One of our favourite Instagram accounts is The European Bike Project because the page is continuously updated with content ranging from insider looks into European manufacturing to posts from teeny makers. Alex is seeking out the most intriguing items from small manufacturers for you at Eurobike 2023.

 

Since we originally discussed the 612 disc brake more than a year ago, a lot has changed. The brake now goes by the name “Die Bremse” (literally, “the brake”) and has a completely new appearance.

Die Bremse has been available from Felix, the man behind 612 Parts, for a few months now. The Cybertruck-like design stands out from every other product on the market in terms of appearance. The master cylinder has a 9 mm piston and PTFE seals, while the brake calliper has four stainless steel pistons (16 and 17 mm in diameter). Standard brake lines or a steel braided option are both options; both types of brakes use mineral oil.

 

All machined parts for Radoxx are produced in Germany using 7075 aluminium. Other countries also supply a few tiny parts, but Felix assembles all the brakes in Switzerland.

 

The German business Unger Kabel-Konfektionstechnik GmbH, which specialises in electric cables, automotive equipment, and sensors, owns U-micro Mobility. Experts in brakes will note that the TS4 is based on the “Bees brake,” a concept that was developed about 15 years ago but was never widely adopted.

The four 19 mm pistons of the TS4 are. A mechanism that actively pushes the pistons back into the brake calliper is being developed by U-Micro Mobility. The foundation of this technology is a somewhat hollow piston and a little spring that forces the piston back, ensuring that even when you’re merely riding and not applying the brakes, the pads will never contact the disc.

The brake levers include a large adjustment that allows you to modify the bite point and retract the pistons while changing brake pads.

Unger is equipped with the necessary equipment to manufacture these brakes in-house, including a test facility. The brakes are currently being tested, and they intend to market them to OEM and aftermarket customers.

Big 19 mm pistons, plus magnets that hold the brake pads in place (there are two screws for them too).

 

The master cylinder probably has the biggest bite point adjuster you’ve ever seen.
Unger has already set up an inhouse brake pad production.

Formula

Formula had their Cura X at the show, which come with carbon levers, braided hoses, two 24 mm pistons and titanium screws. The Cura X is 34 g lighter than the regular Cura. A full system with a Cura X, 160 mm one-piece Formula rotor, and all mounting hardware weighs in at 325 g.

Formula’s new two-piece lever features their FCS technolgy (Feeling Control System) and tool-free reach adjustment, so you can fine-tune the feel and braking power.

The new Formula two-piece levers.

Trickstuff

Currently, Trickstuff is investigating novel techniques for producing brake levers. As seen in the photograph, they could be partially hollow in some areas.

Trickstuff’s booth was extremely crowded because of all the fascinating 3D printed parts that they had on display, even though they did not introduce any new DH brakes or other exciting products. They collaborated with 3D printing experts Trumpf to investigate the feasibility of printing brake devices, among other things.

Probably one of the most photographed products at the show, even though you can’t buy it: these 3D printed levers were anodized by Viktor Hegedüs with a process they usually use for medical products.
The 3D printer at the Trickstuff stand printed these bottle openers during the first two days of the show.

 

Just in case you ever wanted to know what the internals of a Direttissima look like.
We will probably not see any pedals from Trickstuff or Trumpf anytime soon, but it was interesting to see these samples. Apparently the integrated bearing seats won’t need any additional machining.

 

Ralf Holleis from Huhn Cycles says he was the first person to work with 3D printed lugs roughly ten years ago.

 

The Trumpf TruPrint 1000 printing smilies – errr brake lever-shaped bottle openers.
Not new, but always hot: The Maxima.

 

There’s a lot going on here. We featured the Myotragus Dorothea earlier this year.

 

Magura

An extremely subtle paintjob.

Magura had a new system for cargo bikes at the show that will activate both calipers even if you only pull one lever. This idea might also be useful for adaptive bikes, but we likely won’t see this on traditional mountain bikes anytime soon.

Apart from the new MTA2 allround brake, they also had this Demo with an extremely subtle paintjob at their stand – just look at it!

 

Categorized in:

Technology