now I have to wait yet another 2 weeks and hope that these don't get lost in an equal manner.

I used the GRX group because I had it here. But if I can get along with the disks, I will install a Campagnolo 12 speed on the Idol also.

The GRX group is not very well designed and the shift woirs are poorly routed. While I could more cheaply get a Ultegra hydraulic setup, the question is, would I miss the Campy which is on the other good bikes? I will have to think about that.

First search result is two pairs for $5.99 at Wal Mart:

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=shimano+brake+barb+%26+olive

The brake barb and olive set should be delivered any minute now but the hose cutter etc. had to ber wouted up. I ordered and recieved a bleeder kit. All I have to do is remember how to figure the hose length fit and I'm in for free mow since I have the

nuts off of the levers and previous hoses.

Put a small piece of brake housing in the hose and use your cable cutter
it will cut off perfect.

--
Deacon Mark

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On Thu Feb 20 13:20:02 2025 AMuzi wrote:

On 2/20/2025 12:46 PM, cyclintom wrote:

I have finished everything on the bike except the hydraulics and I must say that it is a very nice bike. It is NOT very light and the interior of the frame is a little rough and internal cables are an absolute pain in the butt to connect, but once

compleated the setup is nice,

Hydraulic kits inslude the hose and ends, but finding just the hardware is something of a contest. These setups are so cheap that no one other than local bike shops want to carry them so they are quite expensive. If you find a sourse on-line sellers

seem to treat them with contempt. I ordered one set 20 days ago and it quite obviously never even arrived at the USPS and I had to wait 20 days for a refund. A small box of small parts simply tossed and fallen off of a conveyer and no one concerned about
it.

So now I have to wait yet another 2 weeks and hope that these don't get lost in an equal manner.

I used the GRX group because I had it here. But if I can get along with the disks, I will install a Campagnolo 12 speed on the Idol also.

The GRX group is not very well designed and the shift woirs are poorly routed. While I could more cheaply get a Ultegra hydraulic setup, the question is, would I miss the Campy which is on the other good bikes? I will have to think about that.

First search result is two pairs for $5.99 at Wal Mart:

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=shimano+brake+barb+%26+olive

The brake barb and olive set should be delivered any minute now but the hose cutter etc. had to be rounded up. I ordered and recieved a bleeder kit. All I have to do is remember how to figure the hose length fit and I'm in for free now since I have the
nuts off of the levers and previous hoses. The trouble with hydraulic brakes is that you need a lot of support parts to set them up.

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I got parts in to finish the hydraulis plumbing. But the bleeding kit contained the funnel with a tiny scew-in that was less than half of the size of 5 mm bleed cap screw on the lever. So I had to order another bleed kit with specific adapters.

On the Merak I received the 12 speed front deraoilleur and had problems installing it mostly because the limit scews were not marked high and low and I finally got tired and stopped working on it. All that is left now is to install the front inner. Also
the "super-light" braze-on adapter slips and eventually had to be greatly tightened rather than the recommended 5 n/m. My recommendation is to buy a Campy adapter if you're working on such a bike. The different in weight is only grams and the cost of the
Campy is $20 more. But it will not move when set to the proper tension.

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On 2/22/2025 10:06 AM, cyclintom wrote:

I got parts in to finish the hydraulis plumbing. But the bleeding kit contained the funnel with a tiny scew-in that was less than half of the size of 5 mm bleed cap screw on the lever. So I had to order another bleed kit with specific adapters.

On the Merak I received the 12 speed front deraoilleur and had problems installing it mostly because the limit scews were not marked high and low and I finally got tired and stopped working on it. All that is left now is to install the front inner.

Also the "super-light" braze-on adapter slips and eventually had to be greatly tightened rather than the recommended 5 n/m. My recommendation is to buy a Campy adapter if you're working on such a bike. The different in weight is only grams and the cost
of the Campy is $20 more. But it will not move when set to the proper tension.

Repetitive I know, but a clever solution may be to RTFM.

Shimano MTB lever oil ports are big, Shimano road lever
ports are small. Some might say that doubles tool and
fixture investment to no other good purpose.

--
Andrew Muzi
[email protected]
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat Feb 22 10:40:57 2025 AMuzi wrote:

On 2/22/2025 10:06 AM, cyclintom wrote:

I got parts in to finish the hydraulis plumbing. But the bleeding kit contained the funnel with a tiny scew-in that was less than half of the size of 5 mm bleed cap screw on the lever. So I had to order another bleed kit with specific adapters.

On the Merak I received the 12 speed front deraoilleur and had problems installing it mostly because the limit scews were not marked high and low and I finally got tired and stopped working on it. All that is left now is to install the front inner.

