Which Paul brakes for a Quickbeam or Simple One?

[JohnS]

The "are Paul's brakes worth it thread" got me thinking that I should give them a try on my Quickbeam. What do people have experience with? I like the idea of using touring canti's on the rear and minimotos on the front as seen on this Rock Lobster build over on The Radivist.

https://theradavist.com/cyclofunk-single-speed-rock-lobster-cyclocross-kyle-kelley/

The only problem with that is, I'll have to get two pairs of brake levels, one short pull and one long pull. I'm planning on using Mark/noodle drop bars, so the Tektro R340 and RL520 brake levers are at reasonably priced at $30/pair.

Any suggestions are appreciated,

JohnS

[esoterica etc]

John,

The Paul Minomotos are actually short-pull calipers, so you can use the same short-pull levers that you would use with the touring/neo-retro cantilevers. The Paul Motolites are the ones that use long-pull levers. 

~Mark

Raleigh, NC

On Jan 11, 2023, at 12:57, JohnS <shar...@gmail.com> wrote:

The "are Paul's brakes worth it thread" got me thinking that I should give them a try on my Quickbeam. What do people have experience with? I like the idea of using touring canti's on the rear and minimotos on the front as seen on this Rock Lobster build over on The Radivist.

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[JohnS]

Thank you Mark, good to know.

[Drew Henson]

Also depends on if you want to run fenders. I don't think the minimotos have all that much clearance depending on tire size.

[Eliot Balogh]

Why not do the motolite V brakes ? I bet they rock

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[iamkeith]

Since the Quickbeam has a nice, built-in cable hanger at the rear (whereas the Simple One relies on an ad-on hanger installed at the seatpost clamp bolt), I think it's nice to use canti brakes.  Just my opinion.  I had wide profile brakes, like the neo-retro, both front and rear on my Quickbeam (and will again when I finish rebuilding it) and never had heel clearance problems.   I do have another bike where I needed to use the touring on the rear with the neo retro on the front.

[Benjamin L. Kelley]

When I was starting my design process for Paul braking my Quickbeam everyone said to put touring on the rear.

I measured my heel clearance and decided for my bike and fit, that touring would be unnecessary and neo-retro's would clear fine.

However, a set of used touring in my preferred color came up either here or i-bob first, so I ended up going with them anyways.

Definitely measure before you buy tho if you are only considering the touring for clearance problems, it might not be an issue for you.

--ben

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[Patch T]

I use Paul's Touring on the rear and Minimotos on the front on my QB. 

The Minimotos clear a VO Smooth 45mm fender just fine.

I agree that not using the canti stop bridge on the rear is a little sad, but one could get creative and mount a light there if you preferred to run a Minimoto on the rear as well.

Patch in NYC

[JohnS]

Thank you everyone for the tips/advice. I'm not planning to have a rear rack on this bike, so the brake arm extension isn't an issue. Also I may or may not mount the fenders that I have, my Crust LB-canti has them so not a priority to have them on the QB.

Patch, so how do you like the touring/minimoto combination? Would say it was better or as good as other brake set ups?

Thanks,

JohnS

[Jason Zakaras]

another vote for the touring Canti rear/ Neo retro front set up, I had it on my simple one and now on my QB and love the power modulation and look... its a stunner

[Bones]

If you aren't doing fenders then I vote Minimotos. I was able to comfortably fit Snoqualmie's with VO Zeppelin 52mm fenders on my Simpleone, but in that scenario you definitely need cantis.

I have the Minimoto up front and Touring Canti in the rear set up on a different single speed (one that does have a rear brake bridge, unlike my Simpleone) and that setup works great as well.

The Minimotos are insanely strong brakes in my experience.

Bones

[Patch T]

John - I like the combination very much, but I don't think it is significantly better than other brake set-ups, and do not necessarily champion this set-up over others. I went this route because (a) I, too, felt bad leaving the QB brake stop bridge hanging out all alone, and (b) had another bike that was in need of only one Minimoto (a 92 XO1 calipered frame with a 93 XO1 canti'd fork) and after a parts shuffle across 3 (mostly) canti'd bikes, I ended up with one spare Minimoto.

