Originally Posted by
MarcusT
If you're looking for opinions. I do not believe your brake set up is safe. I understand which riding position you normally use, but when it comes to sudden braking, the natural body movement is to go back. So, say your hands are where your shifters are and you need to suddenly brake, it is not instinctive to move forward, and to risk an olly.
Originally Posted by
Duragrouch
Hard to see, but I think there are brake levers in all hand positions; One set on the outer handles, and one set on the bar ends ("horns"), which he said are interrupter (mid-cable) levers. I don't know if the inners are being used as mids or just end of cable. Usually, the cables run from standard brake levers to mids, then from there to the brakes. Virtually all mid levers are short pull, as they are designed for the top inboard position on drop bars, so designed for road caliper brakes. I use one mid on my long-pull V-brakes, for the front brake only, out on the end of my clip-on aero bar, between the left (flat-bar) lever and the front brake, that way I have emergency braking on the aero without shifting hands. My wheels are very true so I can adjust the pads close enough so that the mid lever won't bottom out when braking. It's also nice when holding the bike in place at a sloped stoplight, as the mid lever only takes half the effort as the regular levers on V-brakes.
I'm not fully sure I see the concern. It is true that when riding with hands on the shifters/at the intersection of the bars/bar-ends there are no brakes at finger reach. This is like hands on the horizontals at the top of standard drops (without the second set of levers), and probably not the place when riding in crowded/surprising conditions. But should things go bad, you can move back to grab the primary brakes or forward to the mid-cable's. In the pic above hopefully it is clear - the levers at the ends are standard (vintage Deore DX which are quite strong), with the secondaries at the ends of the extensions. Note the white cable housing (in the near frame) which goes from the main lever to the little lever, then switches to black housing to the rear brake. An, as per international convention, the front brake cable housing is a completely different color combination.
The bike has canti's and these mid-cable brakes are listed as suitable for them. They are good, certainly for modulating, but definitely not as strong as the primary levers.
Originally Posted by
Small cog
I don't think you can tease us with just a glimpse of a fillet brazed frame, how about a photo of the complete bike?
Can't resist the opportunity to show it off:
It's a prototype/work in progress. I wanted a short reach, tall stack bike that fits 26x2.3is tires. The whole story is here:
Modifying a frame as a prototype
It started as a 21" Shogun 500 from the mid 80s. Once I get it dialed in, I think I'm gonna build it for real, although the next step is a fork which can support a front fender. I changed the rake, and lost my fork. Bummer.
Originally Posted by
Prowler
When I converted my mtn bike to drop bars I mounted the thumb shifters in the drops, oriented in the vertical plane. My fingers move the levers up and down. That has worked very well for me. Consider mounting your “thumbies” on the bar ends (horns) between the hb clamp and the curved section, under the horn. You ride with your hands on that straight section with your fingers hanging down so the thumb shifter lever is right there.
That sounds like something to try, and should be pretty easy. I'll give it a shot, thanks for the suggestion.