Brakes Best brakes?

[Chopper]

I'm running a disc on the front and side pull brakes on the rear with a dual pull lever, I'm not very happy with this setup, especially the front disc which has never stopped me sufficiently.

Anyone have any other suggestions for the front, or maybe pad material, or maybe some secret adjustment that will stop me being killed at the next red light!?

 

[Dax420]

Disc brakes have the best high speed stopping ability of any bike brakes on the market. Which kind of disc brake do you have on the front? Mechanical (cable pull) or hydraulic? I find that you get more stopping power from hydraulic disc brakes than from mechanical. Also if you already have a 6" hydro brake on the front you could upgrade to an 8" disc, the disc's themselves are cheap compared to a new brake assembly and you can buy an adapter for your 6" brake mount to make it work with an 8" disc.

Also, are these "walmart" style disc brakes that came on the bike? Yeah those are JUNK compared to a real disc brake from a bike shop, but you are looking at ~$200 to get into a good pair of hydro discs.

 

[DougC]

Disc brakes have the best high speed stopping ability of any bike brakes on the market. Which kind of disc brake do you have on the front? Mechanical (cable pull) or hydraulic? I find that you get more stopping power from hydraulic disc brakes than from mechanical. ....

The dual-pull levers are only cable, that I've seen--so you would need to run cable-operated brakes.

As far as the original question-

My experience is that disk brakes work pretty well, if they're clean. The pads are sintered metal and they do get brake dust in them. You clean the disk and pads with brake, carb cleaner or alcohol, and don't touch them when reassembling.

I think there's a better chance that the lever you have may be mismatched to the brakes you're using it with. Brake levers are usually either specified as for {cantilevered or V-brakes} or for {disk brakes}. These two brake types have different "pull lengths" of cable they need to work properly. ....I would BET that the dual-pull lever is engineered for cantilevered brakes and not disks. If the front rim is compatible with rim-style brakes, then scrounge a pair of cantilever brakes somehow on the front and see if they don't work better.
~

 

[sideshowsideswipe]

Just my 2 cents, I find the cantilever brakes work better than the caliper brakes.

 

[sherryc8641]

Stupid Rim Brakes

Can coaster brakes get jamed or seized it using them while going 32 mph. I have, well had the brake pads that grab the rim's side of a bike. They worked fine. But they jamed up on me when I was using them to slow down when going around ?23 mph? It actually caused my bike to skid about 10 ft while braking. The wheel disforming it broke 4 spoks while doing that. Which suprised me since I thought/knew that was a very strong rim.

I really want a good braking system for my bike expecially since I just bought a 36T sproket from Dax. So first of all I want to know how relighable coaster brakes are. Then second I would like to know with someone skiled how well coaster brakes would work along with disk brakes.
Thank You

 

[Dax420]

Disc brakes have the best high speed stopping ability of any bike brakes on the market. Which kind of disc brake do you have on the front? Mechanical (cable pull) or hydraulic? I find that you get more stopping power from hydraulic disc brakes than from mechanical. ....

The dual-pull levers are only cable, that I've seen--so you would need to run cable-operated brakes.

Yep, but I asked about the front brake he is running. :???:

Upgrading from a front mech disc to a hydro disk, might be a good option. As well as upgrading rotor sizes.

I think there's a better chance that the lever you have may be mismatched to the brakes you're using it with. Brake levers are usually either specified as for {cantilevered or V-brakes} or for {disk brakes}.
~

You hit the nail on the head with that one, his lever is probably not strong enough to pull a mech disc brake, it was probably designed for cantilevered.

I also wanted to point out again that the difference in stopping power between a quality mechanical brake system like an Avid compared to something that comes on a bike from walmart is night and day. You really do get what you pay for in this area. I know because I ride downhill on the shore and we need brakes like you wouldn't believe.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

sherry, the coaster brake on my 3-month old RALEIGH cruiser locked up on my 23mph downhill ride! luckily i started braking well before i reached the traffic light at the bottom of the hill. upon lockup, the 135-pound bike and my 190 pound body tried to force its heavy tail towards the front. the hairy ride lasted 10 seconds; no injuries, and i stayed seated and didn't have to lay the bike down. my wife and i were headed for the bikepath, so i just unjammed the brake lock(using gorilla strength), used the motor gently and relied on my front brakes.

upon inspection the next day, the bike dealer claimed he'd never seen such heavy brake wear on such a new bike. he replaced the OEM coaster brake with SHIMANO, added new HD rim, tire and spokes. i paid for part of the repaIrs/upgrades.

no more coaster brakes for my future motorized bikes.

what a ride! downhill at high speed with jammed brakes! when i realized i was uninjured and the bike was unscratched, i thoroughly enjoyed the thrill!

 

[sherryc8641]

That was a god story 5-7HEAVEN. Well now that I have my mind set on geting disk brakes. Just so I know how relighable they are... Does anyone have any story about disk brakes geting jamed? Or other bad stuff? Wel if not I realized another problem about geting disk brakes. Wont the rear sproket on the wheel be in the way while puting on the rear disk brake?

 

[sherryc8641]

Would I have a chance of puting it behind the 36T sproket If I buy a rear disk break that is 8 inch instead of 6 inch? Or does it not mater?

 

[Chopper]

I'll just bow out of this conversation now... you don't wanna know what was wrong with my brakes :?