hydraulic disc brake actuated by Ergopowers
Hello Andy l..
You really made a brilliant job, especially on the cranckset.
I also tried to actuate hydraulic disc brakes via road integrated controls but I didn't obtained a nice bike as yours.
Anyway I'm pleased to share what I did, so I'll decribe my job.
My leading idea was that brake cable coming from road integrated controls had to pull the hydraulic disc brake lever; so I obtained two pairs of brake levers, the road integrated control one placed on the drops and the second on the handlebar’s center, like some CX bikes.
Here is the list of components I assembled to actuate hydraulic disc brakes; that will make easier any technical explanation:
- one common straight MTB handlebar;
- Origin 8 drop bar ends;
- 2 Avid Rollamagic;
- 2 CLB Tech One;
- 1997 Campagnolo Record/Athena ergopowers;
- 1999 Formula IS disc brakeset with 185mm rotors.
Common ATB brake levers do not fit a common road handlebar so I mounted a common straight MTB handlebar and added Origin 8 drop bar ends to emulate a road bike position.
Probably this inconvenience can be solved by using some hydraulic disc brake levers with opening clamps.
The main problem I had to handle during assembling was the shortness of brake cable amount pulled by Ergopowers with respect to the amount I needed to actuate disc brake levers; to solve that inconvenience
1) I placed one CLB Tech One along each cable path: it is like Problem Solver Travel Agent, i.e. it increases the amount of pulled cable;
2) I avoided to waste even one millimeter of pulled cable by using Nokon compressionless housings and Avid Rollamagic for the 90° brake cable deviaton toward Formula brake levers;
3) I used a slim derailleur cable instead of a thicker brake cable to obtain a better fitting around the CLB Tech One internal pulley: in fact slim cables are more flexible. Derailleurs cables have a smaller head so I added a common nipple to the cable’s head to fit it into its brake lever seat;
4) I locked the brake cable end as near as possible to the hydraulic brake lever’s fulcrum; this also allowed not to obstacolate fingers while pressing the hydraulic brake lever.
The outcome of my assembly was good but not as outstanding as I expected; the reason is Formula hydraulic brake set was poor and outdated; in my next project I’ll buy a new hydraulic disc brakeset to obtain a greater stopping power with a little finger effort.
The assembly itself was very good with a reliable braking feeling on Ergopowers levers, but – of course - the handlebar was a bit heavy because of all these components on it.