# Installing rear brake on Chines TT frame on bracket



## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

Hi,

Please some advice how to mount and which type is preferred for a rear brake on a chinese FM-028 TT frame. It doesn't have a hole on the normal position for mounting the brake there, so I suppose I've got to do it at the bottom bracket.

Thanks in advance !

Kristof


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## frdfandc (Nov 27, 2007)

Are you trying to use a standard road caliper or one specific for TT bikes?

If it doesn't have a standard brake mount area at the top of the wheel arch, and can only be mounted at the bottom bracket, I'm pretty sure you need this type of brake caliper.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/categ...s/product/oval-concepts-a700-aero-brakes-8983


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## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

THanks,

I've figured out that the Tektro T725 should also do the job.

The mounting at the bottom bracket looks like this:

I don't see any thread in the center hole.


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## reptilezs (Aug 21, 2007)

unscrew the 2 hex bolts, mount a std rear brake and screw the bracket back in


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## frdfandc (Nov 27, 2007)

Standard rear brake will run into clearance issues. I built a Mercury TT frame up a few months back and found that a standard rear brake caliper does not mount there correctly when the crank is installed


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## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

*SRAM Force ?*

Somebody any experience with SRAM Force and this kind of mounting ?

I'll think I'd better play for save and use the Tektro R725


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## frdfandc (Nov 27, 2007)

The Force calipers are a standard caliper. Just get the aero style caliper and hook it up. Its all about crank clearance.


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## Puke N Hurl (Dec 22, 2009)

kristofpoppe said:


> THanks,
> 
> I've figured out that the Tektro T725 should also do the job.
> 
> ...


This looks like a cable stop for the front derailleur. You can try any of the suggestions listed but I would be suprised that, assuming it _is_ a cable stop, that the stay's layup was designed to carry braking loads.

Hope you had a good price on that bad boy for the headache is it providing...especially if you can't mount a brake to it.


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## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

*Everytihing is clear now*

Everything seems clear now.

I have to unscrew the two hex bolts and mount a tektro R725 rearbrake on the carrying plate. When this is done, just attach both brake and mounting plate with the two hex bolts.

The only speciality is that you can't use any kind of conventional rear brake. It has to be one without a pivot-arm. 

Tektro R725 and Oval Concepts A700 should do the job.

If anybody needs pictures of the mounting procedure, I'll be glad to post them when my tektro's arrive by airmail.


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## carelgrundlingh (Nov 30, 2010)

@kristofpoppe: where did you order it from? At what price? I would seriously like pics please, I'm looking into buying exactly that frame, but am a bit worried about finding a brake.


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## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

carelgrundlingh said:


> @kristofpoppe: where did you order it from? At what price? I would seriously like pics please, I'm looking into buying exactly that frame, but am a bit worried about finding a brake.


I have the frame at home, the tektro's are on their way.

I live in Belgium, but bought them on EBAY in the USA. (75 USD).
There're not hard to find. In Europe I've found serveral online shops for them, all about 78 EUR for the complete set.

I expect the delivery end of next week and keep you informed about the mounting.


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## carelgrundlingh (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks kristofpoppe! I'll have to go the Ebay route as well, I live in South Africa, and can't find any of those around here. PLEASE post some pics when you've installed it.


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## carelgrundlingh (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks kristofpoppe! I'll have to go the Ebay route as well, I live in South Africa, and can't find any of those around here. PLEASE post some pics when you've installed it.:thumbsup:


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## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

carelgrundlingh said:


> Thanks kristofpoppe! I'll have to go the Ebay route as well, I live in South Africa, and can't find any of those around here. PLEASE post some pics when you've installed it.:thumbsup:


Hi, I finally got the time to post some pics. Installation is straight forward. Remove the aluminium mount-pad. Wrench it to the short center bolt of the brake. Pics should be self-explaining. If there is some clarification needed, please let me know !


