Recommend me disk brake lever

kmxtornado

10 kW
Joined
Feb 28, 2011
Messages
563
Location
Bay Area
With my cooler having been overvolted and having experienced my first crash this past weekend, I am in need of some upgraded brakes (and driving skills, but that's for another thread). Not sure I'd be replacing the entire non-hydraulic disk brake system or just changing out the lever to something that's got more pull, but I'm leaning towards the later for the time being. I might change out the whole braking system once the pads where out and the disk brake warps. For the team being, I figure I'll just change out the brake lever.

What do you guys recommend?

So far in my research, I've found:
1. Shimano Deore XT: I've bought these before for my college bike that I repainted and rebuilt. Decent.
2. Promax: Ones I have on my Catrike Speed recumbent trike. I believe the same ones are on my KMX Tornado. (haven't ridden in awhile since I had the baby).
3. Promax Click V-point: I'm just a fan of the color and have used Promax in the past.
4. 34R Clito Lever: designed for BMX bikes. Has dual cable.
5. Avid Speed Dial 7: Good price. Heard good things about it. Leaning towards this one.

These aren't necessarily ones I'm trying to pick from. They are just ones I am considering initially. If anyone has experience with levers that have great stopping power that are designed for disk brakes, please post your thoughts here. Thanks a ton.
 
I decided to go with the Avid Speed Dial 7. Not liking the grey color that much, but I've read enough positive reviews about it and the pricepoint is perfect at $17. So far the adjustments I made on the existing brake improve the braking a ton already. Always room for improvement. No plans yet on when the new brake lever will be installed, but I'll report back once I get some on-road experience with it.

Feel free to discuss any of your experiences with this brake lever or others.
 
Cool. Thanks for the resource.
 
Hey, are these levers disk brake specific at all? I wouldn't think so. I am finding that the Wuxing ones are cheesy and not near as good as even the SRAM ones that came on the bike I just got. I have cantilever brakes (RANS V2 is over a decade old) and I want rigid, strong long-throw levers and am willing to give up the brake switch (I guess) since I use throttle only, although I like having it for the minor regen my system provides.
 
Brake switches are not difficult to adapt to brake levers although they can look a bit clunky sometimes. A quick look at a pair of speed dial 7's on eBay shows they are good candidates and has prompted me to order a set as an upgrade to my stock Bafang levers. I'll order a set of Jagwires at the same time to complete the brake system upgrade: tossing the Tekro calipers for BB7s and big rotors was the first upgrade I made after adding the motor.

One tip for installation: replace the big square magnets in the kit with tiny rare earth magnets hot glued to the red adjuster knob on the lever. Very unobtrusive and very effective too, I get immediate brake cut out with a comfortable lever and good crashability on the hydraulic set I converted.
 
Hmm, after looking around - if I am going to be throwing money at this thing - I might as well go hydraulic and be done with it.

Looks interesting: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/SHIMA-M355-Modified-Hydraulic-Disc-Brake-Can-Cut-Off-Power/32416517030.html?spm=2114.01010208.8.35.RT3Kv0 I sent the seller an email to see if they can do extended wires and hoses, if so, I may be buying some disc adapters soon...
 
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