Long Reach Brakes

timothythetim
timothythetim Posts: 53
edited April 2008 in Road general
According to Sheldon Brown, the term "Long" is a bit ambiguous, but I hope someone can help.
I've an old steel frame that I've done up into a belter of a fixed gear, but needs really long reach brakes. The ones I'm using at the moment are off another old bike. I want to spend some money on some quality brakes, but can't find any with a long enough reach.
All the "long reach" ones I find are only up to 57mm but I need something in the region of 65mm.

Anyone know if decent brakes with this reach are available anywhere?

Cheers

Comments

  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    Alhonga deep drop if you want d/p calipers:

    http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b0s100p149

    Or (assuming you've put 700s in a 27" wheel frame) I always use old Weinmann centre pulls (work fine if carefully set up and fit V-brake pads).
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • timothythetim
    timothythetim Posts: 53
    Excellent, those Alhonga ones look perfect.
    Thanks.
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    No problem!
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • GaryGkn
    GaryGkn Posts: 1,199
    http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/br ... uct=15-026

    These exist because we wanted a sidepull that would accommodate a fat tire and fender and make it easy to release the wheel. Tektro agreed to it, and these are them. The brake reach range is 55mm to 73mm, which exceeds by far anything Shimano or campy has, which makes them good for country and touring bikes. They're lighter than Ultegra sidepulls, stop just as well, and are beautifully made in all respects. They're also sold as the Tektro R556, the difference being that ours (we call 'em Silver) have KoolStop dual-compound brake pads, and a different box. This is the brake we put on almost every A. Homer Hilsen. Also popular for 700c-to-650B conversions.

    $82
  • yakk
    yakk Posts: 589
    Dia Compte do some at a very reasonable cost, about £10 each. Ison Distribution are the distributers. They go to about 73mm drop, are duel pivot and are plenty powerful.
    Yak
  • NorwegianBlue
    NorwegianBlue Posts: 484
    Be careful with long reach dual pivots. I've used some in the past that were very poor. They were unbranded, but could have been Alongha/Tektro/Dia Compe since those brands can all be found unbranded oten as OEM.

    At first I thought it might be the OE blocks so I swapped them, there was a minor improvement but they were still scary. Then I did some measurements and the leverage ratio on them was way out. The drop was about 68mm, but the activating arms (not sure of the correct term) were about the same length as a set of 49mm drop Sora's. I'm not a mechanical engineer, but I think that would mean I was losing about 40% of the force at the rim over a the Soras.

    In the end I swapped back to the centre pull Weinnmans I'd taken off and they were much better when fitted with some quality blocks. As Dave J says as long as they are set up right they do a very good job. Make sure you use the right staddle wire.


    GJ
    "Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker
  • timothythetim
    timothythetim Posts: 53
    Decided to get the Tektro R556 from JensonUSA.
    Cost 90 dollars in total, inlcuding rather prompt postage to the UK
    Just had my first shot of them 5 mins ago, and they are incredible compared to what I was using.
    Highly recommened. I did have to do a bit of drilling to cope with the recessed bolt, but this was absolutely no bother (and I am rubbish when it comes to drilling...).

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