Been thinking about brakes on and off for as long as the caravan has been going. A lot of the European caravans use inertia brakes. I wasn't keen on that option, preferring to have direct control on the braking. Some of the caravans had no brakes. Madness! I can't think of a time when you'd think "Gee, I glad I don't have brakes!"
So, I need to activate two brakes on the caravan from the bike. And it needs to be able to disconnect. I've flip flopped between mechanical and hydraulic, one lever or two. Even considered electrical. Stressed over if one or two cables from the bike all the way to the caravan wheels would be able to activate brakes. Would there be too much play in the system? Do I need a booster system. Do I need pulleys in places to smooth the action?
I decided to use hydraulics at the calipers. Mainly to avoid having to adjust them. So then it turned into how activate them. One lever to activate both? They do make such a beast, but besides the eye watering price tag, I didn't find any quick connectors for bicycle hydraulics. So have to use two levers. I did consider making new levers, but using the existing levers would be simpler for the future.
The previous post with the caravan hitched to the bike was to see how much clearance there was for the brake lever mounting. Heaps of space. phew!!
Deadlines focus the mind. Tackled the brakes. Cobbled together this test setup. Dowel, wood clamps and scraps.
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| The full test setup for dual brakes from one lever |
I used a kids cart brake lever and cable. The garden rake had the right handle size to fit the brake levers on.
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| Close up of the cable to lever (front) |
Some scrap metal with the right size hole for the front. Adjuster is needed to tension the brake cable. There is one also at the lever end.
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Close up of the cable to lever (back) |
A lucky piece of aluminium with just the right bend in it for the back. I don't think my test would have worked so well if it was flat. I used an old V-brake to pinch the cable so it wouldn't pull through.
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| Levers mounted on dowel. |
It worked! Very happy with the it. A few refinements will be needed for the final design. Needs more clamping. The cable could jump off too easy otherwise. The final will be out of aluminium rather than wood.
