SpeedofLite 

Chombi1 

Interesting how hydraulic bicycle brakes with rubber brake pads were only taken on by just a couple of manufacturers (Mathauser and Magura) I guess the kinda odd interface between traditional rubber brake pads and more modern hydraulic actuators just never really made for "solid" engineering and it became sort of a technological dead end.....

Ironfish653

That’s kind of a weird take on it, since pad material really doesn’t matter to the caliper / wheel cylinder.

More likely, since hydraulic brakes require you to use a system-specific lever and ‘caliper’ ; these (Matthauser / Magura) arrived in the early 1990s which also saw the rise of Shimano STI integrated brake lever / shifter units. Speccing hydraulics would mean not getting those indexed Rapidfire shifters.
I’m willing to bet that if a mfgr chose to put STI /Rapidfire on a bike, Shimano would throw the brakes in for free. Guess which way they went?

steelbikeguy

a few shots of a Graftek equipped with the Scott Superbrakes, as well as a bunch of other trick gear, shown at one of the Classic Rendezvous gatherings...







Seems like a valid enough concept. The pivot appears robust and able to handle the forces. The proprietary brake shoe mounting technique might be an issue, though.

Steve in Peoria

Bad Lag

What deficiency, what problem, are these attempting solve?

I came down a hill at 40 mph this afternoon. As I approached the bottom of the hill, I scooted back on the saddle, got down on the drops and applied the brakes. I stopped in 100 feet (approx.). The rear brake had to be modulated to prevent the rear wheel from skidding up - the front brake is VERY powerful, especially when pointed downhill.

Chombi1 

Ever compare the durometer ratings between typical disc brake pads and traditional rubber brake pads? The interface between the more rigid hydraulic disc brake pads and brake disc makes more sense because of the non-compressibility of hydraulic fluid in hydraulicly activated brakes, definitely makes more sense from an engineering standpoint......
Yes, we are dealing with rim braking with the Magura and Mathauser systems, but they are kinda like a half baked solution to hydraulic braking which they should have just done with a disc (or even a drum) instead, to properly take advantage of the rigidity and feel you get from a hydraulic system.

Ironfish653

Boy, BikeForums really likes to go down the rabbit hole.
Occam’s razor; It’s cost; that’s why hydraulic rim brakes didn’t really catch on.
Hydro rim brakes cost more, and prevent you from running those integrated Shimano shifters. Making a disc wheel in the late 80s-early 90s would have even been more suicidal. You’ve got to get mfgrs to build frames with disc caliper mounts, as well as design your own wheel hubs and rotors.
It wasn’t until the Downhill MTB arms race of the mid 1990s that disc brakes really crossed over from motos to bicycles.

As far as rigidity and feel; Maguras have been a staple of observed trials, where you need massive brakes; at least until they were supplanted by modern disc brakes.

You cant really compare ‘durometer’ of the brake pads, because rim brakes use hard rubber pads on an aluminum brake track, and discs use sintered metal pads on a steel rotor.

Hydraulic rim brakes were always a niche product, though.

kingsting

Wow! Thanks for posting all this! I have a Teledyne Titan with this setup on it. It belonged to former Bicycling magazine technical editor, the late Fred DeLong. Wonder if this was one of the test mules used in the article...

Adair

Wow, this forum is amazing. I have Matthauser brakes front and rear on my 84 Cannondale. On top of that, these were designed by someone in my home town of Anacortes, WA. The brakes are still doing their job.
-Adair