I’m trying to fit a hydraulic rear brake to Enid, my tandem. She’s only used for tootling up and down the back roads and canal towpaths where I live, so as usual I’m trying to do stuff on the cheap with her.

I’ve got the Master cylinder from an old set of Hayes HFX 9 brakes and a mate has offered me a Hope Mono Mini caliper for £20. Will the bike explode into a million tiny pieces like the Death Star if I try and connect these two together?

Cheers

B.

So long as they use the same sort of fluid it should work – mineral oil and dot fluid use different types of seals.

How well they work depends on the leverage ratios – area of pistons and travel of the master cylinder. Bleeding might be a bit tricky as well.

good luck! trying to bleed matched components is enough to drive a mad man sane!

by the time you’ve bought all the right fittings for the hose and a long enough piece of hose I think you’ll find it as cheap to just a buy a complete rear brake off the classifieds and a longer bit of hose.

as TJ said problem is likely to be the amount of fluid moved by the lever not beign right for the caliper and you’ll spend a lot of money findign this out…

here you go if they’re still available;

cheap brakes