Like a lot of things related to unicycling, the hardest part of messing with Magura brakes is the decision to finally give it a go. Cutting, fitting and bleeding hydraulic brakes is really no big deal – a jump mount on a 36 is far more scarey!
If truth be known the standard plastic lines that Maguras come with a more than adequate, but the braided stainless steel lines just look plain cool and are probably a little more industrial. Visually fitting brakes on an offroad uni make it look much more like a one wheeled MTB, which is a cool thing 🙂
While you can try to DIY with line and fittings, there are Magura Braided Stainless Steel Hose kits available. I’d already fitted Maguras (eBay is the best place to score Maguras) to a couple of my uni’s and upgraded them to braided lines, but with the arrival of another hose kit it was time to upgrade the lines on my 36.
There really aren’t many too many tips to swapping lines over other than:
- Read and follow the Magura instructions!
- Be firm and positive when screwing the fittings into the stainless steel lines
- Have enough hydraulic blood (fluid) on hand to bleed the brakes correctly
- An extra set of hands makes bleeding the brakes a LOT easier
- Test brakes immediately. If the movement of the pads isn’t immediate and firm, bleed again!