Paul Components Motolite Z Linear Pull Silver

I've got not much bad to say about these brakes.There aren't too many V brakes that offer reversibility, i.e. they can be switched around so that the cable pulls from the left hand / non-drive side of the bike. This makes for cleaner cable routing when running a right front aka "Euro style" brake lever setup (my preference).(The other I know of, if you're wondering, is the discontinued Cane Creek Direct Curve 5).But what else I like about these brakes is: 1. made in California (local, for me) 2. come with top quality Cool Stop pads 3. feature a unique disconnect mechanism compared to most others, quicker to use than the conventional noodle in the bracket setup 4. novel spring tensioning method, which doesn't rely on the spring holes on the brake bossIn the end, the most important thing is that these brakes work well and are easy to set up and adjust. You might actually knock them because they have a somewhat industrial appearance compared to the forged, curvy competition. However, for my application (a Xootr Swift folding bike), they match the aesthetic of the bike well, so I'm quite happy with them in that regard, too.

The silver brakes are chrome polished aluminum everywhere that is pictured silver in the black brake image. The rest of the silver parts are aluminum with silver paint that looks like polished aluminum. The paint was very strong and hard to remove. I don't know why because they look much better once I polished the entire set. The revolutionary design I at first found difficult to install because the bottom 2 bolts, in this case, do not need the frame holes to install. Each bolt on the bottom of the picture just goes directly into the frame without using the 3 adjustment holes on each side of the frame. I spent a good deal of time rearranging the peices in order to get the spring to go into the 3 holes in the frame. You are supposed to ignore the holes, as this design is self-adjusting. Just use the two bolts and put it together quickly and easily. Very sturdy construction and built to last. I did not want to spend a lot on the brakes to simply convert my 24" mountainbike rear brakes to 26", but seeing them first hand I'm not going to waste my time with any other brakes from now on. I'm looking forward to installing them on the front also, where I have a Rockshock fork. None of the new forks are designed for these brakes, but a simple aluminum clamp with a threaded hole in it is all that's needed for these regular problem-free non-disk brakes. I don't understand why everything has the disk brakes, they are very complicated and I recommend investing in a set of these instead. They came with some orange red brake pads, I like how the clear Odyssey pads look on these myself. I'm always on the lookout for used bikes for the express purpose of staying away from the new disk brakes. I'm sure you can invest a lot in some hydraulic system and it will work, but then you have the maintenance and problems to look forward to.

I now have two bikes with these brakes, and they are outstanding. Extremely easy to modulate braking power. In one bike I had them directly added to the frame, and on a second bike (Dean Ti mountain bike) I replaced a pair of Shimano's. The Paul Components are so much better than the Shimano XTs. Also, they are very easy to install and adjust as advertised.

Fussy. Will go spongy if not set up precisely. My not work well with some rear racks.

Very expensive but first rate quality in construction. They work much better than the AVID brakes that my recumbent came with.