# Does a brake booster do anything?



## TheRedMantra (Jan 12, 2004)

What does a brake booster do? Are they supposed to increase stiffness? If they do anything, what is the better material, carbon or titanium? Thanks.


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## Mtbikeguru (Dec 29, 2003)

*yes.....*

A brake booster helps to stiffen up either a frame or a fork.... I have a set of maguras hs-33's..... when I give them a good squeze you can visibly see the frame bow a litte next to the brake bosses..... and thats with the brake booster on  .... material with carbon, aluminum, titanium all work well.... depends on how much you want to spend.!



TheRedMantra said:


> What does a brake booster do? Are they supposed to increase stiffness? If they do anything, what is the better material, carbon or titanium? Thanks.


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## ADDICT (May 27, 2004)

*RE: Brake Booster.*

A break booster usually fits in between your brake stays using the brake bosses as your mounting point.It prevents the brake stays from flexing and losing power. Im assuming your talking about V-brakes. I have a Rocky Mtn element with light weight tubing and without my brake booster when you pull the brakes you can see the brake stays flexing. I have an aluminum one and never had any problems. It definitely works,but how much it increases braking power is debatable.Hope this helps.


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## RVM (Feb 8, 2004)

*I tried an aluminum*

brake booster on my bike. Didn't make a difference. The stays flexed with and without it.


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## Disaster (Jan 15, 2004)

*Made a considerable difference on my iDrive.*

The rear brakes on my iDrive always felt mushy compared to the front. When I added discs up front the difference became really annoying. Added an alloy brake booster to the rear and the improvement was quite dramatic.


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## TheSingleGuy (Mar 11, 2004)

*Salsa*

Forget what it is called, maybe the Arc-de-Trioomph. Solid Al, a little heavy, SUPER STIFF. Adds braking power (noticeably) and can help to quieten noisy brakes.


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## RetroG (Jan 16, 2004)

*Gorilla Brake Booster*

Light, stiff, cool. It stopped the mushy feel usually associated with steel frames.


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## ssmike (Jan 21, 2004)

Disaster said:


> The rear brakes on my iDrive always felt mushy compared to the front. When I added discs up front the difference became really annoying. Added an alloy brake booster to the rear and the improvement was quite dramatic.


If you are going to use any brake booster, get a DKG like the red one in the photo. The little silver inserts you see where it is bolted to the brake are eccentrics so you can dial in a bit of preload to the booster and really get some nice no-flex braking.


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

TheRedMantra said:


> What does a brake booster do? Are they supposed to increase stiffness? If they do anything, what is the better material, carbon or titanium? Thanks.


Second the DKG Gorilla, as pictured in Disaster's post.

Not only does the booster prevent flex / bowing of the stays, it holds them torsionally stiff as well. You'll note that some stays "twist" a little when the brakes are applied hard.

I found the booster most effective on steel, since it's allowed to flex without fatiguing. Out of necessity, most aluminum frames are overbuilt with stiffer stays, to prevent premature fatique from taking its toll. I never found much improvement with a booster on an aluminum frame. But there are some aluminum frames out there with impressively skinny stays, and I'd bet on those you'd note the change.


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## Scottie Rox (Jul 1, 2003)

I was told to get some to prevent stress on my A1 frame.
Do you have to remove the whole booster to get the wheel off?


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## Speedub.Nate (Dec 31, 2003)

Scottie Rox said:


> Do you have to remove the whole booster to get the wheel off?


No, no removal necessary.


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## Scottie Rox (Jul 1, 2003)

I just got a Gorilla brake booster for the rear, and it still has fork flex. 
I think I am goinig to take it back off and test the difference.
I might have to take it back, even if it was only $16.50.


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## jtlmd (Jan 12, 2004)

*Most definitely yes.*

My old bike is a lightweight steel Fat City Yo Eddy (used to tow the kid's trailer on bike trails now, and only rarely taken off road anymore. It's hard to keep abusing a classic!) The rear brakes were always mushy. You could watch the seatstays flex. The addition of a brake booster made a huge difference. Mine is aluminum. It was made by "Curve." I don't know if this brand is still around. It fits between the brake arms and the frame, instead of the outside of the brake arms like the others pictured.

My latest 2 mountain bikes have Avid mechanical disc brakes. I will never go back to V-brakes or cantilevers again.


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## Scottie Rox (Jul 1, 2003)

Disaster said:


> The rear brakes on my iDrive always felt mushy compared to the front. When I added discs up front the difference became really annoying. Added an alloy brake booster to the rear and the improvement was quite dramatic.


the only DKG I could find was for cantilivers.
https://www.cambriabike.com/brakes/brkboost.htm
your I drive is Al right?


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## Disaster (Jan 15, 2004)

*Cambria picture looks exactly like mine.*



Scottie Rox said:


> the only DKG I could find was for cantilivers.
> http://www.cambriabike.com/brakes/brkboost.htm
> your I drive is Al right?


Well, it says cantis, but it looks exactly the same as mine. If I recall, I bought mine at Cambria...but that was over two years ago.

The DKG is way better than other designs because you don't have to use clamping force to create the stiffness and worry about it slipping later. The little metal rings have serrations on the outside that don't allow them to rotate when installed and an eccentric hole. You rotate them to the exact width you need and they will hold the brake pins at exactly the right spot.

http://cambriabike.com/brakes/images/dkg_stongarm_beefer_lg.htm


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## ssmike (Jan 21, 2004)

Disaster said:


> Well, it says cantis, but it looks exactly the same as mine. If I recall, I bought mine at Cambria...but that was over two years ago.
> 
> The DKG is way better than other designs because you don't have to use clamping force to create the stiffness and worry about it slipping later. The little metal rings have serrations on the outside that don't allow them to rotate when installed and an eccentric hole. You rotate them to the exact width you need and they will hold the brake pins at exactly the right spot.
> 
> http://cambriabike.com/brakes/images/dkg_stongarm_beefer_lg.htm


Cantis or v-brakes, it should work with both. They both have the same brake pivot and brake pivot location.

Scottie Rox - are you getting flex with the booster when you squeeze the brake levers as hard as possible? Virtually anything can flex with this test. Try squeezing the levers a normal amount to test the flex/feel. Try rotating one of the serrated eccentrics one notch in so you have to squeeze your stays in a bit to get the booster seated. It kinda preloads the stays and helps reduce flex.


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## lawhoo (Feb 27, 2004)

I've been very happy with the Salsa Arc D'Triumph carbon booster. I ride an older steel rig and the booster has really improved braking power (mushy feel is gone) and reduced flex. My friend has the aluminum version and has experienced the same results. The only difference between them is probably some weight.

http://www.salsacycles.com/comps_brakes.html


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