Brake Booster - Better For Frame ?

[duane]

Hi,

I have an Echo Control with built in booster, on the rear im running Dengura with the standard red pads and a very worn grind. The brakes work great, however they are generating a lot mechanical force and visibly flexing the frame. The brake stops as sharp as I want and has a good feel at the lever. I don't want to get a booster for any other reason (my ankles have enough to bash on already) but if I am significantly shortening the frame life it makes sense to get one,

What do you say ?

Thanks

Duane.

[Muel]

I say get one, the make it sooo much stiffer.

[NVWOCI WVS]

echo controls really shouldnt flex that much my friend has one that doesnt budge at all!

but if you're finding it flexy a booster might help reduce fatiuge

[steve@banbury-trials]

my pitbull was flexing a fair bit so i put on a echo control booster ,now my break feels like its attached to a iron girder wich i like.i dont think fitting a booster will damage your frame ,only possibly your ankles.

steve

[duane]

Hi,

Just to be clear, I know a booster won't damage my frame, but that constant flexing of the seat stays (can you have seat stays on a bike with no seat ?) without a booster might.

A booster makes complete sense, giving better brakes and possibly prolonging frame life, but I can live without better brakes to save the little bits of ankle skin I still have - I also like that the brakes don't have the dead feel you get from a booster.

What I can't live with is a broken frame. If noone pops up and says they have broken a control or any other frame in an area that might be brake flex related I will stay booster free.

I would also like to here from anyone that has run thier frame without a booster for any length of time without any problems.

Duane.

[2sixstreet]

Hi,

Just to be clear, I know a booster won't damage my frame, but that constant flexing of the seat stays (can you have seat stays on a bike with no seat ?) without a booster might.

A booster makes complete sense, giving better brakes and possibly prolonging frame life, but I can live without better brakes to save the little bits of ankle skin I still have - I also like that the brakes don't have the dead feel you get from a booster.

What I can't live with is a broken frame. If noone pops up and says they have broken a control or any other frame in an area that might be brake flex related I will stay booster free.

I would also like to here from anyone that has run thier frame without a booster for any length of time without any problems.

Duane.

I've been running an '06 Control for a couple of months now booster free. Like you, I dont see the need but may put an old style maggie one on there just to protect the crossover. It was Bigmans old frame which he got 2nd hand so maybe check with him if he ran a booster or not. If he didnt that would be the litmus test. The frame is showing no signs of fatigue.

[Luke Rainbird]

I've been running an '06 Control for a couple of months now booster free. Like you, I dont see the need but may put an old style maggie one on there just to protect the crossover. It was Bigmans old frame which he got 2nd hand so maybe check with him if he ran a booster or not. If he didnt that would be the litmus test. The frame is showing no signs of fatigue.

Bigman ran an XTR carbon booster as he runs vees.

However, this doesn't really help either way as vee adaptors etc all help add up to leverage for the brake, so will be different again to a maggie setup

You should be fine to run it without a booster, but with will reduce the flex and protect the crossover. Often the performance can change slightly with a booster, as well as the feel, so try one out for a bit and see what you feel like.

[Matthew_Gibson]

I ran my old echo with out a booster on and you can realy feel the difference. I now have an Adamant 2007, with the built in booster, and it needs more! The brakes didnt feel right. Put a booster on and it was fine. Just a pain to set the brakes up!

[Bigman]

I find that with a magura on an 06 control there isn't any need for a booster realy, i have found sometimes that adding a booster will only make the brake worse when the frame is so stiff to begin with, If your brake is working well without one then ignore the flex in the stays and just ride

Adam

[Greetings]

No need for a booster, it'll just get in the way of your ankles.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but are there any other riders in Dubai? Do you have a trials shop there and is it a nice place to ride?

Just watched some documentaries about the place, kinda interested

[duane]

Hi,

I might have to give in and get a booster. I looked at my pads last night and they are starting to get rounded which to me suggest the frame is flexing as the pads get dragged by the wheel - the ends of the pads are wearing down faster than the middle.

