Last week we looked at Drum brakes. This week we weigh pros and cons of Roller brakes.
Roller brakes are basically modified coaster brakes. They are operated by metal rollers pushing against a metal brace. They differs from coaster brakes in that roller brakes are outside the hub while the coaster brakes are internal.
The advantages with this are:
they can be installed on the front wheel as well as the back wheel
they dissipate heat better (a more common problem with coaster brakes)
greater efficiency due to larger brake shoe (the rollers)
Roller brakes are particularly suited to urban cycling because:
They are low maintenance – They need to be greased once a year and the rollers have a long life.
They have excellent power modulation, so the wheels are unlikely to lock in dangerous situations.
The wheel doesn’t have to be perfectly true since the brakes don’t work on the rim; this allows the user to choose a short lever action, if required.
Cable quality is not critical as for rim brakes, and no setup is required even as time goes by; this is a great advantage for everyday, troublefree use.
Braking action is fairly independent from the weather.
To summarise, Roller brake pros:
good braking modulation
pratically no maintenance required medium term
braking power is not affected by weather
no setup required
clean look of the bike
Cons:
not as powerful as Drum or Rim brakes; this is because metal-to-metal action is not as efficient as pads-to-metal.
The image shows the Shimano Nexave Roller brake; note the large disc whose role is to dissipate heat.