I'll say that the Minimotos and Motolites have a sharper, crisper, more abrupt stopping action than the Touring and/or Neo Retros. That is not to say that the latter pair are 'bad' at stopping - they're marvelous and strong - but the transition feel is slower/smoother. When running a combo of Minimoto front + Touring rear, the difference in brake feel is not funny or weird or all that noticeable. I suppose there's slightly less wheel lock with the Touring out back, but this isn't a dominant factor for me.

I personally would recommend the Touring/Neo Retro for road riding; and Minimotos for more off-road/trail action, and/or/especially in cases where quick-hard-steep stopping is desired. I save my Motolites for my 26" dedicated trail bike. 

Last item - aesthetically speaking (YMMV, don't @ me!)

Minimotos look sick with knobbies

Touring/Neo Retro look sick with knobbies

Touring/Neo Retro look sick with slicks

Minimotos look just ok with slicks, but sick with 45mm fenders + slicks

Everyone's got different brake feelings and experiences, these are mine, hope they help.

Patch in NYC

[Minh]

another vote for the touring Canti rear/ Neo retro front set up,  though one caveat, i recently swapped out front racks, and the new one has a fork tang thats a little higher, requiring a very long straddle cable, braking has been fine but in my mind feels a little less stopping power.  

[JohnS]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with Paul brakes. I do like the way the brake cable connects to the minimotos, same as a v-brake, no cable hanger required. I'm planning to have a small front rack. I'll have to make sure the rack tang doesn't interfere with the brake cable as it connects across to brake arm. Looks like it wasn't an issue for Patch on his QB, just above the fender and below the rack tang.

JohnS

[Philip Williamson]

On my Quickbeam, the only Paul braking bits I've got are green Moon Units. I have used the Neo-Retro / Touring setup on another bike, and switched to Minimotos due to brake judder. I've never had judder on my Quickbeam. As Mark said, regular road levers work with both minimotos and cantis. 

I love minimotos. They stop great. They look a little funny, since they aren't symmetrical. Setup was easy. I think you could flip some washers around to get the noodle side of the brake not to knock the fender. 

A Minimoto in front seems like the opposite strategy from a Neo-retro in front. Paul Tourings are stronger brakes than Neo-retros, and Minimotos are stronger yet. I doubt in practice you'd notice. 

Philip 

Sonoma County, Calif

[Joe Bernard]

I think there's one call for Motolites in this thread so I'm throwing down a second one. They're great, I love them, they should be the only brakes on all bikes. Is what I'm saying.

[JohnS]

Thank you Joe, I'll have to consider the Motolites for my next bike rebuild.

JohnS

[Patrick Moore]

To fully clean and purge all residual nuances for this discussion of the bestPaul brakes for one's bike: Question: What are the several options for long-pull road levers? Long ago it was Tektro and Cane Creek long-pull road levers, and I used both, but that was circa 2012 when I first built my first edition Fargo. Have any other long pull drop bar levers appeared in the last decade? Context: I'd really love to use V brakes on my 2020 Matthews, but I would hate to give up my 7410-era DA levers. So I wonder if anyone makes long-pull drop bar levers more like the DAs and less like the CC and Tektros -- which I think were the same brake under different logos? Don't want Travel Agents or similar.

I expect that in 2023 we have the same options, CC and Tektro, only.

[iamkeith]

DIa Compe 287V still seems to be readily available.

[Patrick Moore]

Thanks; come to think of it, I had a pair of these as well but found them too cramped. The CC or Tektros were more comfortable but are made from a lot of plastic.

I think I'll stick to my old Dura Ace levers and Paul cantis.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Marty Gierke, Stewartstown PA]

Ten years ago I had a QB set up  "ALL PAUL" style; brakes (neo-retro/touring), levers, Moon Units, hubs, crankset, seatpost, and even the rack they made for a short time. Wonderful build and fun to ride. Might be fun to do something similar when the RoadUno shows up. 

Grabbed this shot at a bookstore in the Chicago burbs when Grant was doing his Just Ride book tour and I stopped by. 

Marty

[JohnS]

Thank you Marty for sharing. I'm about to go out and get some orange touch up paint for my Quickbeam now. The touring brakes came yesterday and the mini-motos should be here later in the week.

JohnS