securing SA brake arm to prevent failure ( hospitalization)

[Velodrome]

K... Bairdco recnetly had a situation with his front brake that wadded him up pretty good. The thing came loose; wrapped the brake cable around the axle and locked the front end resulting in a terminal stoppie... Next stoppey was the trauma bay and weeks off work with busted ribs and other interesting things... I have had a similar close call when using a single "adell" clamp to secure the arm on my Sturmy Archer 90mm drum on my Felt Twin build. Clamp broke; again, wraping up the cable and locking the front wheel. lucky for me I was only going bout 5-10 MPH and coming to a stop anyways. Leary of the clamp I pulled the trick of DOUBELING the adell clamp inside the same rubber guard / skuff preventor thingy. BUT! I have never had confidence in the "fix" and have been very leary of using the front brake to anything beyond half power. I've been looking for MONTHS for an adiquate solution and I think I have found an answer to the issue. !!! ~ BEHOLD ~ !!! THE 1" Rigid EMT IMC Conduit Pipe Clamp Hangers !!!

 

[Velodrome]

These are robust stamped steel of about the same guage as the sturmey archer fork clamp BUT these fit the fatty Felt forks! With a few extra and two modified fittings they have locked up the brake arm and I now have 90% confidence in the front brake whereas before, I had about 30% confidence. They come with a nice carrage bolt on which I shaved the indexing shoulders on the threaded bit for a better fit on the clamp. Next I got an apropriatly sized and length grade 8 flanged hex head and a nylock. I had to shorten the bolt to clear the spokes and got carried away. Took a little too much off; the nylock engadges the bolt but I cant use the thick grade 8 washer I bought to support / reinforce the wheel side of the clamp. Thats OK cuz I intend to take it off anyways and paint the clamp green to better match the bike and blend in. Im not convinced the washer is nessasary though. After instalation I took the bike for an AGGRESSIVE brake test. NO slipping NO shifting NO broken parts. Just blissfull normal 95% effort braking from 30 MPH time after time after time. Bout 20 stops from speed and its working GREAT.

 

[Velodrome]

The black rectangle in the above pic is a piece of FIRM rubber mat I got from Ace Hwd. They sell it in the plumbing section. It comes in a mat bout the size of a mouse pad but MUCH FIRMER. I used a sharpie to turn the brown rubber to black This isolates the clamp / takes up slack and gives the clamp somthing to bite into besides your paint! Takes up the slack nicely. I had previously drilled a hole in the SA brake arm to use the adell clamp / bolt scheme before; so, I just carried on with that. The bolt securing the clamp to the arm, I had to grind down the head about 1mm to keep it out of the fork paint. Then I just hit it with some brake cleaner and gloss black rattle can paint . Tightened everything up alinged tweeked ect and HIZZA! Brake saftey utopia! Errr... Or something like that...

 

[Velodrome]

The one inch size works well on the fat Felt forks. (FFF) If you have skinnyer they also make 3/4". Lots fatter? 1 1/2" I got so excited when I found these on eBay I bought faster than I could read and ended up with 15 of these things for about $8 Once I have more miles on it I will be offering to sell these basicly for .10 cents and shipping. I think Its a service I can do for the community here, and if it keeps somebody out of the hospital; all the better. Bairdco had dibs on the first one for free as a get well present once I have field tested a bit more. 2 miles of admitedly hard testing is still only 2 miles. Im keeping 4 of em for me though! Never know. Might come in handy. If you want to find these locally dont bother with ACE or Lowes or Home Despot. You'll need a proper plumbing supply place.

 

[Velodrome]

Heres a eBay linky for those who want bunches. http://www.ebay.com/itm/170906136643?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

[wheelbender6]

I have had two brake arm brackets break on the front of my motorbike. Fortunately, no accidents or injuries. The first time, I was using a plastic bracket. The second bracket to break was steel, but not strong enough to handle the torque of panic stops from 25mph with a 220 lb rider.
My current bracket is fabbed from steel I had laying around the garage.

 

[bairdco]

i'm reading this in the doctor's office while waiting on some follow up x-rays...

looks like it should work great, just keep an eye on the bolts themselves. that's what did me in. the bracket i made was fine, but the bolt fell out.

 

[bairdco]

the bike i'm building now has a sturmey xfdd dynodrum hub, and i'm gonna weld a bracket to the fork that the arm will slide up and into.

i've been planning to make a post like this, because a lot of people are running drum brakes, and i doubt they know how deadly they can be if the bracket fails.

