Disc brake conversion front weld on springer

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dirtydee

New Member
Jun 11, 2012
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Australia
Hi There, I did search on this topic and found some stuff but would like a clearer idea...

I want to weld disc brake mount on to a springer fork as shown on bike in attached photo. Sorry its not a great shot of the fork...

Is this type of fork strong enough to take the forces applied by a modern hydraulic disk brake? I know that a steel road bike with caliper brakes is designed to have braking force applied near the headset and the fork is not strong enough to simply weld on some tabs near the dropouts and bolt on a brake. However most roadies are designed to be light.

I have found this monarch II fork which claims to be reinforced and suitable for disc brake.

Has anyone encountered component failure due to front disc brake fitting?
Is there a reason why monarch have made version two stronger?!

If your bike did break, was it a sudden failure or a gradual bending/cracking of the steel? Where did it happen? (dont say outside the pub, where on the bike!)

I am pretty hard on my rides, although not really heavy (75kg).

dnut
 

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dirtydee

New Member
Jun 11, 2012
7
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Australia
Thanks for the links.

I can see that this is possible for eg. your build

I was really after long term effects of this modification on forks which are not designed for disc brake use and are being used in rough conditions.

So no one has had any problems?
 
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dirtydee

New Member
Jun 11, 2012
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Australia
Again, thanks for the link.

Not sure exactly what happened there. Like a few people said a few detailed pics of the point of failure would have been great.
 
Venice Motor Bikes

Venice Motor Bikes

Custom Builder / Dealer/Los Angeles
Mar 20, 2008
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BarelyaWake deleated my links... :rolleyes:
If you look around at the many ads on each side of this page, you'll find a few vendors who sell bolt on disc brake adapters for your fork that require NO WELDING.
 
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dirtydee

New Member
Jun 11, 2012
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Australia
thats great, I saw the links you posted.

I understand you can mount a disk brake without welding. Either way it will not necessarily make the fork stronger.

Other than the monarch II (which im not even sure about), as I understand springer forks are not designed to be used with a disk brake. the force is applied at the end of the forks, meaning the entire system needs to be stronger than if the brake is mounted at the top of the forks near the frame.

So my question is for people who have bolted or welded on a disc brake setup.
Has it failed? Where? Was it abused?
 
Venice Motor Bikes

Venice Motor Bikes

Custom Builder / Dealer/Los Angeles
Mar 20, 2008
7,272
1,810
113
Los Angeles, CA.
If you think about it... It really doesn't matter what kind of front brake you have, all the weight of the bike & rider will be put on the fork when a front brake is applied!

People have been installing disc brakes on springer forks for several years now without any problems, so you really shouldn't worry about it. ;)
 
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dirtydee

New Member
Jun 11, 2012
7
0
0
Australia
Im glad to hear people have been doing this without problems, I was starting to consider some sort of hydbridised modern mountain bike fork on a lowrider beast!

The type of brake and where it is placed has a affect on the way the force is applied to the frame.

If I put a disk brake on the end of a fork arm and stress it to failure. Where will it fail and at what load? If I put a caliper brake at the top of the fork and stress it to failure. Where will it fail and at what load?
Do you think it will fail at the same location? Do you think the load will be the same?

The evolution of cyclocross bikes is the perfect example. Look how fork design has changed (stronger) to accomodate disk brakes.

As I said im OK with putting a disc on there and seeing how it goes, mainly because its steel and I would not expect it to suddenly snap without warning. Its good to hear that no one has had problems, but in my experience when you use (and abuse in my case) something which it was not designed for their can be problems. That is why I worry about it ;)
 
biknut

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
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Dallas
dirtydee said:
Hi There, I did search on this topic and found some stuff but would like a clearer idea...

I want to weld disc brake mount on to a springer fork as shown on bike in attached photo. Sorry its not a great shot of the fork...

Is this type of fork strong enough to take the forces applied by a modern hydraulic disk brake? I know that a steel road bike with caliper brakes is designed to have braking force applied near the headset and the fork is not strong enough to simply weld on some tabs near the dropouts and bolt on a brake. However most roadies are designed to be light.

I have found this monarch II fork which claims to be reinforced and suitable for disc brake.

Has anyone encountered component failure due to front disc brake fitting?
Is there a reason why monarch have made version two stronger?!

If your bike did break, was it a sudden failure or a gradual bending/cracking of the steel? Where did it happen? (dont say outside the pub, where on the bike!)

I am pretty hard on my rides, although not really heavy (75kg).

dnut
Click to expand...



This is where I got mine. No welding, and it works. I don't know anything about the disk causing anything to break. Nothing has broken on mine.

http://venicemotorbikes.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=45
 
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