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## carelgrundlingh (Nov 30, 2010)

Thanks kristofpoppe! I'm eagerly awaiting mine!! How 'bout a pic of the whole bike built up when you have the time....?


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## jwp3476 (Jun 22, 2010)

carelgrundlingh said:


> Thanks kristofpoppe! I'm eagerly awaiting mine!! How 'bout a pic of the whole bike built up when you have the time....?


+1 for the pic. I want to see how the noodle routes by the chainrings.


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## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

jwp3476 said:


> +1 for the pic. I want to see how the noodle routes by the chainrings.


Waitig for some final components.
I'll post a pic when it's finished.
I had to change the inlet of the cable. Just inter-changed the inlet and the part where the brake-cable is mounted on the caliper.


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## jwp3476 (Jun 22, 2010)

kristofpoppe said:


> Waitig for some final components.
> I'll post a pic when it's finished.
> I had to change the inlet of the cable. Just inter-changed the inlet and the part where the brake-cable is mounted on the caliper.


Right, both arms are designed to hold the noodle and clamp. Did you buy the front brake too and will it install behind the fork without touching the frame? 
The pic is of my Aegis Zaero with those brakes.


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## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

jwp3476 said:


> Right, both arms are designed to hold the noodle and clamp. Did you buy the front brake too and will it install behind the fork without touching the frame?
> The pic is of my Aegis Zaero with those brakes.


I was not able to use the front brake at the back of the fork.
The shape of the frork doesn't allow any type of brake mounted at the rear-side.
So I ordered a common tektro frontbrake to do the job.


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## kristofpoppe (Sep 22, 2010)

Here are some pictures of the final assembly.


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## langy1976 (Feb 15, 2006)

Looks really good Krisofpoppe.

I too am looking at getting a new TT frame and am very tempted to go down the Chinese route as the prices are so good.

Have a couple of questions that if you don't mind answering would be most grateful.

1) What is the clearance like between the rear tyre and the frame, I know that the rear stays aren't adjustable which to me is a bit of a shame. But want to check that the tyre doesn't get too close to the frame, then again I don't want a massive gap between the tyre and frame.

2) Did you get the frame painted by the supplier in China or did you get it done locally? If in China what do you think of the quality from the couple of shots you have posted it looks good quality.

3) which supplier in China did you use?

4) Did you by chance weigh the frame and fork when it arrived, I know that weight is not the primary concern for a TT bike but you don't want something that is stupidly heavy do you.

Thanks in advance 

Al


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## zender (Jun 20, 2009)

1) The rear dropouts are horizontal. With a Renn disc and 23mm tubular, about 3mm of clearance. Since they're horizontal, you can adjust as needed. As an added bonus, you can turn this into a single speed without much trouble.

2) I tried with the center pull Tektro brake, and even though braking isn't usually a huge issue in a (flat) TT/Tri, it's still disconcerting if the front brake is strong and the rear is essentially non-functional. The problem is the cabling setup really needs a stop after the cable exits the frame. So, I finally went with the Simkins egg brake, as have others on this forum, works very nicely. Might eventually replace the front with one just to match. 

Off topic: I'm not feeling the fake Cervelo decaling. Look at it this way, anyone who knows what a P3 is can tell this isn't one, so who is being fooled?


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## ChronoFish (May 20, 2010)

*Second year on this bike*

Hello,

I have the same bike and I am riding it for a second season. I ended up going with the Tektro center-pull break and to support the brake I routed the cable through a 1" section of PVC tubing with a hole drilled perpendicular and close to the top. 

Sounds silly I realize, but it was a free solution. Basically this allows the brake cable to stay in-line with the brake and removes the slack. 

This year I went a bit further and created a carbon stay for the brake cable. This has made the brake nice and tight and doesn't require a huge "noodle" like you see on the Specialized Transition (which also have stays to keep the cable at the correct angle to the brake). 

