Here’s a really nice visual for showing how mechanical advantage in cantilever brakes changes with their configuration.

Cantilever Geometry Visual Calculator

via Harris Cyclery Blog

Ok I lied, I do have some useful information. I was recently contacted by Rob of Brightspoke about their stem calculator. They say “Our mission is to put more people on bikes by educating consumers.” Sounds good to me.

Instead of providing any helpful content I’ve changed the theme on the site. It’s one I developed for a few other sites. I’m considering rewriting the spoke calculator in PHP since I’ve had trouble with it’s current incarnation as a Rails application. Perhaps I’ll try out the CakePHP framework I’ve heard so much about.