Brakes?

Hello ,I'm Working on my own project and I'm concerned about brakes, All things I've looked up and read mentions nothing of brake upgrdes or existing systems. So, does any one have any input?My existing dual arm central pivoted hand brakes are not going to be sufficient I dont think please help if you can.Thank You too all ...

If you get to a bike shop or online catelog you may find some of those red rubber brake pads for your center pulls. There are a few different grades of those pads where some are softer and some harder to give different grip to the brakes. With those installed and adjusted spot on....and your cables adjusted
properly it may be all you'll need.

Certainly none of us want to over drive our braking capacity. In Ohio 20 mph is the legal limit we can travel.

Thanks EDJ that was helpful .before this i only knew about pedaling bikes and well i Thank you.

Hello Mongoose, Welcome to the forum

my pedal-only bike has linear-pull brakes and they're the best I've ever used. Can stop on a dime with that thing. My MB has cantilever brakes currently and they're horrible. Though at least I adjusted them properly. When I test rode the bike (bought it used with the motor already on it) I almost crashed because they hardly did anything. Never have used disc brakes though, so I can't comment on what would really be the best...but yes, brakes are important

Yeah, those linear pulls are something else and probably the latest generation of
brake design. My first ten speed had those cheap side pulls where the cable came down to one side of the brake mechanism. Later I got a better bike with the center pulls where the cable came down over the top and lifted up on the cable which ran from side to side. My first mountain bike had the "cantilevered" brakes where the levers pivoted off mounts welded on the fork tubes.

Perhaps you would want to go around bicycle shops and see if you could buy
a scrap bike or trade in to build up. If your worried about braking find one with the frame set up for the cantilevered brakes. You could probably get it for cheap.

I was pretty lucky, having to "relearn" about bikes starting in 2005, that some neighbors bought 3 identical Sun Retro7's, and they had a barnful of bikes kept from their youthful days. 2 of them now race dragsters, it was a quick source of tips/tricks to get these bikes super sturdy.

I've gotten into the habit of making my rear brakes "soft", for slowing down, and front "hard", for actual stopping. Out here in the country stop signs are kind of a technicality anyway, but a rider quickly can get in the habit of using the right hand for MOST actions, keeping the left available for turn signals.

Since 2 out of 3 installs are on brand spanking shiny new bikes, I can wear down and seat the pads at the same time as breaking in the engine.

And I actually prefer the side pulls on the 2 Sun models I buy, the cantilevers sometimes get in the way of a GEBE install (but maybe thats just me)

Welcome! I have only seen this once before but on some bikes the hole to mount the fender, & the brakes is the same. The hole on the bottom of the frame near the peddles is the same distance from the wheel the top mounting hole is. A guy put an extra set of side pull brakes on the frame below the first set. He ran the brake cable up the bottom frame tube to a back brake lever he said was from an old Colombia three wheeler. Both cables ran into it. He weighed over three hundred lbs and told me he needed the extra brakes to stop him. Later Tramp

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