disc brakes

True that. VMB and Elmo

It's funny It's been imprinted in my brain that good equipment is paramount. < I've got to think about while I'm flying down the road! To me it's not at all about what you pay for it 'cause I like to be thrifty as much as the next guy. Thrifty not cheap. It Is Thrifty To Buy Good Equipment. If you develop an eye for what is quality and what is not you'll rarely be fooled by cheap imitation or unnecessarilly overpriced.

I got brembo disc brakes on my schwinn chopper.. Really good..


Wasn't cheap.. But worth it..

Here's my two cents:
...avoid coaster brakes, and any rim brakes on steel rims.
...rim brakes on aluminum rims can work just fine. Salmon Kool Stops are the brake pads you want.
...disk brakes main advantage is that they don't lose any stopping power when wet (even good rim brakes will slide a bit more when wet).

I like the Avid BB7's, but one cheaper brand of disks to look for is Promax. I've seen single-brake kits for as little as $40 or so. Make sure you can still get pads also.

[edit added]
...Or, Gatorbrake, I guess....

The place online I used to always see Promax disk brakes for sale was Pricepoint.
They don't have any Promax right now, but they do have Gatorbrake disks (rotor and mechanical caliper) for $22 per wheel:
Gatorbrake Mechanical Disc Brakes at Price Point

You'd still need disk hubs however, and as far as I've seen, not many bikes have disk hubs that don't already come with disk brakes....
~

Retmachinist said:

Disc brakes are sweet but, if your frame doesn't have mounts for the calipers or your wheels don't have the hubs for the disc's it can get pretty pricey changing over. I built all the adaptor parts for one of mine, and although that was alot cheaper it was VERY time consuming.

John

Click to expand...

I've been reading this thread and Retmachinist, can you elaborate a little on your experience with adapting to your bike. I have a tendem that requires more stop power. (400lbs, bike + 2riders)
I was thinking of going at it this way: I have talked to local bike shop. Purchase a setup like what's on a bike they have, take measurements of caliper mount. Weld and shape mount for caliper on my existing fork, re spoke to accomodate new hub. (approx $130). Biggest issue I can see is getting the mounting for the caliper exactly accurate. Can you shine add'l experience here?
Thanks
Alajoyn
Portage, MI

I fabricated a mount for my Schwinn using the information found here and welded it to the fork using a jig I made to hold it in place. I built the wheel using a Shimano disc hub, Sun rim, and Avid mechanical brake caliper.



This cost about as much as the engine kit, but I made sure this was the first modification done to the bike. Good brakes are not optional!

Alajoyn said:

I've been reading this thread and Retmachinist, can you elaborate a little on your experience with adapting to your bike. I have a tendem that requires more stop power. (400lbs, bike + 2riders)
I was thinking of going at it this way: I have talked to local bike shop. Purchase a setup like what's on a bike they have, take measurements of caliper mount. Weld and shape mount for caliper on my existing fork, re spoke to accomodate new hub. (approx $130). Biggest issue I can see is getting the mounting for the caliper exactly accurate. Can you shine add'l experience here?
Thanks
Alajoyn
Portage, MI

Click to expand...

Yes that would definitly work, welding on your own bracket for the caliper. The hardest part is finding the clearance for the disk and caliper as far as the fork, and getting in the way of the spokes. I had to go to the large 203 m.m. disks to get the caliper out farther from the center to give me room for the spokes. Then I still had to get creative and machine away some of the caliper on the rear to clear the spokes. I will send you a p.m. about a place that has caliper brackets that mount to the end of the axle.

John

Retmachinist said:

.... I will send you a p.m. about a place that has caliper brackets that mount to the end of the axle.

Click to expand...

Where is selling this?
I heard of this in MTB circles a few years ago (a disk-brake adapter that you could use with non-disk-brake forks) but the company making them had problems with them breaking and stopped production.
~

42blue15 said:

Where is selling this?
I heard of this in MTB circles a few years ago (a disk-brake adapter that you could use with non-disk-brake forks) but the company making them had problems with them breaking and stopped production.
~

Click to expand...

The web site is choppersus.com They go on your axle to bolt the caliper to, but they don't work in all applications. There are just so many variables when it comes to forks and wheels. I am always sceptical when anything says "Universal Fit" That usually means only if you have a machine shop at your disposal.

John