Cead_tinne

Would there be value in swamping our cargo bikes mechanical brakes to hydraulic brakes?

The rear brake cable failed on the wife's Bike Firday Haul-a-Day. The bike is 14 months old and has a little over 600 miles. We live up a decent hill, so the brakes get used a fair bit. Total weight on the bike is usually under 200lbs, wife and two kids. My wife would alos like to have more braking power with less hand effort. She’s also pretty nervous about the brakes failing if we just replace the cable. The brake failing at the wrong time would be pretty bad.

rhenning

I would ask Bike Friday I think it would help. Use the 800 number and pose your question. They would also tell you what model brake might work the best. Roger

Cead_tinne

I asked Bike Firday about using hydraulic disc brakes, and they did say they would provide more stopping power. They didn't provide any suggestions about models though, the closet they use are TRP HY/RD.

Elvo

They will provide the same amount of stopping power but will have better modulation and less maintenance if set up properly. I'd recommend Shimano Deore as a starting point

wesmamyke

How did it fail exactly? At the lever, or at the brake?

Cead_tinne

Cead_tinne

At the brake

WizardOfBoz

So a cable shouldn't break like that. Not at 600 miles. I'd suspect that the cable was installed improperly. Perhaps the nut was tightened too tight. Perhaps the cable housing wasn't long enough and the stretched cable put a bending force on the cable. Perhaps the cable was supposed to run through a groove and was not routed properly, or fell off the groove that guided around the curve in the brake arm. Further, it's the rear brake, right? Should be braking more with the front brake, so if this was normal wear and tear, I'd expect the front to go first.

The Bike Friday Website doesn't even state the make/model of the brakes! For nearly two grand! It looks like a Shimano BR-M375, but no label, so probably a cheap Chinese clone. So perhaps its a design defect, or possibly, a materials defect. If the cinching nut is not aligned with the curved surface that the cable rides on, you could be inducing a localized high stress point on the cable.

To the original point, not sure if one or the other is more reliable. The cable system is supposed to be easier to adjust, but requires more adjustment. Hydraulic requires fewer adjustments, but takes a bit more expertise. Not sure if I've seen a serious study of reliability done.

70sSanO

Most mountain bikers will tell you disc brakes are superior. Whether you swap or not may depend on whether your bikes are disc brake ready, with mounting tabs for the calipers. The hubs also need to be disc brake compatible or you’ll need to swap wheels or at least have the current rims re-laced to new hubs.

John

andrewclaus

I agree with all this, and special note should be taken of the last sentence. The front brake is more effective and will require less hand force.

That cable looks more cut than frayed. I think it's an installation issue.

Get an experienced mechanic to replace the cable (and housing as needed) and inspect the brake caliper.

Cead_tinne

Long story short, we put some Shimano SLX four piston brakes on, and my wife is really happy with them. They take a LOT less effort, and she is able to slow down a lot quicker.

Before removing the old brakes, a torque wrench was put on the front and rear pinch bolts, they both started to tighten at 8Nm, so i don't think the cable broke from being over tightened. A couple of the strands on the front brake and failed as-well, and the front pads needed to be replaced. I wish i knew why we had the brake failure, but we are happy with what we have now.

On side note, going to a bike shop right now is lame. They were having people wait outside in the rain, letting one customer in a time. It has to be hard to make money like that. Especially with local College being switched to online. I wonder how many less bike shops, and other business we are going to have at this time next year.