Also the "super-light" braze-on adapter slips and eventually had to be greatly tightened rather than the recommended 5 n/m. My recommendation is to buy a Campy adapter if you're working on such a bike. The different in weight is only grams and the cost
of the Campy is $20 more. But it will not move when set to the proper tension.

Repetitive I know, but a clever solution may be to RTFM.

Shimano MTB lever oil ports are big, Shimano road lever
ports are small. Some might say that doubles tool and
fixture investment to no other good purpose.

Well, GRX isn't MTB parts so why would it have those huge ports for relatively miniscule amounts of hydraulic fluid? And why would the Shimano part in a Shimano box have that rediculously tiny bleed hole?

By the way - when I'm bleeding the system do I pull the lever to fill that reservoir? The video I rewatched didn't say. Or do I leave the levers alone and just wait for all of the air to bleed out? That would seem to be the correct way.

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On 2/22/2025 5:06 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 2/22/2025 11:06 AM, cyclintom wrote:

I got parts in to finish the hydraulis plumbing. But the bleeding kit
contained the funnel with a tiny scew-in that was less than half of
the size of 5 mm bleed cap screw on the lever. So I had to order
another bleed kit with specific adapters.

On the Merak I received the 12 speed front deraoilleur and had
problems installing it mostly because the limit scews were not marked
high and low ...

SO many problems!

He had a choice of two screws, and he couldn't figure out which one did what

--
Add xx to reply

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On 2/24/2025 9:55 AM, Zen Cycle wrote:

On 2/22/2025 5:06 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 2/22/2025 11:06 AM, cyclintom wrote:

I got parts in to finish the hydraulis plumbing. But the
bleeding kit contained the funnel with a tiny scew-in
that was less than half of the size of 5 mm bleed cap
screw on the lever. So I had to order another bleed kit
with specific adapters.

On the Merak I received the 12 speed front deraoilleur
and had problems installing it mostly because the limit
scews were not marked high and low ...

SO many problems!

He had a choice of two screws, and he couldn't figure out
which one did what

Not having a coin to toss at that juncture can slow up some
operators.

--
Andrew Muzi
[email protected]
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat Feb 22 10:40:57 2025 AMuzi wrote:

On 2/22/2025 10:06 AM, cyclintom wrote:

I got parts in to finish the hydraulis plumbing. But the bleeding kit contained the funnel with a tiny scew-in that was less than half of the size of 5 mm bleed cap screw on the lever. So I had to order another bleed kit with specific adapters.

On the Merak I received the 12 speed front deraoilleur and had problems installing it mostly because the limit scews were not marked high and low and I finally got tired and stopped working on it. All that is left now is to install the front inner.

Also the "super-light" braze-on adapter slips and eventually had to be greatly tightened rather than the recommended 5 n/m. My recommendation is to buy a Campy adapter if you're working on such a bike. The different in weight is only grams and the cost
of the Campy is $20 more. But it will not move when set to the proper tension.

Repetitive I know, but a clever solution may be to RTFM.

Shimano MTB lever oil ports are big, Shimano road lever
ports are small. Some might say that doubles tool and
fixture investment to no other good purpose.

I have installed 5 sets of disk braikes. The original Shimano brakes bled without a single problem. There was something wrong with the Tektro system and it wouldn't easily let the air out. Leaving it overnight tilted up allowed the air to work its way
out and then it worked fine.

Now this GRX does not bleed like the Ultegra system did. So I looked at the video for GRX and it showed the system as being bled opposite from the other ways. They showed you bleeding from the lever to the rear disk rather than the opposite way as I did
on previous systems.

So perhaps you can explain why this would be different? I bled the first five bikes according to the manual. Since I bought this 10 speed GRX at the same time, my assumption was that it operated like the previous road systems. Wouldn't you expect air to
rise in the system and bubble out into the cup? But I didn't get any bubbles. There are no leaks and all of the connections are dry, The shoes look barely worn. But they do not "pump out" to full engagement. The disc's are new.

If you bleed a set of Shimano brakes and then get another set to bleed do you reread the manual?

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I finally finished off the DeRosa yesterday. I would have preferred black handlebar tape but I had a package of dark blue so I used that. In the process of installing the rear shift cable I unscrewed the tension adjusting screw and lost the spring that
supports the outside ring.This means that if I wanted to adjust tension I would have to hold the outer ring up to engage the screw. Luckily I set the entire shifter up correctly and it doesn't need adjustment.

The disc wheelset is WTB wheels that are shallow and so they work really good on the splined centermount discs. The remaining air in the line of the front disc worked its way up to the lever and so the discs feel correct at the levers.


My brother want pictures of it so I will take some and also post them on my Facebook Account.

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