dougphoto

I have a little arthritis in my hands, when it's cold out pulling the brakes can be a little difficult and painful. Not that I can afford hydraulic brakes right now but for the future when they get cheaper and my hands get worse I was wondering if the pull is easier on hydraulic brakes? Or can the tension even be set?

Cyclist0108

Absolutely. Very much so. It is one of the primary reasons I got them. Now I can do one or two-finger braking down extended 10% grades. My wife has arthritis in her hands, and she is unable to use any other type of brake. I would make the investment now, as it might help slow the onset of more serious symptoms. If you get the mountain bike variety, good ones (eg: Shimano XT) are quite cheap. I just put a pair ($90 each, pre-bled) on a mountain bike, for my 13 year old. The road ones are more expensive because they are integrated with shifters, but the Shimano 105 level is basically the same as ultegra, and isn't insanely priced. (I got mine when they were bundled with Di2, so they were quite expensive, and I still have no regrets.)

FBinNY 

The mechanical advantage in any brake system is independent of the means used to transfer lever power to the pucks. So any brake where the shoes move the same amount for a given lever throw will have the same performance.

That said, there is friction in cable brakes, especially rear ones, so hydraulics will feel smoother and more sensitive than cable brakes.

Until they develop power brakes with booster, don't expect miracles simply by virtue of changing from cable to hydraulic.

HOWEVER - they do make variable leverage levers for cable brakes, and those can make a big difference. The drawback is that alignment and adjustment becomes that much more critical. Also, while brakes tend in the me leverage ballpark, there are differences, so you may be able to track one with higher than average leverage. I don't know if anyone includes the multiplier info in their specs, so you probably have to make some effort to get the info.

Canker

Even mechanical disc brakes take a lot less hand effort.

Bike Gremlin

Hydraulic systems "increase" power and do it better than mechanical brake systems.

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/Wi...principle.html

KonaRider125

In my experience Shimano hydro brake levers take much less effort to pull than Shimano mechanical brakes.

Danny01

I've had TRP spyres and now have Shimano 785 hydros. I actually don't think the pull effort is much less on the hydros. The modulation is much better, but the difference in effort vs the Spyres is marginal.

gsa103

In principle FB is correct. The mechanical advantage of a system is fixed by design, and two systems with equivalent MA will feel similar.

In practice, hydraulics win. Shimano already has variable MA levers (ServoWave).
Mechanical brakes are more limited because cables stretch, and hydraulic fluid doesn't. So for a given pull, hydraulics will feel stronger even if the brakes have the same MA.

fietsbob

The Hydraulic Rim Brake from the German Magura company work quite well , and need very little service once installed.

and the reach to the lever is comfortable. Mine , have been on the bike for 12 years.




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