Upgraded Disc Brake Question

[Rusty_S85]

Hydraulic brakes are just a PITA, I like cables too.

Yep and if you have a painted bike if it sits and the hydraulic leaks or if you top it off and get it on your finish and don't wash it off quick enough well there goes your nice pretty paint job.

I will say hydraulic is nice you can do some real cool things with hydraulic brakes such as braided brake lines or you could do polished copper lines, etc. Its just for me personally the benefits are outweighed by the draw backs. If cable operated rim brakes were good enough for years on mountain bikes then disc brakes on a motorized bike that is cable operated should be well over enough.

Only thing is I need to make sure when I get my double cable lever I end up with the right one don't think I want the link bar that will always pull 50/50. I want to be able to adjust mine brake bias. Considering I am looking at using a laid back seat post to move my seat back a bit I think I rather have the flexibility to tune the brakes to the bike itself.

 

[Frankenstein]

Yep and if you have a painted bike if it sits and the hydraulic leaks or if you top it off and get it on your finish and don't wash it off quick enough well there goes your nice pretty paint job.

I will say hydraulic is nice you can do some real cool things with hydraulic brakes such as braided brake lines or you could do polished copper lines, etc. Its just for me personally the benefits are outweighed by the draw backs. If cable operated rim brakes were good enough for years on mountain bikes then disc brakes on a motorized bike that is cable operated should be well over enough.

Only thing is I need to make sure when I get my double cable lever I end up with the right one don't think I want the link bar that will always pull 50/50. I want to be able to adjust mine brake bias. Considering I am looking at using a laid back seat post to move my seat back a bit I think I rather have the flexibility to tune the brakes to the bike itself.

This is what I'm using now, independent brake adjustment and a locking pin for a parking brake effect, the wires are for hooking a brake light up so people have a better idea of when you are breaking should you hook it up to something.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262901078902

 

[gary55]

This is what I'm using now, independent brake adjustment and a locking pin for a parking brake effect, the wires are for hooking a brake light up so people have a better idea of when you are breaking should you hook it up to something.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262901078902

Never even seen that. Easy adjustment and a parking brake. Might have to try one of these out.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

Yep and if you have a painted bike if it sits and the hydraulic leaks or if you top it off and get it on your finish and don't wash it off quick enough well there goes your nice pretty paint job.

.......

Only DOT is a humectant and corrosive paint stripper. Mineral oil is neither (but still wear gloves and glasses when bleeding mineral oil brakes). Either way a paper tissue should be all you need to prevent a drip spoiling the finish on your nice paintwork.

Bleeding both brakes is a five minute job requiring only the most basic skill, so that a monkey could be trained to do it.

I have not personally had a brake on a sitting bike just spring a leak unexpectedly, in the last nineteen years.
I have pinched one brake hose (on the front of a bike that was able to spin the bars around) which I fixed then prevented from recurring by rerouting the front brake hose one through a hole-in-the-head.

Which brake uses what?

DOT 4 or 5.1

• Avid / SRAM
• Formula
• Hayes
• Hope

Mineral Oil

• Magura
• Shimano
• Tektro

 

[gary55]

I have had one leak from sitting 3 yrs. ago, but it was sitting for at least 4 months. Elixers. Don't know where this brand is on the food chain. cleaned up the mess and they surprisingly worked perfectly fine with barely noticeable extra lever travel . Rode the bike a few times, put it back in the shed and it has been sitting there for 3 yrs. It was my first bike and I can't seem to force myself to sell it,,,,,yet. The leak was at the caliper. If they made a reasonably priced metering valve for the juice brakes so the could be operated with one lever I would have to try it.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

I have had one leak from sitting 3 yrs. ago, but it was sitting for at least 4 months. Elixers. Don't know where this brand is on the food chain. cleaned up the mess and they surprisingly worked perfectly fine with barely noticeable extra lever travel . Rode the bike a few times, put it back in the shed and it has been sitting there for 3 yrs. It was my first bike and I can't seem to force myself to sell it,,,,,yet. The leak was at the caliper. If they made a reasonably priced metering valve for the juice brakes so the could be operated with one lever I would have to try it.

There have been hydraulic brakes made with one lever controlling both the front and rear, but those were custom made for amputees. Afaik they are just a motorcycle lever with a master cylinder twice the displacement of those originally fitted.
What's a metering valve?

 

[Frankenstein]

There have been hydraulic brakes made with one lever controlling both the front and rear, but those were custom made for amputees. Afaik they are just a motorcycle lever with a master cylinder twice the displacement of those originally fitted.
What's a metering valve?

Basically applies rear brakes before allowing the front to be engaged via a pressure valve.

 

[Rusty_S85]

metering valve also known as a prop. valve adjusts front to rear bias. Its generally used in Disc/Drum setups. If your vehicle is drum/drum or disc/disc front to rear you don't need it, its used with disc/drum cause disc brakes require more pressure to apply than drum brakes. In a dual set up system without a prop valve your rear drum brakes would lock up from pressure before the front disc brakes even thought of starting to grab.

 

[gary55]

metering valve also known as a prop. valve adjusts front to rear bias. Its generally used in Disc/Drum setups. If your vehicle is drum/drum or disc/disc front to rear you don't need it, its used with disc/drum cause disc brakes require more pressure to apply than drum brakes. In a dual set up system without a prop valve your rear drum brakes would lock up from pressure before the front disc brakes even thought of starting to grab.

Guess I dated myself on that one.

 

[Carl Walichnowski]

This is what I'm using now, independent brake adjustment and a locking pin for a parking brake effect, the wires are for hooking a brake light up so people have a better idea of when you are breaking should you hook it up to something.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262901078902

I just wanted to clarify that the pictured dual lever is the lesser quality lever correct? I know someone said if one of the cables happen to brake then with this lever both brakes would be useless? I have this one now, I won it on a eBay auction for cheap & at the time I wasn't aware two different options existed.
I also love the fact that it has a wire for brake lights. I want to create a separate thread pertaining to brake light options because I was trying to figure out a way to make my bike as safe as possible and I had no idea about any brake light option for a MB till you posted your link (which I'll be reposting in the thread "What brake light options are you aware?") I think any thread that will ultimately provide info that will allow Motor Bikers to drive safer is worth creating and hope as many people can share as possible.