Brakes and cables

So the drivetrain is squared away. Lets figure out how we are going to stop this frankenbike. Having installed the rigid Surly 1x1 fork, I now had the option of a front disk brake. I'll admit that the driving force for this choice was just the novelty. I've never had disk brakes before - so what the hell. I opted for an Avid BB7 mechanical disk for simplicity and reliability.

    Besides the occasional squeal, these brakes have been great. Coming from the old cantilevers, they are a real upgrade. As I've mentioned before, I'm usually pulling a trailer with two kids. These brakes have what it takes to stop this clydesdale, and the caboose, with no problem. 

    For the rear brakes I was limited to V-brakes due to the old frame. I opted for Avid Single Digit 7's. These are still a major upgrade over the old cantilevers. They are solid and easy to adjust. 

    Both of these brakes were matched to Avid Speed Dial 7 levers. I guess the advantage is the adjust-ability of pull but I tend to just leave them in the most aggressive setting.

   This brings us to cables. This was one of my favorite upgrades to the bike. After reading the almost universally glowing reviews of the Yokozuna MTB brake and shifter cable kit, I had to get it. Everything that I read was true. They are super slippery, and the brake housing is super stiff - for better and worse. You just can't make tight bends in the brake cable. I actually had to skip a brake cable braze-on on the seat tube because I couldn't make the turn. I actually think that this has more to do with the frame being designed for cantilever brakes. see photo below.

    These cables are pretty. The finish is great and function is perfect. The kit was very generous with both cable and housing. My frame has an abundance of cable stops and I bought a bag of SRAM emblazoned ferrules to neatly start and finish the exposed cable runs.

     Cabling technique was also an area that wasn't as straight forward as just bolting components into place. There is a lot of wiggle room. I'm not sure that I did it perfectly - but everything works flawlessly so it can't be that poorly done.