Beringer Disc Brake Kit for Schemm-Hirth gliders - experience and effectiveness?

I have a Beringer wheel on a JS1 and it is a nice piece of kit and has worked and braked fine however, having had my eyes opened by helping a colleague to change the tyre on a colleague's Antares, I wouldn't get one again. If the tyre gets damaged and needs replaced you need to source the expensive 10 ply tubeless aviation tyre and need to have the tyre changing kit (plywood frames + metal spacer to compress the tyre) + lube + new O ring kit. I recently bought all that to take on an expedition to South Africa at total cost in UK over £350 and it took a few weeks to source separately. Without it if I burst a tyre I reckoned I would be stuck on the ground for a long time.

It's fine if you are aware of those aspects and have spares available or can wait to get them if a problem arises.

I would opt for a Tost Penta while which is lighter than standard Tost wheel system (but heavier than a Beringer) and has a hydraulic disc brake but takes normal tubed tyres.

On Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 6:31:13 PM UTC-4, wrote:
I have a Beringer wheel on a JS1 and it is a nice piece of kit and has
worked and braked fine however, having had my eyes opened by helping a
colleague to change the tyre on a colleague's Antares, I wouldn't get one
again. If the tyre gets damaged and needs replaced you need to source the
expensive 10 ply tubeless aviation tyre and need to have the tyre changing
kit (plywood frames + metal spacer to compress the tyre) + lube + new O
ring kit. I recently bought all that to take on an expedition to South
Africa at total cost in UK over £350 and it took a few weeks to source
separately. Without it if I burst a tyre I reckoned I would be stuck
on the ground for a long time.

I recommend a spare wheel with mounted tire; makes a simple swap
quick and easy (I travel with such). These tubeless tires are much less
likely to have a problem then tubed types, but again a field repair is
troublesome. Anyway, I highly recommend the Beringer product.

Hope that helps!
Walt, give me a ring if any further questions,
Best Regards, Dave

A full spare Beringer wheel with mounted tyre as an essential? Seriously? At their prices? In the real world when there is an alternative option to get a disk brake it makes no sense to me. The Beringer wheel does look really cool 'thougn.

On Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 5:46:43 AM UTC-4, wrote:
A full spare Beringer wheel with mounted tyre as an essential? Seriously?

If one has a flat at a contest grid, changing the tire would take too long.
Undoing the axle, caliper, and disc and swapping the mounted tire/rim is
relatively painless. Similarly, have a spare mounted tailwheel...

The tubeless tire is quite resilient, but Texas thorns are impressive too.

If you're not too concerned about missing a day, no spare required ;-)

See ya, Dave

Is there a Cleveland wheel, disk, and caliper that would work? They're
used all over general aviation.Â* I don't know for sure about the wheels
and disks, but my Stemme uses Cleveland calipers.Â* I'll be replacing the
pads next week for under $50 for four pads.

On 10/14/2017 4:31 PM, wrote:
I have a Beringer wheel on a JS1 and it is a nice piece of kit and has worked and braked fine however, having had my eyes opened by helping a colleague to change the tyre on a colleague's Antares, I wouldn't get one again. If the tyre gets damaged and needs replaced you need to source the expensive 10 ply tubeless aviation tyre and need to have the tyre changing kit (plywood frames + metal spacer to compress the tyre) + lube + new O ring kit. I recently bought all that to take on an expedition to South Africa at total cost in UK over £350 and it took a few weeks to source separately. Without it if I burst a tyre I reckoned I would be stuck on the ground for a long time.

It's fine if you are aware of those aspects and have spares available or can wait to get them if a problem arises.

I would opt for a Tost Penta while which is lighter than standard Tost wheel system (but heavier than a Beringer) and has a hydraulic disc brake but takes normal tubed tyres.


--
Dan, 5J

On Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 10:26:09 AM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
Is there a Cleveland wheel, disk, and caliper that would work? They're
used all over general aviation.Â* I don't know for sure about the wheels
and disks, but my Stemme uses Cleveland calipers.Â* I'll be replacing the
pads next week for under $50 for four pads.

On 10/14/2017 4:31 PM, wrote:
I have a Beringer wheel on a JS1 and it is a nice piece of kit and has worked and braked fine however, having had my eyes opened by helping a colleague to change the tyre on a colleague's Antares, I wouldn't get one again.. If the tyre gets damaged and needs replaced you need to source the expensive 10 ply tubeless aviation tyre and need to have the tyre changing kit (plywood frames + metal spacer to compress the tyre) + lube + new O ring kit.. I recently bought all that to take on an expedition to South Africa at total cost in UK over £350 and it took a few weeks to source separately.. Without it if I burst a tyre I reckoned I would be stuck on the ground for a long time.

It's fine if you are aware of those aspects and have spares available or can wait to get them if a problem arises.

I would opt for a Tost Penta while which is lighter than standard Tost wheel system (but heavier than a Beringer) and has a hydraulic disc brake but takes normal tubed tyres.


--
Dan, 5J

Possibly, but someone has to engineer the conversion, produce and supply parts and do the required work to generate "approved data", commonly done by STC.
Much better to pay for someone else to do this work.
UH