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FSA "Delta" Brake prototype spotted at Eurobike

New stopper seen on De Rosa's King XS; scheduled to be a 2016 product...

We spotted this smart-looking new brake adorning the King XS on the De Rosa stand. It said FSA on it, so we mosied over there to ask them about it.

It’s a new FSA delta brake, effectively. It’s probably not called the delta, but that’s by the by: that’s what everyone is going to be calling it, whatever its real name is. It bears more than a passing similarity to the legendary Campag brakes of old. We’re hoping they do a polished silver version.

It’s a real thing, too. The brake on the De Rosa is obviously pre-production (some of the plastic bits are rapid prototypes) but FSA confirmed that they are planning to put it into production, probably in 2016.

The brake uses the new direct mount standard, so it’ll go on any bike that uses the two mount points on a fork or a frame. The brake’s mechanism is significantly less complicated than the Delta, which used a fiendishly complex linkage to apply the brake force, and ended up doing it not very well. The FSA brake pulls a central wedge that pushes apart the two brake arms using rollers in a scissor action, with the brake acting on the rim at the other end of the arm.

Okay, it’s not a thing of sublime beauty like the Campag Delta. But it is an interesting design, making good use of the new direct mount standard, and the design of the brake will probably appeal to the aero crowd as the covered design is likely to be less disruptive to the air flow. There’s quite a lot of adjustability in the brake which allows it to compensate for small variations in the position of the direct mounts. In terms of power, FSA say it will be comparable to standard direct mount callipers.

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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12 comments

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
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Modolo Kronos was another delta type design.

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dodgy | 9 years ago
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I'd love to own a bike with a near bottom bracket mounted brake, so I could spend my weekends cleaning it.

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robthehungrymonkey replied to dodgy | 9 years ago
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I've got a trek madone with one, it actually gets less dirty. The traditional brake position gets all the dirt/mud flicked up from the rear wheel, this is protected from that.

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joemmo | 9 years ago
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The suntour roller cam brake from 1984: http://www.firstflightbikes.com/_borders/CdaleSM500Fork.JPG
Presumably not covered by a patent

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CJSTEVENS1955 | 9 years ago
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Pointless

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drfabulous0 | 9 years ago
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Just what we need, another standard for brake mounts.

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HalfWheeler | 9 years ago
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Just pray you don't turn onto a road that has been 'surface redressed'!

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racyrich | 9 years ago
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monty dog | 9 years ago
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OK, not a Campagnolo Delta, just a knock-off Shimano AX?

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banzicyclist2 | 9 years ago
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What tyre cleatance!?!

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matthewn5 | 9 years ago
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Tyre clearance??

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Redvee replied to matthewn5 | 9 years ago
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drmatthewhardy wrote:

Tyre clearance??

Plenty for a fag paper, or two possibly.

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