coldriverjoe

Ok, I just did another deep search and found this for 15 bucks on ebay (attached). The dimensions check out. I'll give it a try. It's crazy that 99% of brake boosters that I find online don't have dimensions posted and those that do are for 80mm stud spacing. Many thanks for the input!

Thanks @La Bourde for your quick response! Wow that's very interesting to hear. Honestly the main reason I bought the Magura HS33 is that I've had a very hard time finding a brake booster that fits my frame (93mm canti stud spacing with 87 mm vertical clearance). I saw that the HS33 kit includes a brake booster and that it's a popular item so I assumed it would be a worthwhile purchase. I also assumed that hydraulic brakes would be more powerful than mechanical. But I'm all for keeping it simple if it can work just as good or better. This is valuable advice. I can still return the HS33. But back to square one finding a booster that fits. Maybe I can just make my own? I have access to a milling machine. Maybe that's just what I need to do. Thanks again.

Hello folks, I bought a Magura HS33 kit to replace my existing mechanical v-brakes in my 2013 Inspired Element. The kit came with all the hardware, including a mounting plate and brake booster. As I'm getting ready to install, I realized that the mounting plate does not fit my frame. My canti studs are spaced 93mm apart, whereas the mounting plate has an 80mm mounting hole spacing. According to the manual, this is the EVO2 mounting plate, which is what I thought I needed for my frame. Any advice on how to proceed here? I don't suppose I can just stretch out the adapter plate in order to make it fit? I've been told to purchase the EVO2 brake adaptor, but it's not clear to me that this will be any different than what I already have. Is there something unusual with the 93mm canti stud spacing in my particular frame? Is there any way to offset my canti studs? Thanks!

It all makes sense. Thank you all!

I went down the rabbit hole with this adjustment. Looks like I have the XTR M950 lever with the so-called "servo wave". The cable is pulled by a roller which can move on the slot (shown in picture). In my case, the screw was completely out (servo wave disabled, min leverage). I guess I'm enabling the servo wave by retracting the adjustment screw all the way (shown in the picture). This should give me max leverage for clamping force but I'm wondering if the whole roller business is going to feel weird. Seems like there will be a snappy increase in leverage at some point along the lever travel. Anybody here used a lever like this?

Thanks @Mark W! I will give the Koolstop pads a try. That's a sweet video .

Thanks @Ali C and @La Bourde! This is exactly the type of information I was looking for. I tried to order the jitsie pads from Tarty but unfortunately the international shipping is down at the moment. Would these Discobrakes be similar? https://www.amazon.com/Trials-Specific-Compound-Riding-Length/dp/B00RC38NDE Replacing and lubricating the cable housing also makes a lot of sense! I will also look at dialing the lever and brake arms. Better grips make sense too. Much appreciated!

Hi! I'm new to trials (and to the forum). I bought a used Inspired Element 24" (I think it's 2012 or 2013) about a month and a half ago and have been practicing the basics. I'm hooked! For context, I'm 41 and have been mountain biking for about 15 years. Oh also I live in the US (Connecticut). I'm starting to learn to hop on my back wheel and I'm finding that I have to squeeze the brake lever really hard to get a good bite. If I transition from endo to back wheel it's not too bad because I can pre-lock the rear brake and maintain bite, but I don't feel like I'm getting a solid bite when I try a pedal-up to back wheel. It feels like instead of getting an "instant" lock, there is a certain amount of decelerating travel that the wheel goes through. As a beginner, I don't know if that's just the name of the game, or whether the brakes should get a tune up or upgrade in order to grab more instantly. After a session, my forearms are toast from squeezing the brake levers. This brake has cable-actuated v-brakes in the rear. The v brakes are Avid Single Digit 5 and the lever is a Shimano XTR (pictures attached). I don't know anything about the condition of the brake pads. But even just squeezing the lever to produce travel of the pads takes quite a bit of force - something very unfamiliar coming from hydraulic disc brakes in my MTB. Also, I've been reading about grinding the rim to produce better bite. Not sure if this is something that I should consider but the rim is completely smooth. So I guess to summarize: 1) Hello! 2) Should I expect a more "instant" lock from my rear brake? 3) Should I expect brake levers in my trials bike to require so much more finger force than what I'm used to in a MTB? 3) Does my setup seem appropriate? (I haven't found much about the Avid Single Digit 5 out there, and a search in these forums produced zero results) 4) Any tune-up / upgrade that I should consider? Grinding the rim? New brake pads? Replacing cable-actuated with hydraulic vees? Thanks for any feedback and sorry for the long post!