Brakes. They're one of the most important parts of any vehicle, although brakes waste energy they're vital for safety (they also let us go down really big hills without crashing). For this reason the cost of the brakes is not included in the limited cost of $1200 that we have for the competition. This weekend we completed fitting two caliper brakes to the back wheel, not a simple exercise at all. The bicycle frame that we fitted to mount our back wheel is designed for a larger wheel than the one that we are using, because of this the brake mount does not line up! You may have noticed that the seat stays on the bicycle frame are made of Carbon Fibre. It may be light and strong but it's not good for welding brake mounts onto! Mounting the brakes required some clever plates bolted onto the frame.
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We chose to use caliper breaks because they are easier to mount and require less adjustment than V-brakes or disc brakes. Vehicles in the eV challenge require two brakes, during scrutineering the brakes are tested to see that they provide adequate braking force.
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| Final adjustments |
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| New tyres! |
Finally the new tyres arrived, we chose these tyres for their low rolling resistance, an important factor in making the car as efficient as possible.
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| Oscar |
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