Front drum brake on longtail
08-18-17, 02:46 PM
#26
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Thanks Gambler, will look into getting one of these kits.
Would just like to add - if the OP is still following this this thread; the brakes work well with the sturmey archer brake levers - even better if you get the brake levers with parking brakes - these are exceptionally useful when manhandling a loaded cargo bike.
Would just like to add - if the OP is still following this this thread; the brakes work well with the sturmey archer brake levers - even better if you get the brake levers with parking brakes - these are exceptionally useful when manhandling a loaded cargo bike.
08-19-17, 01:27 AM
#27
Newbie
Just a blank post to bring up the number of posts I have so the forum will let me post pics...(minimum is 10 posts)
Last edited by maxants33; 08-19-17 at 01:37 AM.
08-19-17, 01:28 AM
#28
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and another ...
08-19-17, 01:32 AM
#29
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So I have reached 10 posts - I can post a picture! Hooray!
This is my bike - its an old bridgstone road man frame I got a 2nd top tube welded to give extra strength. Powedercoated everything and had a custome made extra long rack - but still wanted the bike longer! So I got an Xtracycle free-radical 2nd hand. Painted that up, welded on a few strengthening points and hey presto! A suburban battle ship!
Front and back drums have worked well with this set up.
Only issue has been routing the rear drum cable and attaching the rear drum reaction arm. The xtracycle frame is not designed for drums - so took several hours of tinkering with P-clips to set up.
This is my bike - its an old bridgstone road man frame I got a 2nd top tube welded to give extra strength. Powedercoated everything and had a custome made extra long rack - but still wanted the bike longer! So I got an Xtracycle free-radical 2nd hand. Painted that up, welded on a few strengthening points and hey presto! A suburban battle ship!
Front and back drums have worked well with this set up.
Only issue has been routing the rear drum cable and attaching the rear drum reaction arm. The xtracycle frame is not designed for drums - so took several hours of tinkering with P-clips to set up.
Last edited by maxants33; 08-19-17 at 01:44 AM.
08-19-17, 10:09 AM
#30
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Looks great @maxants33! I'll post my bike here as well when it is done. I'm hesitating to use a drum or disc on the rear for the reason you mention, but perhaps I will just go for it and do some tinkering as well 
.
.
08-24-17, 03:04 PM
#31
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Looks great @maxants33! I'll post my bike here as well when it is done. I'm hesitating to use a drum or disc on the rear for the reason you mention, but perhaps I will just go for it and do some tinkering as well .
.I was astonished after a 600 mile tour carring loads of weight - just how much of my rear wheel rim surface had gone (had rear calipers) - new rims, so was easy to judge. That said, I cycled on many occasions through wet sandy soiled areas, so its no surprise.
Other thing about the Xtracycle; is made for disks - which do offer great stopping power on a heavy bike. But, given the way the bags fit to the xtracycle, I would be concerned about anything hard knocking the rotors, potentially bending them - not something you want when touring. So thats a +1 for the drums! BUT (again); It was SUCH a fiddle getting the drums to hook up to the Xtracycle free radical - I imagine the LEAP will be even tougher, unless you take it to a welder and get an attachment fitted - This would be really neat and probs the best bet - OR - get a guard fitted to protect the disk rotor.
I would interested to know how others have found the potential problem of luggage hitting the disk rotors on Xtracycle extensions.
Good luck with the build - and please do post pics when it gets moving! good luck!
08-29-17, 03:10 PM
#33
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I think going for a bub brake is a good idea - rims just tend to cope less well with heavy loads in my experience. But more importantly - with loaded bikes you wear out the rims faster and that = a weaker wheel eventually.
I was astonished after a 600 mile tour carring loads of weight - just how much of my rear wheel rim surface had gone (had rear calipers) - new rims, so was easy to judge. That said, I cycled on many occasions through wet sandy soiled areas, so its no surprise.