 

[msrfan]

Yeah, Baird, I beefed my brake stay up also. It fits real snug in the groove of my drum brake and doubles as a mount for a fork brace for that wiggly moped front end. Good solid, progressive feel and way better handling.

 

[WightBoy]

I made a similar bracket using 1/8" thick aluminum (I don't recommend for long term) but that pipe hanger looks to be solid and a loot nicer than aluminum with hammer and plier marks. I had Norm at VMB weld a stud onto my monark forks so I should be all good now.

 

[Venice Motor Bikes]

Ya... Bairds accident has made me take a serious look at all my front brakes!
The EMT clamp looks a little 'bulky' to me, but probably a much better choice than the 'small & less noticeable' clamp that's on my Felt 'Happy Hour' bike.

Baird's a life long 'bike nut'... & if this can happen to him?, it can happen to any one of us!

 

[Velodrome]

It is large but the fork is also large. Think of it as a S/A fork clamp on steroids I think it'll blend in a lot better once painted.Wont get to do more testing till Sunday earlierist.

 

[bairdco]

i'm welding brackets from now on.

like venice said, i've been around bikes forever (except for the "bmx sucks! skateboarders rule! days of the 80's ) and have had many drum brakes.

i never really gave the mounting brackets much thought. i figured, if it breaks, my front brake wouldn't work. never thought it could almost kill me.

 

[The_Aleman]

my Sturmey X-FDD is mounted on RockShox forks. The forks have both V-brake mount and disc brake mount provisions.

How I made it work was I bent the index arm around the upper caliper post using a large crescent wrench, then used a large stainless fender washer to secure it.
I had to saw off the lower post so the adjusting barrel could clear. Here's a pic:

 

[scotto-]

On my latest build I just drilled a hole through the SA brake anchor arm and through one of the forks caliper mounting posts........then bolted it. Simple and effective.

 

[LabRat]

Yep.... two years ago this happened to me with a SA front hub on the FSC. I had just left the drive and was coasting to the stop sign. The thing broke and wadded the brake cable up broke it too. I had to order a new cable from SA in England took 4 weeks to arrive. And by the time it did I had fabricated a new one from parts. New cable is still hanging on the wall. Bike is still operational and it has not tried to kill me since.

 

[5-7HEAVEN]

These are robust stamped steel of about the same guage as the sturmey archer fork clamp BUT these fit the fatty Felt forks! With a few extra and two modified fittings they have locked up the brake arm and I now have 90% confidence in the front brake whereas before, I had about 30% confidence. They come with a nice carrage bolt on which I shaved the indexing shoulders on the threaded bit for a better fit on the clamp. Next I got an apropriatly sized and length grade 8 flanged hex head and a nylock. I had to shorten the bolt to clear the spokes and got carried away. Took a little too much off; the nylock engadges the bolt but I cant use the thick grade 8 washer I bought to support / reinforce the wheel side of the clamp. Thats OK cuz I intend to take it off anyways and paint the clamp green to better match the bike and blend in. Im not convinced the washer is nessasary though. After instalation I took the bike for an AGGRESSIVE brake test. NO slipping NO shifting NO broken parts. Just blissfull normal 95% effort braking from 30 MPH time after time after time. Bout 20 stops from speed and its working GREAT.

For 100% confidence, be redundant. Install TWO identical brackets. It might look goofy, but what's more important?

 

[Velodrome]

In the 2 months since starting this thread I put a fair amount of miles on the bike and I did a similar process to the Felt Chief build. No problems at all. I think one of these is more than enough to prevent failure. And I DID finally find some in my local ACE hardware in the electrical section. so buying singles is not a problem.

 

[BigBlue]

To add to velodrome's idea, I'd use stainless steel conduit hangers and dip it in Plasti Dip which will provide for more grip and protection. Two coats is good.

It would be interesting to see what gauge thickness the steel is compared to stainless steel. Also, make sure you have a strong enough bolt - grade 8 or higher.

Years ago, I had a drum brake that was securely attached to my fork and had the arm break from the hub. No injuries, but I don't trust any drum brake or coaster brakes from now on. Maybe a custom slot on the fork that would secure more area of the arm and be less prone to snapping.

Good Luck,

Chris
AKA: BigBlue

 

[wheelbender6]

I have popped my torque arm bracket twice on my front drum. I have doubled my bracket and no problems since. I can use a plastic torque arm bracket on my pedal bike but need a much stronger one for the motor bike.