Floating Brake Question...

Mason

Mason

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Ok, im very sure that everyone has herd or seen of a floating brake. I was just wondering what there power is in the biking industry. Do they just stop your bike from bobbing when you hit the binders racing? Or do they do more?
 
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belly_up

Likes Dirt
yeah, basically when you brake, the caliper will try and rotate the swing arm in the opposite direction to the wheel. Depending on the suspension design, this could either cause the suspension to compress, or to resist compression, neither of which are really desirable. It's very similar to how the relationship between the chainline and the main pivot can cause bikes to either bob, or lock out during pedalling. By having a floating brake, you i isolate all the braking forces from the suspension and feed them into the frame. This should leave the suspension to behave how it noramlly does. The other advantage of a floating brake is that it removes the forces of braking from the swingarm, reducing (to an extent, i'm not sure how much) wear on the pivots and bearings, and also possibly (i'd have to think about this a bit more when it's not 8:00 in the morning) reducing the torsional strain on the swing arm.
 
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lindsay

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Simply it stops the suspension locking out under braking. I've only ever noticed this when at Thredbo because of the foot high braking bumps coming into corners. I don't think they're necessary and they don't slow you down cause Steve Peat can win World Cups without one.
 
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belly_up

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yeah, i agree, it will only have a noticeable effect if the suspension is trying to work hard while you're braking. All that stuff i said is theoretical, and probably measureable, but as to whether you'd notice it on the track, i don't know, without trying it.
 
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belly_up

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and you'd also probably find that adjusting your suspension at the front to avoid brake dive, and keep the weight a bit more rearward would make much more difference to the effectiveness of the rear suspension under brakes than a floating caliper.
 
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frank-oi

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i actually think that they are a bit of a waste of time. when i first got my bike.singel pivot bighit. it was a liitle issue but once you get used to it it dosn't matter .now if your a rear brake happy rider then this might be more of an issue. but if you learsn how to balance the front to rear brakeing out then you mightin need it. but yes if you ride at thredbo every day then you will learn to cut the corners and ride on the grass to avode those basstade braking bumps.and yes they are a foot high.
 
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kalem

Likes Bikes and Dirt
frank-oi said:
my bike.singel pivot bighit.
Click to expand...
a big hit is a four bar horst link, ie. it's not a single pivot, it doesn't suffer from any noticable brake-jack/squat. That's why you can't get a floating brake for it.

Floating brakes can do wonders for single-pivot bikes like the super-8. orange 222 etc, i've heard many people say the difference is like night and day...
 
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frank-oi

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bro, i'm failly sure that my bike is a single pivot bike kalem. why would i say it's one in the original post .the fact that it has only one rear pivot at the back would proably mean that it only has one pivot as well.nuff said.

belly-up i doubt that they will make it again next year. or put it in it's own model range. i haven't had a great deal of great luck with it but on mtbr.com the reveiws would say other wise. cause i've already cracked one frame(in 4 months) and i'm lookin around for something to replace it when it happens again cause specizied are not exactly willing to repalce it again. oh well riding it to hard and first model runs huh.
 
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belly_up

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Sorry to hear that you havent had much luck with your frame Frank-oi, Do you think the frames are no good, or are you just riding them harder than they were intended? I guess when you call something a BigHit you're kinda asking people to hammer it anywy :D
I find it strange that they make a bike with a completely different frame to all the other BigHits, and still call it the same thing. oh well, i guess thats why i'm not a marketing person.
Any idea what you'd get to replace it?
 
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lindsay

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Floating calipers make a huge difference to single pivot bikes. It's just i think that they don't make you faster or brake jack dosn't make you slower.
 
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