Improvements On Magura Levers

[Dr. Nick Riviera]

righty ho , im looking for any major improvements that could be made upon the 04 style magura hs33 levers

'cause the only major things i can pick out is the TPA reliability amd the strength issues ( due to all the impuritys in the metal of the lever body ) .

i was planning on not making it from cheese to start with , and a tpa simliar to the rb one.

all other suggestions are welcome

cheers

charlie

[skandy32]

you making your own lever? or customising an 04 one?

could just get an 05 lever!

[Todge]

Theres an infinite amount of improvements that can be made. Magura levers are crude overcomplicated things. >_<

[Dr. Nick Riviera]

well then? elaborate!

im making my own

[Todge]

Most are obvious.

[Heatsink]

1. Look to improve the leverage alittle by examining the RB lever geometry (relative position from the pivot point of the finger and the point which pushes the piston) popularily retro-fitted into Magura bodies.

2. Have a think about alternative TPA designs, the pros/cons of the 04 Maggies style, RB style and 05 Maggies style

3. Avoid any shape edges on the rear of the finger of the lever. One pair of CNCed 04 levers I had featured sharps edges which I didn't like

4. Find a good balance between weight and strength/stiffness in the pull direction - Ensure that you can actually make this shape!

5. Make the lever locate more like a pocket around the finger cf. RB levers for Trials specific one finger braking.

6. Try different colours.

7. Try different shapes for the platform that you finger sits on - I wasn't a fan of the completely flat portion on the CNCed lever versus the curved form of the previous one I had.

You could try looking at the design from a point of view of common failures, and make the lever more robust, so that inconjunction with running the lever not to rigidly attached to the bars, the lever could spin on the bars under shock rather than break. Example failure: Torn eyelets on lever which could be made more robust by adding more material. Easy to break these too if the pivot bolt works its way free and so the braking forces are all on one side rather than being shared across the two eyelets. This is how my last lever went. The TPA has just broken on the replacement!

Steve

[Dr. Nick Riviera]

^^

does this guy know how to party or what >_<

Edited December 5, 2005 by Charel

[Heatsink]

I found all my levers in the shed, so I thought I'd take a snap:

Moving away from the camera we have 3 different Pre 2005 levers, an RB and a 2005 lever.

I think the 3 Pre 2005 levers are in chronological order of manufacure moving away from the camera.

• The nearest I tore the eyelets out when the bolt connecting it to the lever body came loose enough to put all the lever stress on one side only.
  
• The next was the one I was running until the other night when the TPA snapped inside the lever
  
• The third is the CNCed version with the nasty sharp edges on the underside, which had the eyelets torn out when it hit a pallet on a sidehop bail at DJ's 2nd ride.
  

They all look longer nearer the camera but it's just the camera shot! Note the increased length of the RB lever. Interestingly the 2005 Magura has a similar leverage increase to the RB compared to the pre 2005 levers.

Steve

[Ali C]

steve puts some good points across, you wont go far wrong listening to him.

If I were to make a lever I would:

Make it out of decent material, maybe cnc like hope, or nicley forged like shimano

Make the pivot closer to the bar (like the avid juicy lever) it just feels soooo much better!

Make the lever blade a bit longer and specific to 1 finger design (like rb I guess) and as steve said no sharp edges

give it a split clamp, or maybe have it so it uses two quick release zip ties to hold it on.

make it symectical on either side so it can be used as a front or rear lever

maybe a smaller piston size (not by much)

have ball bearings on the pivot like ultimate levers

annodized

ti hardwear where possible

maggies seem to have decent seals, I also really like the 04 tpa, not had a problem with one since I knew not to over tighten it 4 years ago.

excellent :)

[Heatsink]

If you're also talking about the lever body and the internals, I'd say that these seem to be well designed since they are very reliable. Compare the rare leak problems with the problematic RB version!

One thing I don't like is the way Magura have used non standard tube fittings and hose sizes so that they can protect the control of spares and charge over the odds for them. I guess it makes sense from a business point of view, but some of the spares are being sold at a crazy mark up.

Also, when I was putting together my bleed kits I found that they don't sell in bulk direct to shops that don't have a premises, so meaning I couldn't buy them at the bulk price. I questioned whether this was still valid in this day and age to Magura UK in my politest voice, and the bloke became rather curt and rude. Not my favourite dealers!

Steve