Originally Posted by
athanasis
cyccommute Thank you for the advice and picture! (That is a sick tandem bike, btw!) This is my first bike build, so I'm trying to switch to right/front brake and left/rear because I'd like to use my dominant hand for the front braking and modulation. I honestly don't know if this is a good idea, because I have another commuter bike that has right/rear and left/front -- but maybe I'll end up switching the brake cables on that bike too, or just get used to it? I haven't fully settled on the brakes for the new build yet, as the build is going very, very slowly, haha.
I'm planning to use cable-actuated hydraulic brakes, i.e., the mech-hydro hybrid. I want to learn more about bike maintenance, and even though I used to have an MTB with hydros, hydro brakes are intimidating to me. I figured that mech brakes will be easier to learn on and repair on the road if need be. You and others have recommended keeping the rear brake cable external, so that's what I'll do!
Thanks about the tandem.
I realize now that you want to run moto-style. I don’t think it’s that much of an issue to run one bike moto and another not but it is something you’ll have to be aware of constantly on both bikes. Whatever brake arrangement you settle on, running the cables to the rear is trivial. Just give yourself enough cable or hose so that you can turn the wheel 90°. Best to have too much cable housing than too little.
The whole reason I am even doing a custom build is because everything I need on this bike is XXS or XS sized. The drop bar width is 360mm, the crank arm is 160mm, and the frame is 44cm (XXS). You can imagine how small and cramped everything will be once I attach all my accessories later, haha! Once I finish the build, I will post pictures!!
I don’t know if you noticed but the tandem has a very, very, very small stoker frame. Since my wife is only 5’ tall, I’ve become something of an expert on adapting bikes to small people. In that picture of the tandem it still has 175mm cranks on the rear. I almost ruined her knees on a long ride we did with those cranks. I’ve since had
Bike Smith Design shorten cranks for me. 160mm is still to long for my longish legged short wife. We went to 145mm which she like a whole bunch more. We went to 145mm cranks on all of her bikes and she is very satisfied with them. She can even stand on a climb which is not something she has been able to do over almost 50 years of bicycle riding.
This is a Specialized XXS Sirrus we got for her a couple of years ago. It had 700C wheels and too long cranks.
I decided to change out the wheels to 26” to give her more standover and a better fit. The short cranks make that drop in height possible without risking pedal strike.
Very small bikes have several challenges that larger bikes don’t. If you are thinking of doing any bikepacking with your bike, you won’t be able to use a seat bike for carrying gear. The wheel is just too close to the saddle and even the smallest seat bag would rub. You’ll need to use a rack but as you can see in the picture above, the stays on the rack can’t be used on the frame braze-on mounts. Even with Ortlieb’s longest rack stay…240mm…is too short to reach the seatstay mounts and keep the rack level. That stays on the rack are as far forward as I can get them but they are still too short. I had to go with a seat collar mount instead,
Another consideration is brake lever reach. If you are going to go with a drop bar, look for shifters that allow you to move the reach inboard for small hands. The brakes on the Sirrus are hydraulic and have reach adjustment but only for moving the levers further away from the bars! I’ve swapped the brakes over to mechanicals with levers that can be adjusted for her smaller hands.