Brakes on a 24"?

I am hoping to get a new 24" Muni in a couple of months, and I am
looking at a 24" Kris Holm, or an Onza 24".

If I go for the Onza, I can afford a Magura brake on it, but if I go for
the Kris Holm I will have to wait a couple of months for a brake.

I am starting to ride up and down steeper hills now, which is why I am
planning an upgrade from my Pashley 26" Muni. The Onza has 165mm cranks
and a 2.6" tyre, and the normal Kris Holm has a 3" tyre with 170mm
cranks, I thought that both would be good choices for me.

What do you think?

The Onza with brakes, or the Kris Holm without?

Innes


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So you wouldn't use a brake at all?


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Get the KH/Onza 2005. It has the 165s, which will be better than 170s,
and also the 3" tire. I ride down plenty of steep hills, and I have
never ridden brakes. Also, you don't need to buy a new magura. Just
check ebay, they go for about $20-30 all the time.


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I've got the 2005 KH and my mate has the new onza. After riding them
both I'd say go with the KH...Fat tyre fun! And you get the comfiness of
the rail adaptor. I got a magura brake on e bay a few weeks ago for £30
and there were a few being sold.

Kit


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I have only bumped into a single trail (about 20 feet long) where I
hoped for a "break" (pun intended, not bone - just that the trail let up
a bit).

My guess is that you should forgo the brake until you are riding at the
level that requires one: or at the level of the best riders.

I have heard others say they are greatful they had a brake - and that
they used it, but I noted that they didn't do anything on the trail that
wasn't done by a dozen others sans brake.

(My thinking is only 2 types of people use em: Guys that need them for
riding terrain that I wouldn't walk down, and older men who must "save
their legs from falling off").

Methinks you'll be extremely happy with the KH2005.


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It really depends on the type of trails in your area and the style of
riding that you do.

I have a Magura brake on my Coker and I love it and use it lots. It is
so nice to be able to put a little drag on the wheel when doing downhill
on a Coker. It helps maintain control and it can save your legs if
you've got lots of downhill to do. I don't *need* the brake on my
Coker, but it sure is nice to have.

I don't have a brake on my muni and I hardly ever miss it. Well
actually I do have a brake for it, but the brake is sitting in the parts
closet. I prefer not to have it installed.

On a muni there are two situations where a brake is handy or necessary:
downhill assist to save your legs and technical areas on the trail where
a brake makes a section of trail possible. I have run in to very very
few places where a brake was necessary for a section of trail due to the
technical features of the trail. But that depends on where you ride.
Around my area there are very few places where a brake is necessary to
ride a section of trail. If I was riding the Vancouver North Shore
regularly I would certainly install a brake. But I don't ride those
types of steep technical trails often (hardly at all) so I've rarely
found a need for the brake.

At the California Muni Weekend two years ago we rode the Downieville
trail. It's a long downhill trail. The people with a brake were
walking normally the next day. The people without a brake were
generally sore and walking funny the next day. A brake would have been
nice there, but it wasn't necessary to be able to do the ride.

I went riding with Jagur in Falls City. There are two areas on the
trail there where a brake is a very good thing. One place is a steep
downhill with a two or three foot drop at the top. You can ride the
downhill without a brake if you don't take the drop. If you take the
drop you need the brake because the momentum from the drop will get you
going too fast on the downhill to be able to control. If you do the
drop you have to apply the brake immediately when you land and then
still pedal madly to keep up with the uni. But those situations don't
come up very often for me. Not often enough for me to bother with a
brake.

A brake comes with it's set of problems.
- A little bit of extra weight
- More maintenance to keep the brake working
- Needing to keep the wheel perfectly trued so it doesn't rub the brake
pads
- The risk of breaking the brake lever

The brake lever is somewhat exposed and if the uni falls just right it
can break the brake lever off. You can adjust things so that the front
of the seat hits the ground first and protects the brake lever. But
that only works on smooth ground. Often you don't drop the muni on the
smooth parts of the trail If the trail is rocky or rooty or otherwise
uneven it is possible for the brake lever to hit a rock or a root and
break off. If you use the brake regularly then it's worth the risk. If
you rarely use the brake then I don't find it worth the risk of breaking
the brake lever.

You can actually ride quite steep stuff without a brake. You just have
to take it slow. It's when the steep downhill bits get technical that
the brake becomes needed. And when it gets really really steep a brake
is needed.

At the muni weekends some of the people with a brake are looking for
places to ride that require a brake. Often those opportunities are
off-trail. For example they'll find a steep rock face and try to ride
down. If that's your game then you're going to need a brake. The
off-trail opportunities like that are usually more extreme than the
on-trail opportunities.

So it really depends on where you ride. You can always add the brake
later. No need to get it right off the bat. Try riding without the
brake and see how it goes. If you're riding stuff where you can't
maintain control on the downhill bits then get the brake.


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YEAH!! FAT TIRE FUN!!! I have a 05 muni with brake and I have become
even dumber because it just pumps you with confidence so yeah go with
the KH


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john_childs wrote:
*
At the muni weekends some of the people with a brake are ooking for
places to ride that require a brake. Often those opportunities are
off-trail. For example they'll find a steep rock face and try to ride
down. If that's your game then you're going to need a brake. The
off-trail opportunities like that are usually more extreme than the
on-trail opportunities.

So it really depends on where you ride. You can always add the brake
later. No need to get it right off the bat. Try riding without the
brake and see how it goes. If you're riding stuff where you can't
maintain control on the downhill bits then get the brake. *


I'd agree with most of what John said. Most mountain bike trails don't
require a brake, whereas some off-trail play bits would be nice with
one. I think in many cases people use a brake as a crutch to avoid
learning to ride steep downhills properly. I think some people nowadays
get brakes straight off so miss out on learning the base skills, which
means they're just using brakes to ride the same trails as the brakeless
people, whereas good riders with brakes can ride stuff that's just way
beyond that.

The other thing is that it depends how much challenge you want, I
borrowed a brake equipped muni to have a go at a steep bit the other day
and it was just so so easy, I'd say on that particular bit it required
less skill to ride down with a brake equipped muni that it would have on
a bike, let alone on a normal muni.

Brakes are mostly useful if you're in seriously big hills, I did two
3000 foot hills in a day once, and it would have been nice to have a
brake as I was aching quite a lot after about 6000 feet of descending.
After a week of those sort of hills I was really feeling it. If you're
up in the Cairngorms riding down Munros, a brake would be handy.

Joe


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Innes, man!

I don't think a brake is necesssary.
I'v got an onza 24" with no brake. I learned to unicycle on it and then
learned to go off-road on it.
I reckon not having a brake will make you a better rider.
Maybe it will help on super-steep, super-technical bits, but how often
do you find them in Scotland? I've never found one!

The 2.6 tyre it comes with is a good, good tyre. When it wears out, get
a Halo Contra or Nokian Gazzalodi (both 3inches wide).

165mm cranks are plenty long enough for Scotland, and they help for
downhill by being so long - you get loads of control with them.

I've rode with folk with brakes but I did everything they did no
bother.

Hope there's some help in there somewhere!

Oh aye, go for the Onza! Cheaper and better looking than the KH. Also
the rim that comes on the Onza is awesome, its so big! I'v done 1m
drops with the tyre too flat and the rim hitting the ground and no
damage came of it whatsoever!

T.


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99% of my riding is done without a brake, but I do enjoy having during
that other 1%


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