I tried it out on a short ride and was frustrated by the reach that the lever blade required. Even with the lever blade adjustment allen key turned all the way out, it was still a stretch for me to reach the lever blade tip with size XL hands with the lever mounted on a KH rail adaptor. I know that the 2 finger blade will bring the lever a little closer, but theres this bit:
Without your fingers on the blade the lever flops around up and down against its too tiny preload spring" more than I’d like when you go over bumps and drops, you can hear and feel it “clapping around” down there. I’ll post some video here soon that shows this. The TPA adjuster on both of the 2011 brakes I got would only turn a couple of turns in each direction before it binds up under all my finger strength. Also the TPA twist lever is really small and can’t really be accessed while riding like the 2004 TPA could be.
I guess I could live with the ineffective TPA, but that lame spring loaded lever blade positioner really bugs me. . . . . I might change my mind later, but this lever was not designed with unicycles in mind and since I like to ride with the lever blade closer to the saddle, I guess this is a miss for me and likely other riders with small hands. I haven’t given up yet . . .I’m gonna get a couple of the shorter 2-finger lever blades and see how they feel before I give up on this.
I got back home and took the saddle off to do some comparisons to the older HS33 levers with the lever blade position allen keys adjusted to place the lever close to the saddle. This is what I found when I measured the reach to the lever:
^No prob, I’m not a complete expert on these new Maguras myself yet, but am going to be doing a rebleed after shortening the hose again today hopefully, so feel free to pop me any questions!
Brycer, shame that it’s not great for unicycles, but I’m sure it can’t be that hard for someone to produce an aftermarket blade that works better for unicyclists, maybe a shorter stubbier one with a huge curge to mimic the position that the 2004/2005 levers are relative to the seat. That would make the brake rideable wouldn’t it?
As for the TPA, I’m sure you already know they’re a last resort thing? As in, if you ride for any kind of extended period of time with the TPA wound out, it slowly causes long term damage to the lever. It’s only meant for pushing the pads out if say, the pads wear out horrendously during one hardcore day out riding whilst you’re still in the woods.
I ride my bikes with pretty much fully wound in TPA, as I find just simply pushing my slaves into the clamps more is a better solution which is what is meant to be for Maguras.
Ok, I give up on these. I could never get this brake set up the way I liked it for under saddle unicycle mounting. I sold all the 2011 HS11s that I bought to a couple of trials (bike) riders - so now I think I’ll stick with the 2004 and 2005 HS33’s for now, which I know work well for unicycling.
Did I give up on these too soon? Intereted if anyone else has tried these out on unicycles??? Short lever blade or long??
I have 2011 HS33’s set up now (short lever) and personally I am happy with them.
The Spooner fits well. That’s a relief.
The C-clamp is more of a hassle to install compared to the previous version because you have to take the brake bracket off to install it, but it works OK once installed.
The reach to the lever, in the position I personally like, does not feel different in my opinion than the 2010 if the 2011 lever is adjusted to the closest position. Attached is a photo of the brake installed, and in comparison to the 2010 HS33. That said, it’s true that the 2010 lever adjuster has greater adjustment closer to the handle, compared to the 2011.
The 2011 brake lever is actually closer to the handle than the earliest Magura HS33 lever (early 2000’s) (the one with the red knob and solid forged brake lever).
Definitely I’d go for the shorter lever version on the HS33.
Sometime in future I’ll probably change the angle on the brake lever bracket so it moves the lever closer to the handle (e.g. so the lever position adjuster is more in the middle of it’s range). That won’t happen for a while though.
So in sum, IMO the 2011 version are still very nice brakes. So too are the 2010, and earlier versions as well - they are all good and no huge reason to prefer one over the other for use on a uni.
