[WestCoastHucker]

i'm replacing the stock Dia Compe AD 990 p.o.s. on my bmx'er and am looking for suggestions on which brake is actually worth a crap. i've seen that some 990 brakes that have issues with not springing back open and creating free running drag which is terribly annoying. any ideas on which is the best brake and which is the best deal?

 

[pnj]

stock 990's work as good as any other 990's.

if you can't get them to work, purchasing new ones won't do you much good.


I'm running dia-compe 990's with a gyro. stock lower cable, and a primo pervert on top with a tech 77 lever. if I cleaned my rim more then once a year they work fine with just one finger.

on the front I'm running the same thing with fully stock pads. my rear brakes have some newwer pads....
the front brakes work awsome as well.

I had a pair of teckra (or something like that) center pulls. these are low end, cheap brakes. and mine worked just fine. you need to learn how to set them up correctly and know that they will NEVER be like disk brakes.

However, if you don't belive me or just want to spend money, odyssey evolvers, Revenge and the new fly brakes will put a hole in your pocket.
after spending that money, you will be convinced that your brakes work better.

so your arms don't spring back eh? are the posts lubed? springs shot? are the brake pads worn old and crappy? is your brake cable lubed and not kinked?

if you give us more detail as to how your brakes work or don't someone can help you better. (more better) do you have a strait cable, gyro or what?

I have posted many times on getting center pull brakes(990's) to work kick ass. do a search or I'll do one later when I'm not super busy.

 

[Changleen]

What he said. It's all about set-up. Spend the time on carefully greasing the mounts, adjusting the spring tension, choosing the right pads for your rims (there used to be pads for alloy, chrome and paint by Koolstop that worked pretty good and Scott Mathausers were like the king blocks).

Get the blocks absolutely flat against the rim, this can take a few goes I can tell you...

Oh and buy expensive cables. Lube them with a little light chain oil - keep them clean, keep your pads and rims clean.

There used to be a company who made a little replcement Gyro-cable divider, that you could plug your own cables into. We used to run high end (like XT) Shimano brake cables with these little devices, and it makes a world of difference.

Good luck.

 

[pnj]

Primo makes or made a product called the Pervert. this would allow you to shorten your gyro cable and remove a ton of slack from them.

I run one only because I had one, otherwise I would run a dragonfly cable on top. and I'm using STOCK gyro cables. you just need to lube them. I use tri flow.

brakes work on friction. you want a lot of friction on the pads/rim and as little as possible everywhere else...

 

[Echo]

A couple things that have worked for me (some are already mentioned here)

1. Lube everything. Remove the brakes from the posts and lube the posts too.

2. Figure out the spring adjustments. There is a fine line between a nice light feel at the lever and a brake that doesn't return.

3. After trying several combinations, I'm getting great results with the following setup: chrome rims, Kool-Stop pads, and use Simple Green to clean the rims. It's loud as hell, but it works and people know where I am in the park

 

[WestCoastHucker]

i'm running this with a gyro also. my major problem is there just dosen't seem to be any power to them any more and they seem to not return and have to squeeze the crap out of them to get a little slowing. but yet the cables seem to flow freely in their housings.

well, i guess i should just give them a good cleaning and try to give the cables nice lubing, then re-dial everything again. i just figured they were old or something. after doing some searching after i posted up, it seems that the 990's just require a little loving care to keep them in top shape.

it dosen't help the loss of power feeling that every other bike i own also runs hydro discs

 

[Apollo_K]

Revenge Industries has some new brakes out that are supposed to be great, designed by Sean Mckenny...use to ride or still rides for S&M bikes. A little pricy though...

 

[pnj]

it sounds like you found some posts that show how to set them up? good. if not, I don't mind re-typing it out. it's pretty simple, lube EVERYTHING and clean the pads.

1. lube cables.
2. lube posts, sometimes there can be burrs or the posts get out of round, if the arm doesn't pivot smoothly on the post, it's only gonna get worse under presure.
3. clean pads and make sure they hit the rim squarely. you can use old crappy pads sometimes, just sand them down with sand paper so the old crap is gone. they seem to get hard like an erasor on a pencil.
4. lube cables.

and never compare them to your disks......

 

[drt_jumper]

the main thing you should do on top of what everyone else said is get some steel wool and make sure that you clean the brake post really good..try and get all the gunk/paint off of the bottom of the brake boss...like they said the less friction on the arms the better....i have been riding 20 for a long time and the springs in your 990's can wear out and loose some tension your lbs should be able to help you out.

 

[WestCoastHucker]

woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! after a complete disassembly, cleaning and some scuffage to the pads, they are almost back up to normal. i guess age/neglect was just starting to set in. although i could probably use some new cables (they are almost 4 years old now)

thnx for the tips fellow 's

 

[schaefdog]

PS, Fly bikes is making some really nice looking brakes. They are rumoured to set you back about 70 bucks US when they are in production. I will be buying a set though as they look dang good.