rogeratunicycledotcom said:Why put HS33's on a 36" wheel?
This is a question close to my heart, so I'm glad you asked it! 🙂
[quote="rogeratunicycledotcom"]Big wheel[s] flex, especially should you take them off-road, however
wide your hub is and tight your spokes are.[/quote]
After a year's worth of experimentation about 3 years ago, I was able
to make the flex of the 36" size insignificant from the viewpoint of
braking. I've found this personally true riding, and haven't had a
single complaint about it from a customer. In other words, I can
adjust the brake for essentially normal operation, and not have brake
rub on ascents or during idling.
rogeratunicycledotcom said:Magura brakes do not have the ability to absorb movement in a rim.
Actually they do. Measuring last night I found about 8mm of total
lateral movement possible. I doubt that a V-brake will track more than
that, although I have not yet had the chance to investigate this.
However, 8mm of lateral movement is an indication of a problem with the
wheel, not a desirable normal operating condition. I must add, though,
that I don't yet have a way to measure flex during riding, and I
haven't heard of a method being employed (at least at this point) by
anyone else.
When Maguras track the rim, they do it perpendicular to the rim
surface, which is ideal. When V-brakes track the rim, they change
angle with respect to the rim surface.
In addition, Maguras track with equal pressure on both sides of the
rim, since the force is transmitted hydraulically. With V-brakes, the
pressure changes asymmetrically, since each side of the brake's spring
tension is adjusted independently.
rogeratunicycledotcom said:They[V-brakes] also have the option for adapting into drag brakes which
is a great way to ride hills on a big wheel.
This is a weakness of the current Magura technology. However, some
riders have had good success with manipulating the manual adjustment on
the brake lever to achieve a drag action. I have been able to do this,
but found (on the 2004 and earlier models) that it was a little
awkward.
In contrast, setting up a drag brake on a unicycle is not as trivial as
one might think. The drag-specific components, pulled from the bike
world, are not designed for braking, and achieving a smooth action
cable-wise can be quite a challenge (as in hours and hours of cutting,
recutting, extra cable, many brake adjustments, and the like). This is
especially true for the portion of the cable that enters the noodle
area. Often this leads to a large lateral footprint for the brake,
which may interfere with mounting and dismounting.
'Here' (
http://tinyurl.com/mhqlx) is a gallery of photos of a 29er with
a non-drag V-brake. It seems like a trivial, clean setup. But adding
or switching to a drag option would not be as straightforward, because
the release action is not as clean as with a normal brake.
rogeratunicycledotcom said:The other thing that should be noted is that V-brakes are not a problem
for catching your legs on big wheels.
The Magura brake-leg interface is the smoothest, cleanest available.
There are only rounded edges, smooth surfaces, and smooth cable
interfaces in the area of the leg. In contrast, V-brakes contain lots
of leg-grabbers.
Roger may have meant that, on big wheels, the brakes are out of the way
so that leg-grabbing is not possible. This may be true on certain
frames if one stays away from mounting, SIF, and hopping, but in
general this is not true.
Finally, although I have not had the chance to spend a lot of time and
money on this, finding a set of quality V-brakes that will match the
36" frame/tire dimensions is nearly impossible. The only success I
have had so far was with the Odyssey 1999, which is a cheap brake,
difficult to adjust, and suitable only for certain frames. Maguras are
a breeze to adjust with a little practice. V-brakes on the 36" size
also tend to have almost zero clearance above the tire.
Finding a good V-brake for a 36" is an area I need to investigate, and
would be glad to hear suggestions. However, for everything except the
drag brake option, the Maguras outshine V-brakes. Having a drag brake
option for Maguras would be icing on the cake.
--
U-Turn
Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (
http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
'29er Tire Study' (
http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)
'New York Unicycle Club' (
http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
------------------------------------------------------------------------
U-Turn's Profile:
http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/691View this thread:
http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/49590