Hydraulic brakes on drop bars!

[Steve Austin]

I hear you all say, 'it can't be done'. well i've just seen it!! it looks scruffy, and its home made, but its the only hydraulic brakes i've seen that could work, using trigger shifters

more here

 

[cheadle hulme]

Bodge tastic!! I wish someone would invent an proper STI unit with a reservoir built in though. I'd love hydros on my road bike.

 

[GrasB]

Setup hydraulics done on these bars:

Picture (c) HubJub

But they're not exactly drop bars, but are road bars, I didn't like the modulation that the hydraulics gave me so went back to cable operated discs.

 

[april74]

Samuel Johnson's quote on women preachers springs to mind.


Normal road brakes are good enough for Tour de Fance riders and for me.

 

[ASC1951]

I'd love hydros on my road bike.

Why? Extra cost, extra weight, non-progressive braking....

 

[Steve Austin]

If you want brakes that rarely need adjusting, do not get affected by weather and always stop on a sixpence, then hydraulic discs are the answer.

in the near future we will be running hydraulic discs on road bikes.

just think, in my lifetime, i have seen advances in technology that cyclists 20 years older than me would have dismissed. disc braking is the future*


* although i think some kind of magnetic resistance hub braking will come along that will then be the future

 

[andrew_s]

Hope did at one time make a hydraulic adapter for drop bars. Cable from brake lever to adapter, hydraulic from adapter to brake, fitting below the stem.
Someone in Switzerland produces their own version, at a mere CHF675 (£391).

 

[HJ]

Samuel Johnson's quote on women preachers springs to mind.
Normal road brakes are good enough for Tour de Fance riders and for me.

It is only a matter of time before the Pro Tour riders start using them and suddenly all the roadie snobs will be changing their tune...

Why? Extra cost, extra weight, non-progressive braking....

You've not use disk brakes then...

 

[Tynan]

my previous hybrid had discs, all they can do is lock the wheel surely?

that's not at all hard on my road bike with regular brakes, granted there's a lag in the wet

 

[gavintc]

I still dont see the point. My rim brakes are perfectly adequate, lighteight and do the job.

 

[GrasB]

Things I like about my cable pull discs:
1) I don't get nervous about hard braking lock-ups when my rim has taken a knock on a ride. My Marin is really hard on its rims & over 100 miles is guaranteed to knock at least on of them out of true enough to be felt while braking.
2) no hesitation, on the button every time I get the power I ask for from the leaver, no delay reaction as the water/mud/road crud is skimmed off the rim.
3) The front doesn't lock as easily, it's to do with all the moments of torque, but basically your physical weight is helping to stop locking the wheel.

 

[gbs]

Q1: given a) dry road and wet road how do braking distances compare (for a given weight of rider) for rim and disc brakes?
Q2: if disc brakes are superior what is holding back widespread adaptation?
Q£: are these relevant questions?

 

[ASC1951]

If you want brakes that rarely need adjusting, do not get affected by weather and always stop on a sixpence, then hydraulic discs are the answer.

I have them - Campag dual pivots. I don't need to stop on a sixpence and mine need adjusting a lot less than any hydraulic disks I have come across. Stopping on a sixpence also allows the peloton to go over your head, which is another reason why Tour riders don't use them.

in the near future we will be running hydraulic discs on road bikes.

Not with mountings like that, we won't. That set-up was for a cyclo-crosser. Roadies need to be able to apply gentle braking while cornering at speed - unlike MTBers, who in the immortal words of Lyndon Johnson, often can't fart and chew gum at the same time.

 

[Steve Austin]

come back in 20 years time ACS. you will be using discs on your road bike

 

[Cubist]

my previous hybrid had discs, all they can do is lock the wheel surely?

that's not at all hard on my road bike with regular brakes, granted there's a lag in the wet

Err, if you learn to use them with a bit of subtlety then no, they can do far more than that (or less!)

unlike MTBers, who in the immortal words of Lyndon Johnson, often can't fart and chew gum at the same time

Yeah, right. It appears from this thread that roadies can't use brakes properly........... still less see the benefits of a better system!