D
duivendyk
Guest
The answer to that is
ossibly on some bikes,but not,or not well on others.
All bicycle brake setups rely on leverage,that is to say a relatively large movement of the brake lever is translated to a much smaller movement at the brake shoe,but with much larger force.Depending on the type of brake (rim,disk or drum) the leverage ratio required can vary considerably.There is an optimum ration,too much mechanical advantage can result in brakes which are too touchy and can send you over the handlebars,they will also be difficult to keep in adjustment.Not enough mechanical advantage and you will lack stopping power.
Restricting the discussion to rim brakes,the total leverage is distributed between the brake lever and the brake assembly itself.The mechanical advantage built into the brake assembly proper can be quite different,depending on the type of brake,which means that the brake lever has to be matched to a particular type of brake.For instance a long pull brake lever (low mech. advantage) should be used in conjunction with direct-pull cantilever brakes (similar to the Shimano V brake, with high mech. advantage) and not with other types of brakes (with low mech.advantage, such as center pull cantilever brakes,or older sidepull brakes).You would be lacking in stopping power.Conversely if you mated a shortpull brake lever intended for a centerpull brake to a V brake,you are likely to bottom your brake levers,because you don't have enough reach,or else the shoes will be dragging,if the wheel(s) wobbles just a bit,as most do.It's simply impractical to keep the brakes in adjustment, you have lot's of stopping power in theory only,but you may have none at all, since you bottom your brake lever.If you are confused about the brake terminology I used, go to www.sheldonbrown.com, ,look under drivetrain component/brakes and you will find a wealth of pertinent info, study it, it could save your skin!
About the dual brake levers such as sold by Pyramid,I contacted a dealer (Eaton bicycles in Key West) and was infirmed as I had expected that this lever was not suitable for V brakes (direct-pull cantilever brakes).I don't know about any other makes.The fact remains also that with a single brake lever,one hand has to do exert the force that was shared between both hands before,so you would appear to need more leverage,with the danger of running out of adjustment,as I discussed previously.
Another factor is that, compared with motorcyles&most mopeds a bicycle has a much higher center of gravity (mostly determined by the rider), this means that a far more weight transfer takes place during hard braking,80% or more of the braking is attributable to the front brake under those conditions !.So it's easy to lock up the rear brake,which means that you are likely to lose control.It is vital to be able to use your brakes judiciously,so what if an extra cable&lever clutters things up some.Anybody reading this should go to a safe place and practice "really hard braking".It's a useful skill to master esp. for speed demons, JJ
ossibly on some bikes,but not,or not well on others.All bicycle brake setups rely on leverage,that is to say a relatively large movement of the brake lever is translated to a much smaller movement at the brake shoe,but with much larger force.Depending on the type of brake (rim,disk or drum) the leverage ratio required can vary considerably.There is an optimum ration,too much mechanical advantage can result in brakes which are too touchy and can send you over the handlebars,they will also be difficult to keep in adjustment.Not enough mechanical advantage and you will lack stopping power.
Restricting the discussion to rim brakes,the total leverage is distributed between the brake lever and the brake assembly itself.The mechanical advantage built into the brake assembly proper can be quite different,depending on the type of brake,which means that the brake lever has to be matched to a particular type of brake.For instance a long pull brake lever (low mech. advantage) should be used in conjunction with direct-pull cantilever brakes (similar to the Shimano V brake, with high mech. advantage) and not with other types of brakes (with low mech.advantage, such as center pull cantilever brakes,or older sidepull brakes).You would be lacking in stopping power.Conversely if you mated a shortpull brake lever intended for a centerpull brake to a V brake,you are likely to bottom your brake levers,because you don't have enough reach,or else the shoes will be dragging,if the wheel(s) wobbles just a bit,as most do.It's simply impractical to keep the brakes in adjustment, you have lot's of stopping power in theory only,but you may have none at all, since you bottom your brake lever.If you are confused about the brake terminology I used, go to www.sheldonbrown.com, ,look under drivetrain component/brakes and you will find a wealth of pertinent info, study it, it could save your skin!
About the dual brake levers such as sold by Pyramid,I contacted a dealer (Eaton bicycles in Key West) and was infirmed as I had expected that this lever was not suitable for V brakes (direct-pull cantilever brakes).I don't know about any other makes.The fact remains also that with a single brake lever,one hand has to do exert the force that was shared between both hands before,so you would appear to need more leverage,with the danger of running out of adjustment,as I discussed previously.
Another factor is that, compared with motorcyles&most mopeds a bicycle has a much higher center of gravity (mostly determined by the rider), this means that a far more weight transfer takes place during hard braking,80% or more of the braking is attributable to the front brake under those conditions !.So it's easy to lock up the rear brake,which means that you are likely to lose control.It is vital to be able to use your brakes judiciously,so what if an extra cable&lever clutters things up some.Anybody reading this should go to a safe place and practice "really hard braking".It's a useful skill to master esp. for speed demons, JJ
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