kookaburra1701

I want to put drum/roller brakes on my commuter bike. I don't like the rim brakes, and there's no tabs for discs, so roller brakes it is. I have some questions:

I currently have a Shimano Nexus 8 IGH. I also want to put a dynamo hub on the front wheel. I've heard that Shimano basically sabotages their front roller brakes because of fears of people locking up the front wheel, so I figure I'll be better off getting a Sturmey Archer dynohub with a drum brake. Then I'll just go with the proprietary Shimano roller brake on the IGH. I've also heard that most drum brakes use Cantilever brake levers - will this mean that the front brake lever will be different from the rear wheel? Does this sort of set up sound like it will work? Does anyone have any experiences/thoughts on roller/drum brakes to share?

Matariki

On my daily commuter bike I have a Sturmey Archer dynohub with drum brakes. I am using DiaCompe DC135 levers. These are standard (short?) pull levers and they work fine. Plenty of stopping power with reasonable effort and no problem modulating the brake.

fietsbob

I have wheels with drum brakes with 25 years of service.. SA

If you want an 8 speed IGH the way SA makes theres is the 1:1 is the low gear.
all the others are overdrive..

so the chain ring has to be much smaller or the range will be too high.

SA 5 speed the 1:1 is in the middle..

the actuating arm that rotates the eccentric that spreads the shoes to make the brake work, is high MA

with a cantilever brake lever I use the barrel adjuster to be just barely not dragging when I let go of the lever.

If you use a V brake lever, you can alter where in the lever stroke begins to contact the drum. to suit your hand strength...
and finger reach..

its set up choices ..

I have been using a set of Mustache bars and old style road bike brake levers .. fwiw..

now the drum brake rig is wearing my Studded tires,

Here, unlike Michigan and the Upper Mid west ice is episodic , not a seasonal expectation.

jdswitters

First of all, yes the set up you are describing will work fine and the brake levers can match, but you should probably let a LBS set you up with parts. I have a SA dyno/brake on the front and 5 speed on the rear of my daily commuter and have really enjoyed it. Avid short pull levers.

FWIW my brother and I have both dealt with Life Cycle bike shop in Eugene and they have treated us right, though we have gone through them for our Fargos and not the commuter I described above.

Good luck,

Giant Doofus

Eventually, I would like to have drum/roller brakes too. Can someone help me understand what this means about Shimano sabotaging their front roller brakes?

Giant Doofus

To answer my own question....Sheldon Brown to the rescue as usual:

"Power ModulatorAs bicycle brakes have improved in recent years, there has arisen the perception that some front brakes are "too good" as if such a thing were possible.As a result, some manufacturers have taken to adding devices that deliberately sabotage the functionality of the front brake, out of fear that an unskilled rider will take a header as a result of improper use of the front brake.
These sabotage devices are commonly called "power modulators" and sometimes are marketed as if they were a version of ABS braking as used on newer cars.
This is a very foolish approach, probably driven by the common superstition that the use of the front brake is inherently dangerous. The result is increased stopping distance. This is a "safety" feature that is actually more likely to be a detriment to safety." from: https://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_p.html#powermodulator

Dahon.Steve

I had the Nexus 7 with a roller brake and it was great. The only problem with that roller brake was that it scrubbed off speed and it had some drag. I sold the bike because of it in the end. Today, I have a Sturmey Archer 5 speed with roller brake and it much better. It has no drag at all but you do have to learn how to assemble the rear wheel or it will continue to shift.