Someone mentioned this ages ago but IIRC didn’t go into much detail. They were using aluminium (?) pipe for the main run of brake line and then flexi at each end.

I’ve just bought some Magura HS66 for my tandem, I need to extend the rear anyway and I like the idea of running a rigid line. I’m just not sure how to make the connections.

FWIW the guy I bought them from has another set on ebay right now, BNIB, if anyone is interested. These are normally pretty hard to come by.

That reminds me. Got a set of those HS66s in the attic.

I’m here because I thought it might be cable brakes – I use solid tubing for the fixed bits.

As for hydraulics, you can get the tools for the job from Halfords, or if you’re only doing one set, your local garage could probably connect the flexible to the fixed bit.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/compression-less-brake-cable

Some info in the thread linked above

That’s exactly the thread I was thinking of. I must have misremembered, drat !

I think car fittings will be too chunky on a bike. Now wondering if you could use copper pipe and solder bike-size fittings to it.

I’m not clear on the benefits of rigid pipe for simple hydraulics like bike brakes – are there any?
(does flexible “cable” have too much give in it ?)

One of the apparent benefits of braided hoses is that they stretch/expand less under the pressure, so the lever should feel less spongy. I’ve never been able to tell the difference between braided and standard though, and not sure what benefit rigid would bring. The additional connections between the rigid and the flexi are just more bits to go wrong – I’d just get a longer length of normal hose, or braided if you fancy.

On a bicycle you wont get enough pressure out of the lever and master cylinder to worry about expanding a hose.

If you do overcome the strength of your hose by squeezing your lever so much I doubt the friction between your tyre and the ground will great enough to slow you down any faster. Its more likely to just lock up.

Therefore I’m not sure if there are any advantages to using rigid brake lines.

Motorbikes / cars, yes.

they stretch/expand less under the pressure

but I suspect the pressure involved when the stretching/expanding is much greater than that required to lock the brakes, so in reality it’s not a problem.
It reminds me of when customers in bike shops would squeeze V brakes so hard that the seat stays would flex and then say the bike needed a brake booster (remember them?).
Once the wheel has stopped rotating there’s nothing to be gained in squeezing harder. 🙄

Braided hoses for tandems are A Good Idea (TM). Got them on my tandem (albeit on Magura Louises) and they make the world of difference on a long brake run like that.

I work in motorsport and spoke to our hose supplier about this.
At the time we were using hoses that had sections of metel pipe (hard line) and sections of flexible hose (softline). The flexi parts used where ever movment is expected.
I thought this would be ideal on a full suspension frame.
Flexi from levers / bars to a hard line running down the frame, flexi around the BB and swing arm then hardline along chain stay to short flexi onto calliper.
Would look very neat.
The supplier smiled and said others were using using a similar system.
The problem is car brake pipe is larger than bike pipe.
Car size is known as dash 3 (-3) bike size is -2
he only -2 hard line the made is titanium and used exclusively in formula one and is very expensive and cant be formed with “normal” car type tools as they are designed around large pipe.
I havnt given up on the idea completely and always on the look out for a more cost effective hardline pipe.

Have a look on their site if your interested.

pipe size information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN_thread

http://fhsracing.co.uk/

From them

Rigid Lines & Swagetite
It is during this manufacturing process that Swagetite, FHS’s unique joining method, comes into its own. The make-up of a Formula 1 car, for instance, consists of long lengths of titanium small-bore tubing that run the length of the car and carry hydraulic fluid for applications such as braking and hydraulic actuation.

FHS is able to bend these titanium tubes into whatever size is needed for a specific car so that the tubes can be incorporated into the structure of the car as it is being built. At each end of the tube there is a short length of flexible tube: Swagetite is what joins the hose to the tube.

Swagetite is a mechanical locking system that joins the two components together and makes for a small, lightweight and incredibly reliable end structure. Compared to the only alternative way of joining these two components – welding – Swagetite is utterly revolutionary. It is no wonder then, that F1 teams are so impressed by this approach.