BMX sidepull brakes

Northwind
Northwind Posts: 14,675
edited March 2011 in MTB workshop & tech
Not a mtb question, hope it's OK to put it in here as it's all fat tyres ;)

So I got me this BMX, a Haro Nyquist R2, and now after rebuilding it from scratch pretty much everything on it works. But the front brake still sucks beyond belief... It came with Tektro levers and brakes, with a side pull single bolt front caliper. The rims are Alex DM25. And almost no power at all, not possible to stoppie without hanging my entire body weight over the front frinstance. Cleaned pivots, replaced front cable, etc etc and added new Koolstop pads which means it'll actually stop, eventually.

So... Is it just that BMX brakes suck and I should get used to it? The lever action feels horrible, can I fit a standard v-brake lever and see if that helps or are the ratios different?

Cheers!
Uncompromising extremist

Comments

  • kevolution
    kevolution Posts: 70
    You can't fit a V brake lever to the side pull (direct pull) brake you have on that bike, but you can source a Dia Compe MX caliper that I used to use for Old Skool "Freestyle" BMX (a mix of street and flatland disciplines where stoppies were cool) back in the day.
    These puppies are powerful and they got street cred wiv da old skool luvvers.
    And there seem to be ots of them out there at the moment.
  • Sudden Death
    Sudden Death Posts: 41
    Wotcha,

    Have a look for a U-brake. It should fit on the standard mounts. They're much more powerful.
    You can also buy brake braces that stop a little of the flex that goes through the calipers, they're sort of f'ugly and not as good as a decent U-brake ;-)

    Have a look here: http://www.alansbmx.com/product_info.ph ... ts_id=5169
    It's a little expensive, but very effective :wink:
    Anders
    SWorks SL4 Tarmac
    2003 Specialized P3

    President of the Sally Hibberd Appreciation Society
    Secretary for Team Rawhide
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    The brake's on a single mount so that won't fit... Though I could get a booster o'course.

    Cheers guys, I'll check out the Dia Compe. Not that bothered about street cred, I'll still be an old man on a child's toy bicycle :lol: But I got it as a skills aid for mtb more than anything else so it'll be flatland stuff it's for with just occasional jumping.
    Uncompromising extremist
  • joshtp
    joshtp Posts: 3,966
    try using a pad designed for trials... if you choose the right one (something designed for use on a smooth rim) you could get a much more powerful brake.... and it goes without saying to make sure the rim is properly clean and your cables are smooth and fresh...
    I like bikes and stuff
  • *AJ*
    *AJ* Posts: 1,080
    you can get a V brake mount that bolts onto the caliper hole at the top of the forks, and clamps around the fork legs. This allows you to use a normal V brake on a fork without mounts.
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    *AJ* wrote:
    you can get a V brake mount that bolts onto the caliper hole at the top of the forks, and clamps around the fork legs. This allows you to use a normal V brake on a fork without mounts.

    Don't the booster plates normally leave the mounts above the rim? So suitable for U's but not Vs?
    Uncompromising extremist
  • *AJ*
    *AJ* Posts: 1,080
    Northwind wrote:
    *AJ* wrote:
    you can get a V brake mount that bolts onto the caliper hole at the top of the forks, and clamps around the fork legs. This allows you to use a normal V brake on a fork without mounts.

    Don't the booster plates normally leave the mounts above the rim? So suitable for U's but not Vs?

    You can get V brake ones also, a friend of mine has one, made my oddyssey.

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