Brakes
Browse used BMX brakes for sale from riders across the UK. The U-brake on 990 posts is the BMX standard, pulling two arms onto the rim through a straddle cable, run either straight or through a gyro so the bars can spin without wrapping the cable. This category covers calipers, levers, pads, straddles and detanglers for street, park and race bikes.
What brakes do BMX bikes use?
Nearly all of them use a U-brake bolted to 990 posts, usually on the seat stays and occasionally on the fork. The real decision is cable routing: a gyro, or detangler, splits the rear cable into two halves running through a bearing plate, while a straight cable is lighter, simpler and gives a firmer lever because there is less friction in the run. Pads and lever quality change the feel more than the caliper does — a solid lever and fresh pads will transform a brake that felt dead.
Does my frame even take brakes?
Plenty of BMX frames are built with no brake mounts at all, and plenty of riders remove theirs, so look for the 990 posts before buying a caliper. A gyro needs somewhere to live too, normally a tab on the head tube or a plate stacked under the stem, and cable lengths cut for a gyro setup will not suit a straight-cable run. Selling on the parts you do not use is worth doing while the cables are still good, since they date faster than the caliper.
Do I need a gyro?
Only if you spin the bars. A gyro adds two more cable ends, more friction and another thing to adjust, so riders who never do barspins get a better lever from a plain cable. If you are learning them, a used gyro with a smooth bearing plate is a cheap way to find out, and it comes back off in ten minutes.
What wears out on a used BMX brake?
Pads go hard as often as they go thin — a glazed old set squeals and skates rather than holding, and new pads are the cheapest fix on the list. Check the arms swing freely on their pivots and snap back under spring tension instead of sticking, and feel for slop in the pivot bushings. Run the cables through your fingers for kinks and broken strands where they leave the housing, then spin the top plate of any gyro: a gritty or notchy gyro bearing drags on every turn of the bars and cannot be adjusted out.
What should I pay for a used brake setup?
A complete setup — caliper, lever, pads, straddle and cables, with a gyro if you want one — is worth more than the sum of its parts, because matching up gyro cables afterwards is fiddly and slow. Well-made calipers such as the Odyssey Evo hold their value, so price the caliper properly and treat the pads and cables as consumables to knock off. Buy new when the pads are shot and the cables are frayed, since replacing both comes close to the price of a used kit that already works, and watch for full setups listed with the rest of someone's BMX components.