my friend is about to sell me bulldog brakes (if thats even what theyre called) are they any good, 15 bucks for the brakes cables and all

seems like a good deal
if you can get it all for 15 bucks
unless the brakes are really crappy
or you can go to www.danscomp.com
and look for some brakes
i ended up spendin $38.72 for all (cables, brakes, and lever)

its a typical side pull brake if my memory serves, not much of a performance upgrade, I would look into something more substancial, unless its just for the heck of it

Bulldogs are a caliper style brake. They are like any other calipers and need a hole in your frame to mount to.

If your bike is newer, then it has U-Brake or Canti mounts on it and bulldogs are not compatible.

Also, while Bulldogs are one of the better caliper brakes, they are STILL caliper brakes and don't come close to the quality of 990's or Evolvers. Check what you need, or take a photo of your brake mounts and post it here if you are unsure of what type of brakes your frame needs.

yeah, my haro monocoque, cant use caliper breaks, it has those two little holes for v breaks, i think

and u breaks, the dia compe 990's are u brakes, right? i might as well go to sport chalet and buy some then. are a brakes better though? out of all of these, which are usually better, a u or v brakes?

I can't really say which are best, but U-Brakes (990's/Evolvers) are what are most common on freestyle bikes. I think V-Brakes are better, but they are also typically more in the way than freestyle riders like, but are good for bmx racing. A brakes appear to be a newer version of V-Brakes which may require a little less maintenance... I don't know. Double check with your LBS to see if either A-Brakes or V-Brakes work on the monocoque.

A brakes are a new brake from Odyssey, they're rather stiff and easy to set up, they fit on bikes with V Brake mounta, and you cannot use U brakes on the monocoque

ok, so i should(and basically can only get) v brakes? any good brand that are relatively innexpensive?

yeah, im looking on danscomp.com, and when it says includes all hardware, does that mean cables and stuff? im thinking of getting the tektro v brake kit, 18 bucks, or the TEKTRO 917A MINI LINEAR PULL BRAKE, or the TEKTRO BX-40 LINEAR PULL BRAKE, what does anybody think? im poor, so i need cheap stuff thatre good . or should i just get some more expensive ones thatll serve me better?

i also need some chain tensioners, any thoughts

www.danscomp.com

Tektros suck, bottom line, get the odyssey A Brakes, Shimano DX, XT, or XTR brakes, and whatever lightweight lever you can get your hands on (Shimano XTR is nice)

Cables are usually included in kits... But, Tektros are not typically a good brake. They are 'cheap' stuff and come stock on a LOT of bikes. Tektro does have a FEW good products, but those v-brakes are just cheap. Plan on spending 30 bucks, plus get a new Odyssey Slik cable for your brakes. If you still need a lever, check some out and pick one that you like and ask about it.

CHAIN TENSIONERS: I think the Haro ones are the best design I have seen. Here is why:
1. They use a bolt that screws into the washer part of the tensioner so there is no extra bolt sticking out of the back of the tensioner like 90% of the other tensioners.
2. They use regular hardware store bolts, so if you lose it or break the head off, you can get a new bolt for 10 cents the same day.
3. It comes with 2 different length bolts depending on how deep in your dropout you run your rear wheel.
4. It has a good sized washer on it to help protect your dropouts better.
5. I have run mine for 4+ years with zero problems.

alright, so ima go with the haro chain tensioners and im looking at brakes right now. this one guy has a hemi specialized, i think, and it hes trying to sell it for 150, but i could probably get it for 100, what do you think?

yeah, so im porbably gonna get the shimano xt-v brakes. good choice? should i also get the shimano xt-v lever, or can i use another one? as for the cables, ill go with odyssey slic cables.

the XT V brakes are good, I ran them on my old GT Pro series back when I raced, they were rather nice, you can run any lever you want, but from what I remember the XT lever is nice, even lighter than the XTR levers as well, so go for it!!

k thanx

bmxtrix, i was always wondering, why dont they ever use v brakes with a gyro setup?

its been done, just unconventional

one more thing, can i just get the $4.99 shimano lx-v lever? $29 for a lever is too much for me

any lever will do, probably even your current one if you have one, the LX lever does look good though, especially if its the newer 3 position servo wave lever, I'd say go for it!!

cool!