I don't know how much of this is due to frame flex and how much is just an unavoidable fact of how the magura/dengura design allows the pads to float.

Regarding Dubai, I am the only trials rider I know of, there is plenty of street furniture and loads of esplanades with sea defence rocks all along the coast. For the last two months its been too hot to ride far from the house, but for the rest of the year it will be perfect.

I went out with a local XC Club a few weeks back, it was 40 degrees when we set off for a 3 hour ride. I was suprised with the club, Dubai is full of people with top dollar FS Bikes that still step off to cross a curb, but these guys www.hotcog.com seek out technical/free ride trails of which there are some pretty good ones in the nearby Hajar mountains.

Other than that, Dubai is bonkers, I went to the beach club last week, and now there is a sea plane operating as a taxi from the beach club to whereever. You don't get many of them in Tenby.

[Krisboats]

I find that with a magura on an 06 control there isn't any need for a booster realy, i have found sometimes that adding a booster will only make the brake worse when the frame is so stiff to begin with, If your brake is working well without one then ignore the flex in the stays and just ride

Adam

This is most definately true. My rex is comepletely awful with a booster on, in fact i've never seen a rex with a decent brake using a booster. The booster makes the brake quiet, it lacks hold and the pads wear down faster. Taking the booster off immediately resolves the situation, pads make loads of noise, hold well and last longer. I havn't run a booster on my rex in ages now... although theres a slight amount of flex it isn't going to damage the frame.... at least no more than jumping up a bar height wall and dropping 6 foot off the other side

I might have to give in and get a booster. I looked at my pads last night and they are starting to get rounded which to me suggest the frame is flexing as the pads get dragged by the wheel - the ends of the pads are wearing down faster than the middle.

I don't know how much of this is due to frame flex and how much is just an unavoidable fact of how the magura/dengura design allows the pads to float.

It won't be due to frame flex, by the time the frame is flexing there should be significantly enough force applied to the rim to have stopped it... unless your flying down a hill. If its just from normal trials riding it'll be because of the pads rocking on their mount. I'd maybe suggest sanding them completely flat and setting them up nearer to the rim. Which should mean your calipers give the pads more support so they don't wobble as much.

[duane]

at least no more than jumping up a bar height wall and dropping 6 foot off the other side

As if I will ever do anything like that, more like up to curb, then drop front wheel due to complete lack of talent.

I like the way my brakes work right now and I also suspect that a little flex improves braking power by soaking up some of the vibration and allowing the pad to stay more in contact with the rim (like suspension keeping a wheel on the ground).

So thanks for the replies, I am going to stay booster free for now and will reshape the pads as suggested.

I will try a wider rim as well, with a 38mm DX32 in a control 07 with Dengura, the slave cylinders are mounted as far in as possible and I still need TPA to get the bite where I want it, that gives the rim a lot of leverage over the pads and cylinders. A wider rim should give me a bit more bounce too - woo hoo.

Thanks Duane.

[Krisboats]

I will try a wider rim as well, with a 38mm DX32 in a control 07 with Dengura, the slave cylinders are mounted as far in as possible and I still need TPA to get the bite where I want it, that gives the rim a lot of leverage over the pads and cylinders. A wider rim should give me a bit more bounce too - woo hoo.

Thanks Duane.

Yep, wider rim or tensile offset mounts'll do the job nicely.

[trialsin808]

HI i have just installed old type HS33 for rear, it is not the four bolt fitting and I have eliminated a lot of the flex by running 2 boosters. The original magura booster is where it usually goes and I also fitted a Vee type stiff cnc alloy booster with appropriate spacing to the brake bosses themselves. My vee booster has the bonus of being able to fine tune the pads via small allen screws aswell. This was all because my disc brake (which although nobody rates in this forum clim8) is in service and my tryall rim is contributing extra brake power into the frame.