Mounting a brake on a 36" with the new KH handle

Hello!

I have a Coker big one which I’m modifying for a long distance trip this summer. I have the new KH Fusion Freeride seat along with the handle and the saddle stiffener. I’d like to fit a Magura brake, but I’m not sure if it’ll fit on the saddle due to the stiffener and handle being mounted on the front too.

Does anybody know if it’s possible to fit on (if not, is there a workaround)? I’d like to make sure before I make the leap and buy some brakes.

Thank you! :slight_smile:

Hi, I assume by handle you mean the longish KH T-Bar that one attaches to the four bolts in the front of the seat. If that is the case, you can mount the brakes to the boom of that. It is not possible to put the brake underneath the seat then. But you could get a KH brake mount to mount the brakes to when you want to go without the long handle bar. Hope that helps.

Ah! That’s great, thanks. :slight_smile:

Yeah, it’s the T-bar; I forgot to call it by that name.

I’m completely new to brakes, so exactly which brake accessories (i.e. clamps and such) do I need? I’m buying from UDC UK, if it helps. Thanks!

Maguras will not fit as standard to a Big One.

If it’s a recent model and got brake bosses then you can fit a linear pull brake otherwise you can fit an old BMX brake by drilling a hole in the fork crown (there’s a tutorial in issue 1 of Uni Magazine).

If your heart is set on Maguras, you’ll need to weld the brake bosses on (also available from UDC).

The lever of any type of brake can be fitted as described by Munirocks.
Have a good trip!
Mike

Hmm. I didn’t realise that.

I don’t have access to any welding or power tools, so that’s kind of a problem. I really don’t know what the best way to go about doing it would be…

Would it be feasible simply to buy (for example) a Nimbus 36" frame, fit it to the wheel, then fit the brakes to that? I know it’s not hugely cost effective, but it’d save a lot of messing around with the welding (and I prefer the Nimbus frame anyway).

Yes, but you don’t have to do that. Just drill a hole through your frame and use a regular BMX style brake. See a picture of it installed on my KH36:

A bolt goes through the frame and has a nut on the front.

corbin

Well, this doesn’t help with your handle mounting problem, but why not just get regular V-brakes? The Coker (I have a newish Coker Big One) is made to mount a v-brake and it works great. A V-brake is also cheaper, has no brake-fluid worries, and is much less complex.

Ah! I’ve found someone with the required tools; I should be able to do it. Thanks, guys! :slight_smile:

To resurrect this thread…

I bought a brake, and it’s now fitted to the unicycle. However, I just received the cable and brake lever from UDC – there were no instructions, so I’m unsure of what to do. I’m searching the forums, but I can’t find a tutorial; is anybody willing to help out? I can provide pictures if it’ll help. :slight_smile: Thank you!

Do you have a V-brake or a magura now? If you have a V-brake, just look at the fork of a bike a suppose it’s a unicycle:p If it’s a magura I can’t really help you because I dont own one… not yet:)

Yes, I think pictures will help a lot. The cable might need to be fitted in one of a few different ways depending on which lever and calliper you have, so without knowing for sure, we could give you wrong information.

The mounting of the lever itself should be fairly strait forward though; you’ll need to remove the “T” part of the T-Bar from the bit that bolts underneath the seat, and then slide the brake lever up this T (The I part of the T, not the - part) so that the lever is reachable from the hand grips. Refit the T in to the saddle part, check that everything is aligned where you want it and tighten it all up.

STM

I have a V-brake (or side pull, or whatever you’d like to call it), not a Magura. I listened to the good advice! :slight_smile:

Okay, here are the pictures. The brake cable is about a metre long – the picture just shows each end.

4.JPG

Okey dokey…

Firstly, you need to move the lever further towards the front of the T bar so that the lever itself is between the two handles (It should be reachable by either hand from there).

Next, the end of the cable that in the bottom picture with the threaded adjustment thingy goes in to the brake lever. Thread the he crimped on end through the lever body, and then put it in to the lever itself, then turn through 90 degrees. The threaded bit should then screw in to the back of the lever body. (This is for cable adjustment as the pads wear or cable stretches).

Wrap the cable a few times around the seat post so that you don’t have too much excess which can get caught on stuff, but not so tight as to restrict the inner cable moving through the outer.

