Paul motolite reviews?

[Justin Schoop]

Thinking about upgrading to the Paul motolite brakes but would love to hear opinions of them. Thanks!

[John McBurney]

I’ve got motolites on my Bombadil and they are great. On my 650b bike with Paul levers they are very strong and modulate well. They are very adjustable including toe in. Because of the range of adjustment you can use them on a variety wheels and bikes. It might be possible to run both 650b and 700c wheels on some frames with this rim brake but please confirm that. 

Plus they exude hand made quality. 

My 2 cents 

John

On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 7:13 PM Justin Schoop <schoop...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thinking about upgrading to the Paul motolite brakes but would love to hear opinions of them. Thanks!

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[Justin Schoop]

John,

Thanks. They would be going in my canti Saluki. Every Paul product I've had has been great, I just need to bite the bullet and order them.

[Chris L]

I have a set on the front of my Hunqapillar and I basically view it as "bling" for my bike.  I can't tell that it stops any better than the Deore V-brake it replaced, one of the bolts has to be tightened really tight to keep the spring pressure from loosening it and it squeals loud enough to wake the dead.  I thought linear pull brakes don't need toe-in but I guess this one does.  I am using this with a Deore brake lever.  

What I really want is mini-moto's (love the look) but I wasn't willing to give up tire clearance so I bought the Motolite as a way to dip my foot into the pond.  

I am impressed by the quality of the parts and the ability to rebuild the brake forever.  They are light and I honestly thought parts of it were made from plastic!  

Knowing what I know now, would I buy it again, or will I buy another for the rear?  Maybe.  I'm starting to think that wide profile cantilevers look even better than the motolites.

[Kainalu V. -Brooklyn NY]

They're the absolute best brakes ever. The adjustability is second to none, easy, solid, precise. The release is quick and easy. They look weird, which is a plus. There's nothing else that comes close, I just wish they were free.
-Kai

[Deacon Patrick]

Could someone measure their clearance height for me please? Center of brake post mount to bottom of the brake bridge/cable attachment thingy please.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Deacon Patrick]

Looking at the video on their site, it looks like 95mm, but it's hard to see.

With abandon,
Patrick

[Drw]

Spectacular brakes. Can’t say they stop significantly better than deore v’s, but they definitely adjust and modulate better. Best brakes I’ve ever used in setup and function. If I was rich and smart, I’d probably start stockpiling them.

[Chris L]

I'm not very good at doing precision measurements but 95mm is in the ball park and is probably a tiny bit conservative.  The motolite has the cable attachment at the top of the pinch bolt, rather than at the bottom like the mini moto.  

The photo I posted in this thread is with Maxxis Torch 29'er tires, which are listed as 50mm but they are tall and there is plenty of clearance.   Also, in that photo the bike is leaning against the front brake cable, which is making the cable droop, instead of being level. 

This photo gives a good view of the clearance with the Torch tires;

[Justin Schoop]

Would the cable and pully at the top get in the way of mounting a nitto mini front rack?

[Rob Kristoff]

Chris,
Please let me know if you ever decide to switch to cantis and want to sell the motolites.

Rob

[phil k]

Paul motolites are very powerful brakes. I had them on my Hunqapillar a couple of years ago. It's one of the most powerful mechanical brakes I've used. The response is very immediate, easy to set up. and very robust.

The flipside, when you brake it engages very quickly, giving a grabby feel. This happened even on my polished Atlas rims.

[Kieran J]

What others have said. By far the most powerful brakes amongst my bikes. They have put me over the handlebars at least once due to their brute power (and user error on my part).

KJ

[Clayton.sf]

I think this may also have something to do with the levers I used (Tektro linear drop levers), but the "grabbyness" made them almost scary offroad when I needed to slow down a little but not stop. You hit a bump which caused hands squeezing the lever just a tad more and the wheels would temporarily lock up. Never crashed because of it but did switch back to cantis after a few sketchy incidents. I really like the mini motos which exhibit none of the "on/off" characteristics for me but offer excellent power when needed and plenty of modulations to control speed (tire choice is more limited though). Again, my experience with the Motolites may have been lever related and could likely be further changed with different pads (I used the stock thinlines).

Clayton Scott

HBG, CA

[Drw]

if you are using a rack that needs the fork crown hole, yes. it will likely be in the way. Ive had them on 2 bikes and the cable directly crosses that hole. With a diving board attachment you could likely go over or under with a little bending though. 

[Adam Leibow]

they're good. buy them

On Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 4:13:12 PM UTC-7, Justin Schoop wrote:

[Justin Schoop]

Yeah, my only concern is my rack interfering with the cable that crosses over the tire. But I want to keep v brakes instead of switching to cantis.

[Justin Schoop]

Found this while searching online. The brake noodle thing and cable seem to clear that rack which is somewhat similar to the nitto mini. I think I'm going to order them and try to make it work. 

[Chris L]

On mine, the tip of the frame holding the noodle is in front of the mounting bolt in the fork crown for my light.  When I pull the brake lever, the bolt is completely covered by the noodle frame.

[Chris L]

I remember reading somewhere where Grant talks about putting the hole in the fork crown in a different location (higher?) than most other bike designers.  I don't think there is any way the set-up of the blue bike with a rack could work with the motolite on my Hunqapillar. 

[Justin Schoop]

The more I look and measure I don't think they will work on my saluki while using the nitto mini from rack. I guess I'll have to change to neo retro cantis if I want paul brakes.

[Drw]

A marks rack’s diving board could be bent at a right angle to hook above or below the cable. I’ve done it with a pass and stow rack and marks rack fairly easily....usually above the cable I think.

[Justin Schoop]

I'm happy with my mini rack/fender/Docena set up. So I went ahead and ordered neo retros and canti levers.

[jandrews]

Anyone using these with Drops and are happy with your Motolite / Lever combination ?

[phil k]

Good choice Justin. The Motolites will not clear fork crown hole to use with mini racks.

[Adam Leibow]

Dia Compe makes the only aesthetically acceptable long pull drop bar brake lever IMO. 

[jandrews]

yeah that's what I'm realizing...I don't want to order a set from Overseas...they can be quite pricey.

I like that they can be found with brown hoods with a little sleuthing though.