BQ 37 (Autumn 2011)

Vol. 10, No. 1

Testing Brakes

For this issue, we tested a few brakes from Velo-Orange and Eebrake. To get repeatable measurements, we designed a test protocol that also told us a lot about effective braking. For example, we found that it is impossible to lift the rear wheel even under very hard braking on a steep downhill, until the bike has slowed so much that the wind resistance no longer pushes the bike and rider backward. So the fear of “going over the bars” is mostly unfounded.

We tested a Calfee Adventure bike, which showed us that we could fall in love with a carbon bike.

We also report on our editor’s “Ultimate Custom Bike”, a machine where almost every part is custom-made. In the first part of a series, he explains why he chose a 650B bike, low-trail geometry, superlight frame tubing, and more.

Tim Bird takes us on a wonderful ramble in the Yorkshire Dales, while Jada Van Vliet reports from a high-wheeler race in New Zealand.