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Our youngest has just got the riding bug, so today we hit the easier trails at Leigh Woods near Bristol. She did incredibly well given that she couldn't ride two weeks ago, and the bumps/ruts didn't phase her nearly as much as I expected. However, it's the first time that she's encountered a moderately steep slope, and she just couldn't stop... being the exemplar parent that I am, I made sure that I got enough footage to get her on YBF before launching after her.
She's on a Ridgeback 12" bike with horrid plastic brakes. Not sure of the make, but they are reach adjustable and t.b.h. they are pretty light to activate. I've noticed in the past that she has difficulty with them, so I set them up to run very very close to the rim, and have sprayed most of a can of GT85 into the cable housing/mechanicals to reduce friction. To me they feel very slightly stiffer that her twin brother's tektro's on his Frog, and her older brother's tektro's on his Squish, but there is really not much in it.
So, in terms of improvements, changing to tektro's won't offer much advantage and so I was thinking about HS33's. It's been about 30 years since I last had a set, but I remember that they were ultra adjustable, had a very light action, and in the two finger version the lever should be short enough for a tiny hand. Has anyone gone down this route and have any experiences to share? I figure that whilst an investment, I can move them across to new bikes up until the point that she gets something fitted with disks.. at which point my wife might like them on her commuter.
Any thoughts?
Personally I’d try and get the best v brakes possible. I remembered the hs33’s as awesome so picked up a set a year or two ago for a hardtail. They needed a lot of adjustment and if you got a puncture they were a pain.
Try and find some Shimano or Avid V’s and some Shimano or avid speed dial levers. Should be plenty for a child.
Either that or bite the bullet and go discs if possible.
Thanks Joe, useful feedback.
I remember having Avid 5's once, will see if they or the big S do kids size levers.
Have you tried putting decent pads in the current brakes?
Could you get old lx / do v brake levers - the ones with the reach adjust on Allen key?