I still can't lock up the rear wheel at speed, but that seems to be a common issue with most center pull brakes/bottom mounted brakes.

Also, my comments about the bike in general: It feels much more efficient than my Quintana Roo Kilo. It's a very quite bike and smooth ride. Feels solid and fast. It corners a bit sharper than my Kilo as well. 

THIS IS A KIT BIKE. What I mean by that is this. It's a lot of work to build up. It's not a matter of just slapping the parts on. I spent a lot of time sanding (mostly the handlebars that I got from the same place - Great Keen) - measuring and cutting (I got the seat mast version - so I had to cut the seat mast down, the bar ends down, and the fork) But I enjoyed doing all that - just know that before you dive in. I don't have a big bike budget (had to replace the Kilo because the derailleur hanger - integrated on the bike - broke) so I did approach this project as cost saver. I was able to transfer most of the parts over and have begun replacing them as the money trickles in.

-CF


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## andresmunoz (Dec 22, 2011)

I have a chinese FM-028 TT frame, and the bottom mounted rear brake does not have any breaking power at speed (and I'm not quick!). So far I have used Tektro R725R & T726R brake calipers, and the resulting performance is the same... NONE.

Note that I can lock the wheel at very low speeds, so the braking is there... just nowere to be found at speed... maybe it jumps off the bike past 10km/h?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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## JimP (Dec 18, 2001)

Have you changed the Tectro pads? They didn't provide much stopping power for me. I am using Swiss Stop yellow pads which are much better. The combination of Tectro calipers and TT levers do leave a lot to be desired so I wouldn't want to descend in the mountains with them.


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## zender (Jun 20, 2009)

JimP is right that the TT brake levers aren't helping matters or carbon braking surfaces in some of our cases. As I posted in a few other spots, I went with the Simkins egg brake and it at least gives enough braking power to not be completely unsafe.

The new FM069 looks like it has recessed front AND rear brakes so it'll be interesting to hear some reviews of how that fares. From the pics, it looks like they're cantilever, though, so I'm optimistic they will work better (or if the're good cantilevers TOO well and crush some carbon rims!).


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## andresmunoz (Dec 22, 2011)

JimP said:


> Have you changed the Tectro pads?


Yes, I have replaced with both Shimano and JetBlack ones... with same results. almost no braking at all :mad2:


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## andresmunoz (Dec 22, 2011)

*Fixed it !*

The cause for lack of braking power, I think, was that the slack caused by the flexible pipe of the R725 when pulling the brakes, so I sourced a v-brake pipe (pictured below) and bend it to match my needs.










And the end result



















I still cannot lock the wheel at speed, but it now brakes... a lot... it even stops the bike!!!
I believe on a wet road it will lock the wheel, so I'm now happy with the results.

Hope this helps


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## andresmunoz (Dec 22, 2011)

Just tested this... it does lock the wheel on a wet road.


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## andresmunoz (Dec 22, 2011)

BTW, I'm selling a second hand Tektro T725 Centre pull brake which obviously I no longer have use for. I have it for sale on ebay. Item 200786395483.


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## andresmunoz (Dec 22, 2011)

Further to this... functional brakes are the most important safety feature of any bike, so substandard braking was a NO NO for me, so much that I was considering replace the frame with one with conventional rear brake mount... but before that, I decided to give it one more go, so I replaced the rear brake with Simkins Design's EGG brake... NOW that's stopping power. FINALLY! I cannot speak highly enough about them, great manufacturing quality, and amazing stopping power. And they look really cool... so much I'll be replacing the brakes on all my bikes 
I hope this helps anyone having the same braking issues I did.

Egg brake is the way to go.


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## zender (Jun 20, 2009)

The egg brake. It really is a beautiful piece, I agree. I was tempted to get one for the front to match, but the whole point of that TT build was to do it on the cheap and the Egg brake is definitely not that. They are "keepers" though, probably outlast the bike.


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