Other thing about the Xtracycle; is made for disks - which do offer great stopping power on a heavy bike. But, given the way the bags fit to the xtracycle, I would be concerned about anything hard knocking the rotors, potentially bending them - not something you want when touring. So thats a +1 for the drums! BUT (again); It was SUCH a fiddle getting the drums to hook up to the Xtracycle free radical - I imagine the LEAP will be even tougher, unless you take it to a welder and get an attachment fitted - This would be really neat and probs the best bet - OR - get a guard fitted to protect the disk rotor.
I would interested to know how others have found the potential problem of luggage hitting the disk rotors on Xtracycle extensions.
Good luck with the build - and please do post pics when it gets moving! good luck!
I was astonished after a 600 mile tour carring loads of weight - just how much of my rear wheel rim surface had gone (had rear calipers) - new rims, so was easy to judge. That said, I cycled on many occasions through wet sandy soiled areas, so its no surprise.
Other thing about the Xtracycle; is made for disks - which do offer great stopping power on a heavy bike. But, given the way the bags fit to the xtracycle, I would be concerned about anything hard knocking the rotors, potentially bending them - not something you want when touring. So thats a +1 for the drums! BUT (again); It was SUCH a fiddle getting the drums to hook up to the Xtracycle free radical - I imagine the LEAP will be even tougher, unless you take it to a welder and get an attachment fitted - This would be really neat and probs the best bet - OR - get a guard fitted to protect the disk rotor.
I would interested to know how others have found the potential problem of luggage hitting the disk rotors on Xtracycle extensions.
Good luck with the build - and please do post pics when it gets moving! good luck!
According to the Xtracycle people, it should not be too hard to replace the round brake arm clip with a clip that goes around the Leap. But I'm worried about the over locknut dimension: on the hub this is 118mm while the Leap expects 135mm. If I put washers on the brake arm side of the hub (and handle the fitting of the brake arm somehow) do you think the chain side of the hub would be ok? Or would the chain be not straight?
/Magnus
08-30-17, 12:05 AM
#34
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well, I think that sounds like a really cool choice of hub, but it may be problematic. Mainly the OLD as you mention. I have no idea about the spacers whether that would work - its a reasonable distance to spread out. Xtracycle have a facebook page, so would be worth asking there.
A 3 speed does sound cool, but practically, I have found that even having 16 speeds on my xtracycle is pushing it - I have double chain ring at the front and a very wide range at the back - but am eyeing up a triple chain ring soon (shimano shadow drivetrain - as these have very high chain tesnsioning) as where I live in London; I still need a bigger range when the bike is fully loaded. Having it full of shopping, camping equipment or what ever, makes hills much harder and the range of gears becomes quite important. But if you live somewhere very flat this could still be quite cool.
The other thing is you will most defo need a chain tensioner - a very long one, or a long cage derailleur. The chain is LONG on the xtracyce and it leads to quite a sag. So the cool look of a 3 speed in the back there might be ruined a bit IMO by a derailleur. So you might as well go for a normal cassette so you can have all the extra 8 to 9 speeds.
I have the sturmey archer X-RDC, it accepts up to a 9 speed cassette and has OLD of 135mm
Let us know the reply from xtracycle!
A 3 speed does sound cool, but practically, I have found that even having 16 speeds on my xtracycle is pushing it - I have double chain ring at the front and a very wide range at the back - but am eyeing up a triple chain ring soon (shimano shadow drivetrain - as these have very high chain tesnsioning) as where I live in London; I still need a bigger range when the bike is fully loaded. Having it full of shopping, camping equipment or what ever, makes hills much harder and the range of gears becomes quite important. But if you live somewhere very flat this could still be quite cool.
The other thing is you will most defo need a chain tensioner - a very long one, or a long cage derailleur. The chain is LONG on the xtracyce and it leads to quite a sag. So the cool look of a 3 speed in the back there might be ruined a bit IMO by a derailleur. So you might as well go for a normal cassette so you can have all the extra 8 to 9 speeds.
I have the sturmey archer X-RDC, it accepts up to a 9 speed cassette and has OLD of 135mm
Let us know the reply from xtracycle!
08-30-17, 04:22 PM
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It seems that the hub is actually 130mm O.L.D., so with a spacer (there are specific such spacers for this problem) and if I dish the wheel according to this I should be fine.
The reason why I'm going for the 3-speed is that I will add an electric (Bafang) mid-drive engine to the build, and the 3-speeds have a great reputation for handling that power. With an engine I hope the 3-speed will be enough.
/Magnus
The reason why I'm going for the 3-speed is that I will add an electric (Bafang) mid-drive engine to the build, and the 3-speeds have a great reputation for handling that power. With an engine I hope the 3-speed will be enough.
/Magnus
08-31-17, 01:17 PM
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08-31-17, 03:27 PM
#37
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It seems that the hub is actually 130mm O.L.D., so with a spacer (there are specific such spacers for this problem) and if I dish the wheel according to this I should be fine.
The reason why I'm going for the 3-speed is that I will add an electric (Bafang) mid-drive engine to the build, and the 3-speeds have a great reputation for handling that power. With an engine I hope the 3-speed will be enough.
/Magnus
The reason why I'm going for the 3-speed is that I will add an electric (Bafang) mid-drive engine to the build, and the 3-speeds have a great reputation for handling that power. With an engine I hope the 3-speed will be enough.
/Magnus
I got the tongue of my xtracycle welded with xtra plates to strengthen it, There is a thread on the internet somewhere about guys adding electric motors - they seem to recommend doing this weld
09-03-17, 02:56 PM
#38
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Another recent pick of my bike on a mini tour in norfolk
09-26-17, 05:42 AM
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SA 90mm front drum would be great. Two pieces of advice:
1. Use a long pull brake lever.
2. Get an IS disc brake fork anyway, and bolt the brake arm to one of the holes. Reason I say this is that the XLFDD is a fairly strong hub brake, comparable to at least a 160mm disc, especially when it is broken in. So it will be exerting the same forces as a disc brake. A disc fork is designed with these forces in mind. I personally have bent a typical road bike fork when I built a new set of wheels for it. I didn't know what I was doing, and sold it as is, with weird feeling, crash inducing geometry.
I love SA hubs. I just built my 4th wheel with one (HDS22 disc dynohub, husky 26"x50mm steel rim, 11g spokes). I have built a bicycle with 90mm front and S2C rear. Up till recently I've been using a SA 70mm rear drum, redrilled to 72h and laced 48 to a DM32 rim, on a motorbike. I got about 15000 miles out of it. The wheel saw four motors and three years of my bike. The 70mm brake wasn't that great (for motor speeds), but I needed the smooth flange so i could drill it for a motorbike sprocket. Overall it was fine, I replaced the bearings at 10000, then I snapped the axle at about 14000 and replaced it with a 10mm bolt. I had to make a custom spacer for between the bearings. Well I made it about .010" too small and eventually the brake plate went into the hub, destroying the plate. I ran it without a brake for a thousand mi afterward. It's retired now.
BTW for the guy who posted above wishing to try the S2C. It ain't that great. Kinda gets old with the shift whenever you use the brake. And the feel is weird. I never got used to it. I wanna try the 2-sp automatic sometime myself.
1. Use a long pull brake lever.
2. Get an IS disc brake fork anyway, and bolt the brake arm to one of the holes. Reason I say this is that the XLFDD is a fairly strong hub brake, comparable to at least a 160mm disc, especially when it is broken in. So it will be exerting the same forces as a disc brake. A disc fork is designed with these forces in mind. I personally have bent a typical road bike fork when I built a new set of wheels for it. I didn't know what I was doing, and sold it as is, with weird feeling, crash inducing geometry.
I love SA hubs. I just built my 4th wheel with one (HDS22 disc dynohub, husky 26"x50mm steel rim, 11g spokes). I have built a bicycle with 90mm front and S2C rear. Up till recently I've been using a SA 70mm rear drum, redrilled to 72h and laced 48 to a DM32 rim, on a motorbike. I got about 15000 miles out of it. The wheel saw four motors and three years of my bike. The 70mm brake wasn't that great (for motor speeds), but I needed the smooth flange so i could drill it for a motorbike sprocket. Overall it was fine, I replaced the bearings at 10000, then I snapped the axle at about 14000 and replaced it with a 10mm bolt. I had to make a custom spacer for between the bearings. Well I made it about .010" too small and eventually the brake plate went into the hub, destroying the plate. I ran it without a brake for a thousand mi afterward. It's retired now.
BTW for the guy who posted above wishing to try the S2C. It ain't that great. Kinda gets old with the shift whenever you use the brake. And the feel is weird. I never got used to it. I wanna try the 2-sp automatic sometime myself.
Last edited by Mopzilla; 09-26-17 at 05:47 AM.
10-02-17, 01:56 PM
#40
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Yea, I'm waiting for the S2C to come back from the wheel builders shortly. A bit nervous about it as its not been a cheap build. But I've my S-RC3 wheel ready as a back up - thats a great hub IMO. Hoping I like it as I really enjoy using my feet with the coaster - must have lazy hands....
10-09-17, 12:54 AM
#41
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SA 90mm front drum would be great. Two pieces of advice:
1. Use a long pull brake lever.
...
BTW for the guy who posted above wishing to try the S2C. It ain't that great. Kinda gets old with the shift whenever you use the brake. And the feel is weird. I never got used to it. I wanna try the 2-sp automatic sometime myself.
1. Use a long pull brake lever.
...
BTW for the guy who posted above wishing to try the S2C. It ain't that great. Kinda gets old with the shift whenever you use the brake. And the feel is weird. I never got used to it. I wanna try the 2-sp automatic sometime myself.
I have the SRAM Automatix on a Christiania 3-wheel bike and it performs well so far. The shifting comes a bit early though, but supposedly you should be able to adjust this. Anyday now
./Magnus
10-22-17, 11:13 PM
#43
Newbie
I hear mixed opinions about what levers to use. The SA ones are short pull, no?
I have the SRAM Automatix on a Christiania 3-wheel bike and it performs well so far. The shifting comes a bit early though, but supposedly you should be able to adjust this. Anyday now.
/Magnus
I have the SRAM Automatix on a Christiania 3-wheel bike and it performs well so far. The shifting comes a bit early though, but supposedly you should be able to adjust this. Anyday now
./Magnus
I tried both - long pull felt good as it made them very easy to tune - but I found that you need much more force to stop the wheel. Short pull takes a little longer to tune the brake, but I can stop the bike with 1 finger - which suits me better as I have bar ends and can reach the lever with my index finger.
I'm planning on buying a SRAM automatix at some point - want to build an ultra simple low maintenance guest bike for visitors. I almost exclusively cycle, so I need something so when someone visits they can cycle places too, thereby avoiding taxis and buses.
Looking forward to seeing the finished product!
Last edited by maxants33; 10-22-17 at 11:18 PM.
10-23-17, 12:18 AM
#44
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The SA levers are short pull - but if you open them up you will see that there are two holes for the cable end holder - if you knock the pin out and move the the cable holder you can change them to long pull if you wish.
I tried both - long pull felt good as it made them very easy to tune - but I found that you need much more force to stop the wheel. Short pull takes a little longer to tune the brake, but I can stop the bike with 1 finger - which suits me better as I have bar ends and can reach the lever with my index finger.
I'm planning on buying a SRAM automatix at some point - want to build an ultra simple low maintenance guest bike for visitors. I almost exclusively cycle, so I need something so when someone visits they can cycle places too, thereby avoiding taxis and buses.
Looking forward to seeing the finished product!
I tried both - long pull felt good as it made them very easy to tune - but I found that you need much more force to stop the wheel. Short pull takes a little longer to tune the brake, but I can stop the bike with 1 finger - which suits me better as I have bar ends and can reach the lever with my index finger.
I'm planning on buying a SRAM automatix at some point - want to build an ultra simple low maintenance guest bike for visitors. I almost exclusively cycle, so I need something so when someone visits they can cycle places too, thereby avoiding taxis and buses.
Looking forward to seeing the finished product!
