CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
My lady wife has a Croix de Fer - it's sold as a cross bike but one you swap the farsical knobbly tyres for bald ones, it's extremely capable and has made me slightly wistful.
The lifting of the ban on discs in cross is the thin end of the wedge for speedy bikes with discs, because cross bikes really are just like racers but with clearance for wider tyres...
What type of road bike ;)
... Smart Bottom!!
My usual ride is ~18 - 20 miles to work, with the odd 30 miles ride on a weekend, and maybe an Audax once or twice a year once I've forgotten how horrid they are...
Don't suppose it matters what kind of brakes are used in the peleton as long as they are all the same kinds of brakes.
<<Don't suppose it matters what kind of brakes are used in the peleton as long as they are all the same kinds of brakes.>>
Exactement!
Some cyclists in this city ride with the front brake on the left you know... I may have to start a thread.
How else do you propose to indicate right while covering the main brake? ;-)
Easy... change hands! ;-)
You're going to have to try it now aren't you.....!
Some cyclists ride with front brakes on both sides.
@smudge - because my brake levers are in the middle of my outlandish handlebars, I can actually activate either (or both) brakes with either (or both) thumbs...
Originally I swapped because I had only a front brake on the fixed wheel and had to tackle a right turn on a busy roundabout with a downhill approach. Then I felt I had to shift all my brakes around otherwise I might get caught out, then I just got used to it!
Sounds an interesting setup! Any pics? Or will you be at PY on Friday? :)
Unfortunately not, as I'm driving in and getting away early for the weekend :(
Bah!
Being back on the Kaff commuting this week I've decided that before the weather gets manky(er?) I'll be forking out (if you'll pardon the pun) 40 quid on a Kaffenback disc fork and sticking a disc brake on the front.
Not sure about the rear. I've seen a rather natty looking adapter for non-disc frames, but it's reasonably expensive. More than the brake itself...
Not seen a rear disc brake frame adaptor, is there a way it spreads the load across the rear stays or put all the twisting forces through one? How chunky are the rear stays..?
(easier than me trying to explain... ;) )
:-( not visible at work, will try to have a look later :-)
I like, thanks for the info in the link.
Smudge, the caliper sits on a bracket mounted on the axle and inboard of the left-hand dropout. A rigid strut connects the forward end of the bracket to the left-hand brake pivot boss on the seatstay, and restrains the rotation of the caliper under braking. They've fitted each end of the strut with a rose joint to provide for alignment in fitting.
It'll all be fine as long as the seatstays are sufficiently rigid and the boss is strong - a safer but less generic design would clamp around the tube instead. The seatstays on my old Stumpjumper barely cope with V-brakes, let alone the reaction force from a disc caliper!
Thanks Arrelcat, Sounds pretty sensible/solid, also sounds like a lot of messing around just to achieve an increase in power on the back brake... can't the existing brake lock the back wheel? Or is it for purely aesthetic/style reasons? ;-)
Ah yes, we were wondering whether you could get some sort of conversion arrangement for disk brakes at PY. That'll be a yes then! It ought to be possible really.
Yeah, it was on the back of that conversation that I finally remembered to have a look. Teh internets can find anything!
"Teh internets can find anything!" which is why you should always take care about what you search for (shudders) ;-)
Anyway, back to the important stuff ;-)what does the conversion thingy weigh?
It doesn't seem to divulge that information. I put in the info for my Surly (although if I had a rear disk brake for it I'd definately get killed) and it seemed to think I needed a new wheel and hub* too so possibly it's not all that straightforward.
* Maybe this is obvious but I don't really know anything about disk brakes.
The disk attaches to the hub, so you'd definitely need a new hub. That could be laced into your existing rim, although it would likely need new spokes too. A new wheel would be the easiest option.
However, I'd be very surprised if it was even that simple as disk hubs are 135mm and non-disk usually 130mm wide. That means "springing" the rear of the bike apart to get the greater width (in fact, my Amazon is built for a 132.5mm hub so it can take either width with a bit of gentle persuasion)
MTB hubs are 135mm whether they're disc or not - only road frames take 130mm (and track 120mm). Since the solution only works if there's a mountain-bike style V-brake boss on the stay, I'm guessing they're aimed at that market?
Ah, but my Kaffenback frame has canti bosses. But it's an expensive option for the benefit, the bike will look lopsided with a disc on the front only, but it'll stop me plenty well enough.
or if you want to be properly bling and individual, get a second set of disc mounts on the fork and fit twin discs. Then you can leave the normal brake on the back "because it's just to drift on for stability, there's no braking effect when it's hovering over the tarmac" ;-)
Hi Anth,
Can you post some pics please of your kaffenback. I've googles them but can't find any good info. Is this a custom build for you or something commercially available? I'd like disc brakes on a commuter bike but can't find any for sale which are not a custom job.
Cheers,
Dave C
Hey Dave, I've not got the disc on the front of the Kaff yet - Planet-X don't have the fork in stock at the moment. I'm not sure if/when Planet-X will have their disc specific Kaffenback for sale, but given they sell the disc fork it can't be long off.
For discs on a commuter do bikes like the Cannondale Bad Boy not run discs?
It's one of the two options on the Kaffenback fork. Non-disc is in stock just now, waiting for new stock of the disc option: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/FOPXK/planet-x-kaffenback-fork
Dave C - I am pretty sure that I have seen some off-the-shelf road bikes with drops and disc brakes.
Also if you did go custom think you can get disc mounts on a road rat. A local shop would be able to do a custom build for you.
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