Hey everyone, sorry for reusing this picture but it has a good view on the fork.
So this guy from my city will weld some disc brake mounts on the bike. The thing is tho that he doesn’t want to weld on the fork, it is his first time doing this on a bike (normally makes cargo bikes out of 90’s atb bikes). Just wanted to check with y’all if anyone has experience in this matter, I would love some barnacle forks but I’m not too keen on their price tag hehe. I hope some pf you folks successfully discbrakes some old forks and would love to hear about it.
by florisrossaert
22 Comments
Folding the fork leg is not uncommon for forks that had tabs welded to. I wouldn’t risk it and get a new disc brake fork.
Bike builder not willing to take responsibility for such work is a strong hint too
Would be cheaper to just buy one with mounts and less of a headache
Yeah, modern forks are designed to take the stress of braking — an older rim brake fork with a disc tab welded on will be flexy at best, and fail at worst.
Something like this is only $75 and will be much safer:
https://main-street-bicycle-company.shoplightspeed.com/fork-1-steer-tube-disc-brake.html
Don’t do it.
Because of this…
The forks in these photos might be high-tensile instead of chromoly and they look thin walled, but to be safe I wouldn’t convert a fork that’s not design for disc brakes. Unless there was extra bracing added to the leg.
Scroll down to the photos.
https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?t=148379
There have been forks successfully converted to disc, make sure it’s done right.
Hey if you upgrade your brake pads you probably won’t need it
Those cantilevers are actually really good if adjusted properly. Make sure that you have new good pads and that it’s adjusted properly. Those things have really good biting force when adjusted.
New fork, headset and stem, you’ll be moving to modern easier to find parts and it will be much easier to sort when out and about if something is wrong
NooooooOOOOOOooooo!
I wouldn’t. Stick with rim brakes. when adjusted correctly they’ll put you OTB just as fast as disk brakes.
Don’t do it. Either live with rims (I promise, you will) or get a new fork
Rim brakes for life
I agree with everyone else, don’t do it.
Get some good (Kool-Stop) brake pads, and get you cantilevers adjusted correctly.
Read Sheldon Brown’s page on cantilever brakes.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html
Whenever I hear about people making “interesting“ changes to their setup, I have to ask: what problem are you solving?
This also goes for people replacing perfectly good 2x or 3x drive trains to move to 1x. You’re spending a lot of money to reduce your range and save maybe a few hundred grams.
People here are terrified of this but it’s kinda common thing I see done on YouTube. I would recommend adding extra bracing to both sides of the fork if you want it to stay strong. But it would also be easier to just get a new fork since it’s 1 1/8. I’m trying this at some point on a 1 inch fork because I can’t find anything for that.
Maybe try V brakes first?
Canti tune up and new Kool Stop pads all day. Also is this a factory color way? Never seen it before, too rad to destroy any of that paint imo!
A well set up V brake will deliver 90% of the stopping power that a disc will. That last bit of power and modulation would come in handy if yo were pointed down a steep rocky incline in the rain. Any job you’re going to ask a bike with a basket to do can be done as well and sometimes better with a V brake.
The cable stretch in a V brake is minimal on the front, it’s ‘worse’ on the back because the cable is longer so a 1% stretch will be more in terms of MM. On a front brake the cable is so short that you should be able to set up a brake strong enough to flip the bike over or skid the wheel, at which point the issue isn’t power at the brake, it’s traction.
A little cable stretch can be a good thing because it allows modulation. I went from V brake to mechanical disc and found it harder to set up, less forgiving, and no more powerful.
Disc brakes make more sense on 29/700c wheels because the larger diameter is, essentially a longer lever. So, you can use a more powerful brake to control the torque. A disc on a 26 is kind of a waste most of the time.
I did it on my GT, works like a charm. Look at all the “cheap” forks like surly or from AliExpress, standard fork with some thin tabs welded on. Same fork material, no magic tubing with ovalized pipes. I tried some test weldings with 5mm tabs on an old fork for best settings. Ended with 70-75A for S235 on 25CrMo4 with 0.8mm flux wire – worked very well, and I tried to hammer it off – no chance! So I did it on the GT. Awesome work, I use it as Daily and for kids transport. When you don’t use 200mm disc, the flex is okay.
Have a look:
https://www.reddit.com/r/xbiking/comments/1aybizc/my_gt_conversion_for_winter_and_bad_weather/
Just remember discs put a huge load onto the forks due to the moment arm between tyre and hub. The stress into the fork is orders of magnitude more than rim brakes for the same stopping force
I’ve never seen that baller-ass colorway on a hardrock. Man! What year is that?
it is simply a bad idea and anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
buy a new fork. it would probably end up being cheaper anyway. or just deal with not having disc brakes because it almost never matters.