The other end of the cable (the top part of the bottom photo) goes to the calliper. The crimped on end piece needs to be cut off first though (Make sure you don’t cut the crimped end off the lever end though!). Ideally you’ll have some cable cutters lying around. The cutting part of some pliers will do it, but you’ll end up with a fraid end that you may need to tape up with some electrical tape to thread it through.

The inner cable first needs to go through the long bolt at the top of the calliper. The bolt below it (it’s attached to the other half of the calliper) needs to be loosened so you’ll see a hole to thread it through.

Pull as much of the inner cable through as you can to take up all the slack in it, and tighten the clamping bolt. When this bolt is tight, try squeezing the lever and check that the callipers are closing ok. If that works, then it’s just a case of adjusting (either with the threaded bolt on the back of the lever, or the threaded bolt on the calliper).

I’d suggest you don’t have them too tight to start with, otherwise the first time you grip the lever you’ll find out that the ejector seat is connected to it too! Once you’ve got a few miles under your belt then adjust as you see fit.

STM

Okay, I think I’m getting it. Thanks for the help! :slight_smile:

The thing is, the circled part is separate from the crimped end and the threaded part. I’m not sure where it goes; it sits loose on the lever side. Where should it be…?

Also, wouldn’t it be better to trim the cable significantly rather than wrap it around the seatpost? It seems like it’d get in the way and make removing the seatpost difficult. Please correct me if I’m wrong, of course!

Edit: Corbin’s 36" looks to have a short brake cable too; that’s what I’m referring to.

5.jpg

I think that bit needs to go between the adjuster and the cable sleeve. Not 100% sure though, but try undoing the knurled adjuster all the way off of the bit its on and move it over the olive type thing. The bit with the slot cut out can then move to the other side of the olive and have the knurled nut put back on.

See if that then feels like it fits together ok. If not, once you’ve cut off the crimped bit from the other end, you can remove the whole lot and lose* the olive completely before putting it all back together.

Yes, the cable can be cut down. The outer sheild is a spiral metal affair with plastic around it, and it needs to be cut cleanly otherwise it may rub on the cable inner, or not sit properly in the calliper bolt thing.

Don’t cut it too short though. You probably want it to wrap around the seat post (loosely) once so that you have got enough slack in it in case you need to remove the saddle, or extent the handle. It’s much easier to cut it shorter than make it longer :slight_smile:

STM

  • Make sure you know where you lose it… just in case it is important for anything. But I don’t think it is.

Okay, I fitted it! Thanks so much; I really appreciate the help. :slight_smile:

I have one problem; when I let go of the lever, the brake doesn’t spring back like it should. It just stays close to the rim. How can I rectify that problem…?

If you have the cable wrapped around the seat tube as suggested you will have too much friction in the cable housing for the brake to release. This method of “securing” the cable works for hydraulic brakes because it’s pressure in the housing not a cable. You will want to pull the cable out of the housing, and trim the housing so that it is as smooth a line from the lever to the brake as possible. Err on the side of too much housing as you can always trim a bit more. If you have it the right length it won’t bind the cable, and you won’t have very much housing flex as you pull the brake lever.

The attached picture is a V-Brake, but the principle is the same.

As long as the cable isn’t bent too tightly or kinked you should be ok, but as jtroops says, ideally it should be a fairly direct line between the calliper and lever.

If you cut the outer sleeve down, you may need to clean up the cut end if it is rubbing on the inner cable. There’s a good photo on this page as to what it should look like; http://sheldonbrown.com/cables.html There is also a whole load of other good stuff on there which might be worth a quick look through.

The other thing to check is that the spring on the calliper itself is actually in place and doing its job. Behind the two arms will be a silver wire thing that should be sitting inbetween some notches on each of the calliper arms. This is the spring that returns them to their original position. Just make sure that this is doing its job. You can loosen the cable clamp bolt and squeeze the calliper to feel if it is springing back out again.

STM

Thanks very much for all the help, guys! Here’s the finished product; everything seems to work fine now. The one strange thing is that at a certain point when the brakes are on, there’s a sort of clank/click noise. Nothing’s loose, so I’m really not sure what it is. In any case, it’s safe and works just fine.

Again, thanks very much! :smiley: