# Brake upgrade



## PMarkey (10 Jul 2017)

Spotted a pair of Tektro R725's on Ebay for a decent price so the Holdsworth conversion has had an upgrade 

from this



to this



Paul


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## cosmicbike (10 Jul 2017)

Why 2 calipers? I presume no rear brake?


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## S-Express (10 Jul 2017)

Just why?


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## PMarkey (10 Jul 2017)

Rear brakes have been found to be virtually useless on a diamond framed racing trike as the available traction is spread over two wheels and the wheels just lock at the slightest provocation not that I am any sort of expert having only recently started riding a trike ,but as far as I know it's a legal requirement to have two independent working brakes and trikes are allowed to have both brakes on the front wheel,usually most have cantilever brakes with a side pull or centre pull brake mounted on a stub brazed or bolted to the front of the fork crown or two V-brakes mounted in front and behind the forks but I spotted this arrangement online and figured modern brakes should offer some improvement over 40 year old centre pulls  

Paul


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## voyager (10 Jul 2017)

How much more efficient are they once the shoes have bedded in , love to hear your comments in a few weeks time .


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## starhawk (10 Jul 2017)

Well I remember that the rear brake was virtually useless on the upwrong, but the front one was a dangerous contraption, had me flying over the handlebar once, I made a somewhat perfect fivepoint landing (knees, elbows and the nose!)


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## Drago (10 Jul 2017)

I've seen something similar on a tandem years ago. Well executed.

What do you do for levers?


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## PMarkey (10 Jul 2017)

starhawk said:


> Well I remember that the rear brake was virtually useless on the upwrong, but the front one was a dangerous contraption, had me flying over the handlebar once, I made a somewhat perfect fivepoint landing (knees, elbows and the nose!)



I found out the hard way on a steep descent at the end of April to never ever ever brake when cornering on a upright trike , the inside wheel promptly lifted as the trike tried to tip over the front wheel and I ended up clipping the kerb and being thrown off the trike and into a lamp post breaking my shoulder 



Drago said:


> I've seen something similar on a tandem years ago. Well executed.
> 
> What do you do for levers?



Just standard Tektro drop bar levers .

Paul


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## Drago (10 Jul 2017)

Ah, do you have both levers on the front wheel now? I was thinking you had tandem levers or something and were pulling 2 cables with one lever.


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## PMarkey (10 Jul 2017)

Yes both brakes are independent of each other though for peace of mind I set them up so that the lever for the front brake activates the rear caliper not that it makes any difference as the front wheel is the only braked wheel .

Paul


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## voyager (11 Jul 2017)

PMarkey said:


> Yes both brakes are independent of each other though for peace of mind I set them up so that the lever for the front brake activates the rear caliper not that it makes any difference as the front wheel is the only braked wheel .
> 
> Paul



good idea ,easier for adjustment


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## fixedfixer (8 Aug 2017)

voyager said:


> How much more efficient are they once the shoes have bedded in , love to hear your comments in a few weeks time .



@PMarkey. I was wondering how much improvement you have now the brakes have had the opportunity to bed in a bit? Any recommendations on pads that seem to have more 'bite' to them? I've a lacklustre long arm Caliper on the rear of a home built LWB recumbent.


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## Tigerbiten (10 Aug 2017)

PMarkey said:


> I found out the hard way on a steep descent at the end of April to never ever ever brake when cornering on a upright trike , the inside wheel promptly lifted as the trike tried to tip over the front wheel and I ended up clipping the kerb and being thrown off the trike and into a lamp post breaking my shoulder
> 
> Paul


It's definitely a goldilocks situation.
No brakes and the trike picks up to much speed and flips.
Too much brakes and the resultant forces lift the inside wheel to far and the trike flips.
Get the braking just right and you go around the corner on two wheels with a .........  ....... from ear to ear.

It's easier on a bent trike as the CofG is lower so slightly more leaway.


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## 404 Not Found Anywhere (10 Aug 2017)

I tried fitting the Tektro to my Ken Rogers Clubman trike. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to reach the rim. At present it has a cantilever brake on the front and a pretty hopeless hub brake on the rear axle (it's a two wheel drive machine with differential). Next plan is to build up a new front wheel with a well run-in Sachs hub brake. 

Upright trikes are tricky machines, they bite!


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## PMarkey (11 Aug 2017)

You could try a dropper plate as pictured for the rear brake or if it's only just not reaching the rim file the slots,just make sure you use something decent for the dropper plate,a brake arm sawn off an old brake was suggested on the on3wheels forum @404 Not Found Anywhere.Out of interest does your Ken Rogers have a Trykit conversion for two wheel drive ?







fixedfixer said:


> @PMarkey. I was wondering how much improvement you have now the brakes have had the opportunity to bed in a bit? Any recommendations on pads that seem to have more 'bite' to them? I've a lacklustre long arm Caliper on the rear of a home built LWB recumbent.



Not had the chance to get out on the trike much due to still recovering from my crash but the few short spins round the block show a marked improvement over the old centre pulls but I am considering switching out the front brake of the pair for a modern twin pivot sidepull to see if that gives more stopping power,another option is to go over to salmon koolstop brake blocks @fixedfixer as blocks on at the moment are just something they had in the local bike shop in lieu of koolstops.


Paul


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## Slogger (5 Sep 2017)

Would that not heat up the rim when going down a Lonnnnggg winding road with the consequence of a tyre popping off ...


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## 404 Not Found Anywhere (5 Sep 2017)

My KR has an original differential (and the hub brake appears welded on to the differential shell). The Trykit system uses twin freewheels/freehub bodies, I think - they work quite differently. A diff' drives faster moving wheel, a double freewheel the slower moving one.

Didn't think of the dropper plate, it's worth a try. I did try filing the slots but it still didn't reach.


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