Upgrading the brakes

I mentioned in a previous post the trouble I initially had with the front disc brakes. Though eventually rectified, Simon from the local bike shop recently suggested an upgrade. He had just put a pair of Avid BB7s on a 'dog trike' for a mate (scroll down to March 2009 from the link to see the trike) and was raving about them. Besides amazing stopping power these brakes are easy to adjust via knobs that are 'indexed' (ie you can adjust them one 'click' at a time). Simon had also sourced a brake lever that applies pulling power directly to both cables ie two cables going to each disc brake from a single handle. At present the brake handle on the trike pulls one cable-

with this cable then going to a 'splitter' which is positioned under the box. From the splitter, separate cables go to each disc brake on the front wheels-

I should point out that when we originally received the trike the cable run was slightly different with the 'splitter' off to one side. The cable run was modified when we were troubleshooting the original brake problem. Tomorrow the trike is off to the shop for its brake makeover - stay tuned!

And while I think of it this is a good time to point out one other feature of the bike - the fact you can tip it onto the front box to allow easy access for repairs or adjustments to the gears, brakes, crank etc.

It balances quite nicely though you should position it so the rear wheel rests close to a wall to be extra safe from having it tip over!