Long-pull brake levers and road brakes
03-20-10, 06:58 PM
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Long-pull brake levers and road brakes
I'm setting up a 'do-everything' bike that I want to be as modifiable as possible. It will soon have discs or Vs, and that means some sort of long-pull levers. I may reconfigure things after that point, and I don't want to need a second bike's worth of parts sitting around for that reconfiguration. The question is: What happens when you connect a long-pull lever to a good road caliper? Upon pulling the lever on such a setup, will I promptly collapse my rim and fly over my handlebars?
Additionally, If the setup is reasonably safe, should I orient my pads/calipers to grab the rim toward the end of the pull, or should they still be close to the rim like any typical road brake setup?
This is just one of those wacky things I've never bothered trying. Hopefully someone else has. Pictures of such frankenbikes in daily use would be appreciated
Additionally, If the setup is reasonably safe, should I orient my pads/calipers to grab the rim toward the end of the pull, or should they still be close to the rim like any typical road brake setup?
This is just one of those wacky things I've never bothered trying. Hopefully someone else has. Pictures of such frankenbikes in daily use would be appreciated
03-20-10, 07:11 PM
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Sheldon Brown's info
https://sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html#levers
https://sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html#levers
03-20-10, 07:22 PM
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Direct-pull brake levers used with any other type of brakes will feel nice and solid when you squeeze them, but due to their lower mechanical advantage you'll need to squeeze twice as hard to stop as you should, so unless you are a lightweight rider with gorilla-like paws, this combination isn't safe either.
If anyone else wants to chime in with personal experience (even if its the same as Sheldon's), I'll hear it.
03-21-10, 01:28 AM
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As always, Sheldon Brown is correct about the mechanical advantage problem - the combination you suggest will not work well. An alternative possibility would be to use standard road levers and add a travel agent that will adjust the cable pull to make it work with V-brakes or mountain cable discs. Another idea is to use the Avid cable discs that are made for road brake levers; Avid make two versions, one for MTB (long pull) levers and one or road (short pull) levers.
Your post makes it sound like your will have a a frame or fork on which you can mount either road calipers or V-brakes / discs depending on how you feel. There must be very few frames or forks that can take that combination, would you care to share with us what you're planning to use?
Your post makes it sound like your will have a a frame or fork on which you can mount either road calipers or V-brakes / discs depending on how you feel. There must be very few frames or forks that can take that combination, would you care to share with us what you're planning to use?
03-21-10, 03:03 AM
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I'm setting up a 'do-everything' bike that I want to be as modifiable as possible. It will soon have discs or Vs, and that means some sort of long-pull levers. I may reconfigure things after that point, and I don't want to need a second bike's worth of parts sitting around for that reconfiguration. The question is: What happens when you connect a long-pull lever to a good road caliper? Upon pulling the lever on such a setup, will I promptly collapse my rim and fly over my handlebars?
Additionally, If the setup is reasonably safe, should I orient my pads/calipers to grab the rim toward the end of the pull, or should they still be close to the rim like any typical road brake setup?
This is just one of those wacky things I've never bothered trying. Hopefully someone else has. Pictures of such frankenbikes in daily use would be appreciated
Additionally, If the setup is reasonably safe, should I orient my pads/calipers to grab the rim toward the end of the pull, or should they still be close to the rim like any typical road brake setup?
This is just one of those wacky things I've never bothered trying. Hopefully someone else has. Pictures of such frankenbikes in daily use would be appreciated
2) Some V-brake levers will have adjustable pull - to either go canti/v-brake when needed.
Like quill stem clamp diameters (non removable faceplates) this is non negotiable.
03-21-10, 09:35 AM
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Your post makes it sound like your will have a a frame or fork on which you can mount either road calipers or V-brakes / discs depending on how you feel. There must be very few frames or forks that can take that combination, would you care to share with us what you're planning to use?
Also, I'd rather use V and disc over canti, road, and disc, and I don't really like travel agents, so I'm going to stick with long-pull.
I didn't know they made adjustable-pull levers, though. That's neat.
Dude has problems with commitment.
03-21-10, 05:22 PM
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Your post makes it sound like your will have a a frame or fork on which you can mount either road calipers or V-brakes / discs depending on how you feel. There must be very few frames or forks that can take that combination, would you care to share with us what you're planning to use?
https://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/jeff-grr/index.htm
My wife's got the same setup, and she's got Avid brake levers- they work fine.
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