And… me holding the 36-er. I tried to just put the uni on the scale but the handlebar wouldn’t allow me to place it upside down on the seat and it was too unstable to balance it on the wheel to get a reproducible weight. If you notice, on each picture, there are 2 numbers on the scale; I weighed each item 3 times, the bottom number is the previously recorded weight.
So… 19.6 but given the variability of my controls, I added another .3lbs and called it 19.9lbs.
Don’t get me wrong, if I didn’t have a 36-er, I’d probably go with the disc set-up and pray that the aluminum spindle held up. If you figure out how to bolt-on a caliper, I’ll get one of your “on-the-crank” set-ups. I just don’t think weight savings is the reason I’d do it.
Is your Maggie weight a measurement of the new HS33 or the old brakes? I’m not sure that’s accurate
Not all downhills are an easy cruise with brakes. Of course, it’s all relative. What I find to be challenging is likely considered a cake walk for some. I don’t know if it’s genetics or age, but my knees thank me for cheating;).
What happened to the PIC of the disc brake Nimbus Impulse? Can’t find it anywhere on these pages, including the first post. Used to be there. Could it be a “back to the drawing board”, or retooling deal?
I agree - they’re much lighter than 500g. I sold one recently and had to weigh it for postage - I’m sure it was in the 300-350g area (it was an oldish HS33 raceline, with the external tpi “star” knob).
On a similar note, my 36er weighs almost exactly 8 kg (17.6 lbs), and it’s not built with fancy parts (old steel coker frame, steel seatpost, early KH Fusion saddle, Nimbus Stealth rim on normal-width Nimbus ISIS hub, 14 gauge stainless spokes, TA tyre, 29er tube, Qu-Ax 145mm ISIS cranks, DMR V8 pedals, BMX calliper brake). So I don’t reckon your claim of 19.6 lbs with a handlebar is unreasonable at all.
Eventually I plan to get disc brakes on a couple of my unis, because it takes away the pesky, uneven-rim factor.
A brake does complicate things, and so does a geared hub.
I often do long rides with big, nasty hills. I use a low-maintenance V-brake, and the complication is tiny compared to saving my legs for the long ride. On my guni, on really hilly rides, I wouldn’t ride without it. The leverage to slow yourself down is brutal.
Also, remember that you have 19 yr old knees. Some folks in this thread like a brake because our knees have been through 30+ yrs of gnarly sports, and they hurt on big or steep downhills. (Hopefully, AspenMike won’t read this thread, but he’s an exception.) It sounds like you’re pretty hardcore, but remember you’re still a whippersnapper, so your knees have had much less abuse.
Instead of cheating, I look at it as another challenge to master, and not easy, especially off-road. Just today I had a UPD messing around with the brake down a steep, way-too-muddy, dirt road. The damn bumps make it hard to squeeze the lever evenly.
This is true, I do have younger knees. I still think I’ll be a purest as my knees get older but I also will be living somewhere less hilly. I don’t tend to fight hills much going down them(probably why I’ve hit 28mph on a downhill more than once) so that saves my knees a little bit. Maybe I just don’t like brakes because I never learned to use one(spent the first few weeks of my 36’er ownership trying to learn it and never got it so I sold it.)
My sitbones and groin area give in before my legs do on all my rides. It takes about 30 miles before my legs feel heavy and that’s on one of my moderately hilly routes. Once again I’m probably just anti-brakes because I don’t want to bother learning to use them or maintain them.
Ill tell you, it sure would be nice after the huge hill up. I There is a big huge hill to get into town no matter which way I go. I havent made it to the top as of yet. I would love the break going back down on the other side… I think…
I used to hate brakes too…that is until I actually got one. Now I wouldn’t ride MUni or a Coker without one. The biggest thing is that it helps you conserve energy so you can do longer rides and not be worn out as much. It also makes it possible to ride more technical MUni trails, especially with shorter, faster cranks. In my opinion they are well worth the extra money…
I used to have 19 year old knees. Now my 53 yr old knees are barely hanging in their riding flat. I’m spending more time excercising/stretching my legs than I am ridingm these days.
Brakes will be going on my 29" soon. It’s hard to find someone who has the adapters for the V-brakes, and I don’t want to go the center bolt route but I will find them on the net somewhere.
I’ve been trying out a brake on my 36er and I can’t say it was love at first squeeze. Started with a V-brake and found it too grippy, making modulation very difficult, and braking in general rather scary. Left me wondering why there weren’t more posts about people finding brakes difficult and dangerous.
However, my experiences with handlebars taught me not to judge a new thing with out giving it time and trying tweaks, so remembering that I had a standard cantilever brake with cheap pads that always seemed underpowered on a bike, I installed that, and left the crossover wire long so that there was very little leverage. Significantly better modulation and not quite as scary. Still it is a lot to concentrate on and hard to control finger pressure. I continue to feel much more at risk since UPD’s seem to be towards the front (downhill) compared to off the back with foot braking.
Part of my lack of control may also be due to lever positioning. I prefer to hold the seat handle when descending, but with the KH T-Bar there is no way to mount the lever under the front of the seat. I tried mounting it closer to the seat but it ended up being more awkward and causing a crash.
Do those of you with brakeless knee pain find descending more painful than ascending? My subjective experience is that the amount of stress on my knees is the same if not slightly less while slowing or stopping a descent as compared climbing and having to accelerate upwards if I start to stall out.
I’m not sure why, but climbing is knee-painless for me, while descending quickly becomes uncomfortable. Again, my knees have seen a lot of hard-cutting sport - 27 yrs of competitive ultimate for one thing.
I agree, and I think that those stupid b*ke riders need to get rid of their brakes, too. Brakes turn a slight decline into a manageable ride. What’s the fun of having control over your ride when you could be flying down the road going 50mph, praying that an uphill stretch of road is on its way to save your sorry butt for deciding that brakes were cheating?
. . . a uni is not a bicycle . . . and fixed gear riders ride without brakes all the time. My theory is that most people want to run short cranks so that they can go faster, and then argue that downhill isn’t an enjoyable ride because they loose control and it’s difficult to maintain speed, whereas the rest of us just run the right crank size for the job and take the loss in speed. A brake can fix that little bug for riders that want to go faster, as for us that just want to enjoy the ride, longer cranks with no brake makes things more simple. I’m not a huge fan of brakes, but when I get my muni, it’ll sure have them on there. Probably never on my 36er
I just read an article that said you can “estimate that every 250g lightened is like going up a virtual gear” (eg 110mm cranks will feel similar to 125mm cranks previously).
[QUOTE=DavidHood;1364052]
I just read an article that said you can “estimate that every 250g lightened is like going up a virtual gear” (eg 110mm cranks will feel similar to 125mm cranks previously).
Cranks rotate relatively close to the hub so the weight difference would not be noticable and the Q factor is more of a personal taste kind of thing. Lowering the weight at the outside of the wheel is where you will see big advantages a light rim tube and tire are where it is at.
Could it be a “back to the drawing board”, or retooling deal?
