Duncan,
“Teachndad, what’s the big advantage with Magura brakes? The only reason I think I want brakes is for long, steep descents.”
Originally, when I wanted to buy the 29er, I wanted to use it off road for cross country riding - fire roads and the like. I wanted some brakes for the descents, which could be steep. So, in my ignorance, I assumed that the braking would be similar to the Maguras on my Muni. I’m not recommmending them for the 29er, I just mentioned it as a reference for stopping power. The current set up on the 29er probably reduced leg braking by 25 percent. It’s noticeble, but you still have to pedal with back pressure.
You only need a drill press to drill into the frame and then the brake mounting hardware.
I still want to try different pads, but I am afraid, that might not happen for a while. So, I can’t give you any feedback on that. Ask Dave what he thinks.
“Also, why did you originally leave that long coil of brake cable like that?”
I left it long like that only because, I never got around to it. At the time I took the picture, I was busy and figured I would get to it someday. Sadly, it hangs in the garage most of the time. I probably have only ridden it 6 - 8 times. One of which was off road.
“is cutting the brake cable to the right length going to be a problem?”
I actually didn’t cut the cable, I had an old pile of junk MTB frame lying around and took the cable housings off that. I found a piece that was just long enough.
“How is this so? You didn’t mount the brake handle to that bar where you mounted the original shift lever?” (shown in your pic)
I ended up cutting that bar(bar end extender) shorter. I took one of the brake levers off the old mtb and mounted it on the shortened bar extender.
I will post a photo of the revised brake handle set up so you can see what I mean. That should happen in the next few days - sorry for the delay. We are traveling this weekend.
Dave built the wheel also and recommended the rim, and spokes. Thats a WTB motoraptor tire. Originally, it was a 28er, but I went to the 29"tire to get more support for offroad.
Hope that helps.