IDK about hydro V brakes, but you can do a fast hard stop with just a front brake. In fact with maximal braking, the front brake is doing all the work. So no. You won't be throwing yourself across the bars due to having a front disc.

 

Thanks, LR. If I apply the front brake harder than the back brake, rear end flies up. From other threads, advantage of discs is wet stopping power, not the abrupt stopping I was thinking. So have decided to stick with v-brakes front and back, just to keep it simple.

 

...If I apply the front brake harder than the back brake, rear end flies up. ...

No. The rear end flies up if you apply the front brake too hard irrespective of what you do with the rear brake.

 

Maybe practice to use the brakes? and it doesn't matter which brake creates deceleration. The front just can provide more braking because the front tire gets loaded due to weight shifting.

The rear brake power will be limited due to tire traction. Even a bad cable brake can make the rea lock in most conditions.

 

Do any retro riders out there have any experience with the new hydraulic v-brakes?

Who makes these new hydraulic v-brakes? Link?

 

I have never seen or heard of hydraulic v-brakes. The "v" being two long arms that create a significant amount of leverage for the cable to actuate.

I did have and use Magura HS33s back in the day, hydraulic rim brakes. For what they were and the time period, they were decent. One semi-nice thing is that the pads would "float" back and forth a bit if you have a warped rim, not a huge amount though, you had to be pretty good about keeping it true. Less of an issue with modern stiff wheels, but the stiffest are the carbon ones and they don't tend to have rim brake tracks. They were so powerful (hydraulic mechanical advantage) that they would bow out the fork lowers or seatstays, so the use of a brake-booster was pretty much necessary. That created an additional hurdle to disconnecting them. I sawed off part of the booster so it would come off easy in one direction, but be rigid and opposing braking forces in the other. The caliper setup was pretty finicky though and kind of a pain in the rear, maybe not quite the right words, but the adjustment mechanism, a ring that kind of locked in place around the caliper, was wonky as heck, just not ergonomic or easy to work with. Still, when we didn't have discs, this is what I ran, then eventually I got a 99 boxxer, ran them for a little while on that too, then transitioned to Hope DH4s, which worked fairly well, mainly limited by small rotor sizes of the day. The HS33s had a micro-leak at one point too, again ergonomics of setting up new lines, bleeding and tightening was a bit challenging, dependent on torque and not feel, but then your torquing device had to be properly calibrated, etc.

 

My main bike had an AVID BB-7 mechanical disc brake up front and an AVID SD-7 mechanical V-brake in the rear for many years and I was never thrown over the bars because of the brake set up, even with a 135mm stem.

 

Regardless of type of brake, when braking hard you have to brace yourself and shift weight back.

People that fly over the handlebar... usually user error.

Motorbikes have had significantly different front and rear brakes for ever and riders don't blame their accidents on the brake setup.

 

Regardless of type of brake, when braking hard you have to brace yourself and shift weight back.

People that fly over the handlebar... usually user error.

Motorbikes have had significantly different front and rear brakes for ever and riders don't blame their accidents on the brake setup.

Yeah, the HS series were super popular with trials riders because they were more powerful (when set up properly) than anything else out there, even lots of disc brakes. The "caliper" being at the rim is like running a giant disc rotor and the only problem ended up being the stiffness of the braking track and frame/fork. Those were addressed with beefy brake boosters and stout rims, so they became a favorite for those trials-ers. Throw a rim a little out of true and they rub, still going through brake pads and more complexity made them inferior to disc brakes...but if you are just looking at power, well, they would do it.

Proper technique is critical for any brake system.

 

I still have a set of the HS33s on a beater bike. They must be over 25 years old and I don't think I've bled them in 20 years. I was out behind the garage yesterday, where the beat bike has been sitting untouched for the last couple of years, currently covered halfway by snow, and gave the levers a squeeze. Bam, solid thunk against the rims. Such a reliable brake.

 

Head so deep in the dirt that I didn't know hydraulic v-brakes had been around a long time. However, still sticking with mechanical rim brakes - found a killer set of Mavic Crossmax's that will go well with Maxxis 2.4's, braking surfaces are in perfect condition. Thanks for all the info!

 

So were you referring to Magura HS33 hydraulic brakes earlier?

 

Yep. I remember the Magura hydraulic rim brakes. Very short go between between Vee brakes and disc brakes. I dont think anyone I knew had em.

 

I used a BB7 front and XT V rear for a long time on my shed/trainer/commuter bike, I had no issues with balancing my braking. I wore out several rims, and then went to a disc wheel and BB7 rear as well. My favorite pad for the bb7 is the semi metallic from discobrakes.

 

WOW thank you for that, it was keeping me up last night... incredible.

 

I love retro components but thise V brakes look like a poor idea.

Magura rim brakes though, I sport them on all my old brake-boss equipped bikes.

 

No experience with any hydraulic rimbrake. But to me it looks the Magura hydraulic rim brakes are designed from the ground up to be hydraulic rim brakes. The above V-brakes are some modified V-brakes. I suspect the Magura will work a bit better in regards to both pistons moving at the same rate.

I'm honestly surprised they still exist. They solve the problem of cable stretch, but not the large clearance requirement due to the somewhat untrue rim. So the mechanical advantage may not be as large as you can have with a disc brake where rotor true-ness is much better and allows a tiny gap between rotor. i assume someone with a valuable rim brake-frame would be buying these. but whoever wanted one already has one.

In the mid-1990s I had heard of the Maguras and for a second looked into getting them. but besides cost, I was afraid of the hassle of servicing the (then to me) unknown technology for not much gain.

 

In the mid-1990s I had heard of the Maguras and for a second looked into getting them. but besides cost, I was afraid of the hassle of servicing the (then to me) unknown technology for not much gain.

Speaking on this point. I installed these HS22s on my bike in the late 90's. Admittedly after around 2002 the bike hasn't seen much use. But after all these years I've never once serviced the brakes and they still work as good as new. [edit to add] Except new brake pads. Those have been changed several times

 

What a lovely bicycle that is !!

attaching some pictures of my brakes, my brake booster on one bike (i like stiff brakes),

and the front raceline calipers of that bike.

the lever made by trialtech on another bike,

raceline calipers on that, a competition trials bike.. front and rear hs33. Dust care of the baby chicks in the basement

 

On an older early/mid 90’s bike which has the hs 33, I think, the ones where the levers have the red pad adjusters and I think the brakes are the only thing that never gave me any troubles.

 

On an older early/mid 90's bike which has the hs 33, I think, the ones where the levers have the red pad adjusters and I think the brakes are the only thing that never gave me any troubles.

tpa adjuster... and if you know what is up, you never use it!!!

 

Very cool thread as it brought back some memories of the first Hydraulic brakes for me.


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Back in the day before disc tabs, I had Magura Tomacs with trials master cylinders installed and Altek lever blades. Super powerful. My only rim brake bike I own now has Avid Black Ops V's, Altek levers on ceramic rims. These brake stronger than cable discs and light XC hydro discs like Martas. Even in the wet.