The rise & fall of U-Brakes (?)

[RetroDavy]

Ha that's one u brake problem I've thankfully not had

I always swapped the main cable to a standard one so much more modulation/feel than the standard Shimano one at iirc 2mm..... you could tow a truck with that!

This is true. I've got a couple of bikes (Muddy Fox Roadrunner and Specialized Hard Rock) with the original thick cable and a Giant Super Sierra with a cut down standard cable and I think the Giant's brake has more finesse.

They are all 1987 bikes: the golden era of U brakes, if a single model year could ever be an era. The Muddy Fox is the only bike I've ever owned from new and was the typical 'grow into it' sizing. Eventually, I did.

From a friend who had a specialized stumpjumper comp with them bitd, he reckoned without regular maintenance and careful watching they had a tendency to eat tyres. As they wear, the blocks move towards the tyre, while cantilever brakes moved spoke-wards as they wore.

And this is very true. As an impetuous teenager, I needed to slam on the brakes whilst following too fast and close behind a bus down a hill in Upton, Wirral when it stopped - predictably enough - at a bus stop. The tyre on my Muddy Fox burst, loudly, when the brake pads were pulled into it. I ended up jammed down the side of the bus and the kerb without any serious damage.

 

[pw_pw_la]

U's were pretty much done by the time I started dipping my toe into MTB back in the day.

Right now I don't have a bike with them on, but, weirdly, two recent purchases both have rear U/Cam bosses, and both the same brake installed back there already!

Not technically a U though, but a scissor.

And I'm very much looking forward to working them out and seeing how they perform out there in the wild...

Neither are chainstay mounted, either. Both are on the seat stays. Which I prefer because brakes are my favorite component of all, and I always thought it was a shame when they got hidden away under the bike!

 

[IJohnson]

Still common on BMX bikes though.
The thing I've found with U's and cant'is is that set-up is key if you want decent performance. The main benefit of V-brakes is that they are much easier to set-up and still perform well.

 

[FluffyChicken]

They're pretty much road style brakes put onto an ATB, central pull rather than side pull and work great unless you live in the UK where we have mud.
In fact you can still get similar for road with the centre style, some I've seen recently now use a Vbrake noodle to pull over the top. (TRP?)

Of course V come after U (just in case you didn't realise the naming).

Canti's just evolved to super low profile designs (M900/DC987 etc) and worked in a wider range of setups and had the clearance so Us where dropped in favour of these. Let along the weight saving.

And levers improved to give profiling on the pull which to me was the biggest improvement.

 

[trailwright]

Lovely if set up properly...

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Lovely if set up properly...
View attachment 618044

Oh wham bam thank you mam .....feel free to show the rest

 

[pw_pw_la]

Yeah, that's pretty much a perfect example, captured in a perfect photo.

Something very pleasing about all the crisscrossing lines!

 

[JCS]

Some nice stories and pics in the thread.

I think I need an 87/88 bike in my life with chainstay mounted U-brake and full on biopace chain rings. Retro tastic

 

[legrandefromage]

Dont forget the brief life of the roller-cam

 

[legrandefromage]

They were great in the dusty dry USA but crap everywhere else that had any sort of dampness.