one armed rider wants hydro brakes

joebreez · Jan 31, 2008

I have a friend who has been riding for years with only one arm and has managed to do all shifting and braking on the right side.He is currently using V-brakes with a cable splitter, one cable going to front other to back.
He would like to move up to Hydro disc's but doesn't know how to split pressure and brake balance between front and rear.
Splitting the fluid is the easy part but is there a danger of not having enough fluid to activate both calipers fully?
Ideally one master on the handlebars to reduce clutter.
Is there an easy way to set up correct proportioning of front to rear braking?
Has anyone ever done this before?

Eric S

1LeSvT · Jan 31, 2008

Not sure, but maybe mixing master cylinder and calipers might work.
Example: use a mater cylinder from a large 4/6 pot DH/AM brakes and some 2 pot XC type calipers. Use pad material, rotor size/type and pad too rotor distance for the proportioning of front & rear power.

Schmucker · Jan 31, 2008

There was a big thread on a one handed person needing braking options. He might have to do a mullet or mechanicals. Cars do it by having a master cylinder and a proportioning valve. Usually those are integrated into the distribution block, but perhaps an automotive one for older vehicle retrofits would be sufficient. The next problem is moving enough fluid with one master cylinder to actuate both brakes. Motorcycle lever? Or maybe just run both levers on the same side with one stepped from the other so when he grabs for the levers, gets the front first and the rear second.

AggieXCRacer · Jan 31, 2008

This might not be possible or effective for your friend, but I have a friend who has basically no dexterity in his left hand so he runs two brake levers on the right side, about 20-30 degrees separation between the lever angles. He is able to control the rear brake with his index finger and the front brake with his middle finger. With good brakes, especially hydraulic discs, he should have no problem getting plenty of power with a single finger on each lever. This might be too cluttered if there are two shifter over there as well, but it might be worth a shot. I hope that helps, and good luck finding a solution!

NZSpokes · Jan 31, 2008

I had a customer that had a hydro lever at each end on the grip so 2 fingers did the front brake and 2 fingers did the rear. I couldnt deal with it but he could fine( guess Im just stupid). A spliter box would be easy to make and you would just need two different size holes to adjust pressure.

patineto · Jan 31, 2008

I'm sure you can find some ideas here.

My not so Normal IBIS Tandem

nnn · Jan 31, 2008

I'm thinking a servo lever like shimano's may help get more leverage with less effort while maintaining control at light braking. I'm not sure if the servo increases effective master cylinder moveout though.

The problem you have is that you're effectively halving the master input by controlling two slave callipers, so you need either a larger master cylinder or a longer travel lever.

perttime · Jan 31, 2008

We've got "man w/ one hand" and his setup:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=333140

Clearly, it takes some practice to learn using two levers with one hand but being able to use the brakes individually is the better way.

Wombat · Jan 31, 2008

Grimeca's 6 piston system 18 does (or at least did) link the front and rear brakes. I don't know if they still make them, and the website that I had:http://www.grimeca.it/eng/freni/idraulici_s_18ibs.htm# no longer works.

The front lever made only 4 pistons of the front caliper move, while the rear lever makes all 6 pistons on the rear caliper move as well as the 2 on the front that the front lever didn't move.

Not exactly what you are looking for, but it might give you some options if you can find one.

Tim

one armed rider wants hydro brakes

joebreez

1LeSvT

Schmucker

AggieXCRacer

NZSpokes

patineto

nnn

perttime

Wombat

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