Brakes and Handle Bar for Coker

For a Coker I would avoid Magura brakes, the best brakes are the old
style (and often cheap) BMX centre fitted side pull brakes.
They are easy to fit - drill a hole through the crown.
They deal with flex in the rim (even with wide hubs and aero rim expect
more than on a normal wheel).
They are cheap
The braking is consitant.
Can be activeated by a gear lever so allowing you to set them and leave
them on as you go down a hill.

My bit on brakes. :-)

Roger

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rogeratunicycledotcom said:

*For a Coker I would avoid Magura brakes, the best brakes are the old
style (and often cheap) BMX centre fitted side pull brakes.
*

This is the first time I've heard anyone suggest anything but Maggies
for any reason but price. How many other riders feel the same way? I
don't have any experience with brakes and I have very limited experience
with Cokers. But, I'm planning on getting a Coker soon and would like
to get some brakes for it.

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daino149 said:

*This is the first time I've heard anyone suggest anything but Maggies
for any reason but price. How many other riders feel the same way? I
don't have any experience with brakes and I have very limited
experience with Cokers. But, I'm planning on getting a Coker soon and
would like to get some brakes for it. *

Better question.

Ask for people who have actually tried Maguras on a Coker and made them
work successfully.

Then try asking those who have got the others working in an affective
and appropriate manor for a Coker.

Roger

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Paul and I both have bmx style side pull brakes on our cokers. They
were fitted by our LBS as Richard had all the tools and a jig to hold
the frame steady for drilling through it. The parts I supplied and the
cost was tiny, most of the stuff I got second hand anyway.

We both have a short bar end mounted under the saddle with a bar end
gear shifter in the end (in friction shift mode, NOT indexed). This
allows one to "set" the brake on at the top of a decent and leave it
there with out holding the lever untill one "unsets" it at a later
point, normally the botton of the decent. The art is learning how much
brake to apply, too much and you stop, not enough and it doesn't do
anything. Properly applied the brake helps ones knees a lot as you
don't have to drive AND slow the wheel at the same time.

Sarah

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and the lever.

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rogeratunicycledotcom said:

*Ask for people who have actually tried Maguras on a Coker and made
them work successfully. Then try asking those who have got the others
working in an affective and appropriate manor (sic) for a Coker.*

I have a magura setup on my 36-er (wide hub, U-Turn wheel), and it works
ok. I'd say it is definitely better for short steep hills than it is
for long steep hills. Because it isn't a drag-brake type of setup, it
requires consistant pressure on the handle when braking. The biggest
problem I've had is bumping the forearm of my braking hand with my knee
while pedaling, which can cause me to loosen my pressure on the handle,
or worse increase it which leads to forward UPD. The longer the
descent, the more opportunity thee is for that to happen.

It definitely requires a more precise "touch" than the same magura setup
on a 24" muni, but it's workable. I've never ridden a coker setup with
a standard cable brake or drag-brake setup, so I'm afraid I can't do a
direct comparison. All I can do is confirm that the magura setup can
work just fine on a 36-er with a stiff wheel build if you're willing to
invest some time on getting the "touch" right.

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rogeratunicycledotcom said:

*

Then try asking those who have got the others working in an affective
and appropriate manor for a Coker.

Roger *

I have no problems with a side pull brake on a Coker, it even works - to
an adequate extent - on the standard rim. Since moving to the Airfoil
rim I get the required smooth drag effect.

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daino149 said:

*This is the first time I've heard anyone suggest anything but Maggies
for any reason but price. How many other riders feel the same way? I
don't have any experience with brakes and I have very limited
experience with Cokers. But, I'm planning on getting a Coker soon and
would like to get some brakes for it. *

The Magura brakes work best if you have a good stiff frame and a strong
well built wheel with the Airfoil rim and an extra wide hub. For that
kind of combination the Maguras work really well. For lesser setups the
standard cable brake is probably a better choice for the reasons that
Roger mentions.

It's also a matter of personal preference. I really like the feel of
the Magura's. Other people like the cable brake. There are pluses and
minuses for each.

The downside to the Magura's is that you can't really turn them into a
drag brake. I suspect someone with a machine shop could design a
replacement brake lever for the Magura that would lock in place and
allow you to set it as a drag brake. But I'm not aware of anyone who
has done that yet.

The drag brake issue hasn't been a problem for me. I have used the
Magura on a long long downhill (coming down from Marys Peak near
Corvallis OR) and I had no problem keeping my fingers on the brake lever
and maintaining a constant drag pressure. But that would depend on how
and where you have the brake lever mounted. I have my brake lever
mounted under the seat just like most people have the brake mounted for
a muni. It's easy to grab there and easy to control with the fingers.
The important bit is to find a brake lever position that works for you
and where you can hold the brake for a long time at an even and constant
pressure.

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rogeratunicycledotcom said:

*Better question.

Ask for people who have actually tried Maguras on a Coker and made
them work successfully.

Then try asking those who have got the others working in an affective
and appropriate manor for a Coker.

Roger

"For a Coker I would avoid Magura brakes, the best brakes are the old
style (and often cheap) BMX centre fitted side pull brakes. "
*

Again with the gospel...

Maguras work fine on my 36". They CAN be used as a drag brake on long
downhills, just dial in the wear pad knob until the pads hit all the
time. Not useful for short hills, but definitely nice on a big descent
when you actually need a drag brake.

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Roger said:

For a Coker I would avoid Magura brakes, the best brakes are the old
style (and often cheap) BMX centre fitted side pull brakes.
They are easy to fit - drill a hole through the crown.
They deal with flex in the rim (even with wide hubs and aero rim expect
more than on a normal wheel).
They are cheap
The braking is consitant.
Can be activeated by a gear lever so allowing you to set them and leave
them on as you go down a hill.

My bit on brakes. :-)

Roger

so why have you got a magura roger? :-s

Des

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Yes I have magura's on my Coker. it is a CrMO frame by Joe Rowing. It
has a wide Coker hub and an aero rim. The brake is fitted on the handle
bars so it easy to operate. So you would think it an ideal set-up.
I have tried it and the touching of the rim while riding I find very
disconcerting, hence my comments from my experience. It seams to work
ok on-road unless you really push it, but as soon as you start using it
off-road it just does not work for me.

Roger

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So what would the recommendations be for a 29er?
(off and on-road)

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KH 29 with Magura's it is really impressive.

Roger

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mikepenton said:

*So what would the recommendations be for a 29er?
(off and on-road) *

Another alternative:
http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Endurance_Racing_29er

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roger.

i remember you saying something like that b4.
just out of curiousity then why dont you take it off and replace with
the type of brake you recomended?

BTW. i use the old type of bmx brake and it works fine, got it hooked up
to a gear lever so i can leave drag on for long decents.

Des

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