Am I a bad bad person?

[a.twiddler]

I find v brakes a wonder, even tho i was a bit slow to really appreciate them. Can be fitted from scratch pretty easily even by the likes of me, cheap, simple quality - all of shimanos various bits whatever the branding are good quality, spares of everything including generic easily available, have often seen in foreign supermarkets. Billions must have been made. Even if global production stopped this teatime there would be no problem getting bits for decades.

Even the cheapest no name V brakes seem to work well. Probably the biggest unrecognised improvement in bike brakes of the last few decades. The drawback being, that as fitted usually to MTBs the extra power helps to grind the environment into the rims, which doesn't help with rim longevity. Hence the move to discs on anything but a basic model nowadays. On a general purpose hybrid or round town type MTB, not such a problem, and a good brake.

 

[swee'pea99]

I have nothing against Di2 and if you want one why not

Why not? Ask the bloke I saw at the start of the etape in (literally) tears of anguish, having brought his bike all the way from Canada only to have the gears have a hissy fit which no-one at the helpful mech tents could figure out...

 

[weareHKR]

Even the cheapest no name V brakes seem to work well. Probably the biggest unrecognised improvement in bike brakes of the last few decades. The drawback being, that as fitted usually to MTBs the extra power helps to grind the environment into the rims, which doesn't help with rim longevity. Hence the move to discs on anything but a basic model nowadays. On a general purpose hybrid or round town type MTB, not such a problem, and a good brake.

Yeah, good info ... 👍

 

[Drago]

Ever thought that you lot are just bunch of moaning old men stuck in the past?

Ah, but we're moaning old men who get where we are going, even when the shops are shut, pandemic supplies are tight, batteries are flat, and electronics aren't behaving.

 

[Teamfixed]

Some of my bikes have a clicky thing that means you can stop pedalling down hill.
Can't see THAT catching on???

 

[TheDoctor]

The next bike I build up will probably have downtube levers. I've given up on more than 9 gears too.

 

[Venod]

The next bike I build up will probably have downtube levers.

Now that is one thing I don't miss, brifters are one of the better cycling improvements.

 

[Teamfixed]

These are indexed!!! Whatever next?

 

[Drago]

I think what some folk are trying to say is refinement and improvement is good, complication in the pursuit of those ends is not.

 

[Juan Kog]

These are indexed!!! Whatever next? View attachment 586511

You have a bike fitted with one if those new fangled derailing devices .

 

[ColinJ]

Must admit, at some point, I would like to try disc brakes, but disc brakes on a bicycle.... why?
Fair enough the old canties can be a tad hit & miss but V brakes are very capable.... even when wet!

Well...

The drawback being, that as fitted usually to MTBs the extra power helps to grind the environment into the rims, which doesn't help with rim longevity.

Indeed!

Do you do many long, wet, muddy rides on those wheels? I found on some of the killers round here that I could wear brake blocks out in a few such rides and the worn blocks had slithers of alloy in them so the rims were also taking a battering. I wore one pair of blocks through mid-descent, but it was too dangerous to stop braking. By the time I got to the bottom, my wheel rim had been destroyed!

 

[Drago]

But then im heavier than just about anyone else hereabouts and ive never work out a rim. Too many people dont know how to ride and comfort brake everywhere, same as they do in the car.

 

[ColinJ]

Too many people dont know how to ride and comfort brake everywhere, same as they do in the car.

Long, steep offroad descent, ruts, boulders, gravel, bends, huge near-vertical drop off to one side into a river... I chose to comfort brake and LIVE!

 

[Venod]

Long, steep offroad descent, ruts, boulders, gravel, bends, huge near-vertical drop off to one side into a river... I chose to comfort brake and LIVE!

Giant had a closed hydraulic system at one time, if you was on the brakes for a long descent in warm weather the would stay on giving you an automatic comfort brake, the first time it happened I was struggling to pedal on a steep descent.

 

[ColinJ]

Giant had a closed hydraulic system at one time, if you was on the brakes for a long descent in warm weather the would stay on giving you an automatic comfort brake, the first time it happened I was struggling to pedal on a steep descent.

The Hope C2s on my MTB did that. There were rotary thumb dials that could be used to compensate but that could lead to a potentially lethal mistake...

Scary descent #1, heavy 'comfort' braking, brake fluid heating up, use thumb dials to back off the brakes, more braking, more heating, more backing off...

Reach valley floor, steep climb to next summit. Fluid cools on climb. THIS IS WHERE I FORGOT TO COMPENSATE IN THE OTHER DIRECTION...

Scary descent #2, dive down precipitous slope, brake-brake-brake, I said BRAKE-BRAKE-BRAKE, WTF - BRAKE-BRAKE-BRAKE!!!!!

At the last possible moment I realised why my brakes were not working and span the adjustment dials to move the pads back into their working positions...