PB’S HAIBIKE ALLMTN 6
MONTH 8: PB’S ‘new’ brake mod turns out to be an old-school pairing, but it still works a treat... unlike Haibike’s in-house hoops
£5,399 / 29/27.5in / haibike.com
Imade a mistake last month. I said the ‘Shigura’ modification I watched online combined a Magura brake lever with a Shimano caliper, but it’s actually the other way round, so I wasn’t actually breaking new ground. Still, I wanted to do this mash-up brake combination to the Allmtn 6 because I broke the carbon Magura MT5 lever and happened to have a Shimano SLX unit sitting around which would allow me to get the bike back on the road pretty quickly. I also wanted to see if this mod would suggest a fix for the inconsistency you can experience with Shimano brakes – where the bitepoint has a tendency to change. My thought was, if the SLX lever doesn’t do it with the Magura caliper, then the lever ain’t the problem.
The reason you can combine the two brake systems is because both brands use mineral oil and similarsize fittings, so all I had to do was amputate the damaged Magura part, fit a new olive and barb, do a quick bleed and I was good to go. I’m late to the party with the Shigura concept, and initially had the wrong address, but the brake feels just as powerful as the full Magura. It’s also more positive because the SLX lever doesn’t flex as much as the composite body on the MT5 assembly. It’s also cheaper to fit an SLX lever (£41.99) than replace the MT5 (£60). And if you want to save even more money, you could easily splice in a budget Shimano BL-M4100 brake lever, which is £19.99 an end. So, did Shigura eliminate the inconsistent feeling? Too right it did
– the lever now pulls to the same bite point every single time.
The other issue I’ve had this month is with the wheels on the Allmtn 6. Sadly they are starting to fall apart, especially the rear. The thing about wheels is you can see all of the component parts and assess them individually, but the build quality is a total unknown. Obviously when I test a DT Swiss wheelset, for example, I know from experience they are built to a high standard
WHY IT’S HERE One of the few e-bike brands running Yamaha’s PW-X2 motor with Intube 600Wh battery
and are going to last, but they’re more expensive. I suspect the stock wheels on the Allmtn 6 were machine-built with maybe a bit of hand-finishing, but the rear has taken a beating and lost a ton of tension and I’ve had it in the truing stand three or four times already. The problem is, you can’t foresee this when you get a new bike – the wheels should be true, but if the spoke tension is slightly uneven or the build was rushed, they won’t last, which is the case here.