I have a 1987 Specialized Hardrock that I've been doing little projects on to learn bike fixing/modding. It had its rear brakes mounted underneath the bike and it had these absolute dogshit brakes (or they might be good and beloved and I'm just too stupid to set them up right) that I finally managed to break when I had to reinstall the brakes (the spring cover fell off and in trying to put it back on, I managed to push the plate out of alignment and now I can't get it to sit right and the spring feels like it's locked in place).
I'm kinda bike dumb and learning everything as I go, so I got some Shimano Altus from a friend's parts bin, cause I thought mounting posts == mounting posts. I've found out that this was not in fact the case and that these brakes don't fit the 9mm(ish) posts (that don't have holes for the spring to go in anyway).
Now I'm just kinda stuck with the question of what kinda brakes actually do mount to these fucking things? I don't know much about rim brakes, I went through the various park tool videos on the subject and no brake type seems to match what I got. Please help?
by raevpetdeleted
9 Comments
Brakes… My old Raleigh MTB had these
that, there is a u brake mount. you’ve managed, as i did, to buy a bike from the very short period (~86-88) where U brakes were super popular on mountain bikes. There are very few manufacturers who still make them, but let me save you the goose chase and tell you to just look for BMX brakes as they’re the only style of bike who still uses the U-brake style
I had a stump from that era. What you need is U Brakes. The brakes on mine were Shimano deore but any u brake should mount up.
https://preview.redd.it/qzynv398vuif1.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=9af40657f9b03a4478b258f7101ccd9ce1294dcf
Still use
Odyssey Evo 2.5
‘86 rockhopper, still rocking the original u-brake. Iirc, there were roller-cam brakes that fit there. While they look cool, there’s potential for them to get clogged with mud.
As I recall the XT U-brake was passable. The Straight Deore was very bad. I played with it a lot to get it to work better. I understand some of the [BMX brakes](https://odysseybmx.com/2018/06/evo-2-5-brake-and-kit-available-now/) are good. Get some [compression-less housing](https://www.jagwire.com/en/article/154-587/brake-housing-5mm-keb-slick-lube).
U-brakes are the only thing that will mount up there. With a decent set of pads, and the correct (short pull) lever, they’re plenty strong for a rear brake. The only real issue with u-brakes is that they tend to accumulate a lot of crap in muddy conditions.
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