Disc Brake upgrade safety opinion

Dave31

Dave31

Active Member
Many forks will have a recommend disc brake size. My forks say no bigger then 160mm, I'm running 203mm...

How important do you believe it is to follow the manufactures recommendations?
 
Now that I think about it, if we were to follow the manufactures recommendations we would not be mounting motors to our bikes lol.
 
I'm feeling a lot more flex in my forks since I added the 203. I'm starting to wonder? I'd hate to have a fork failure...
 
Dave31 said:
I'm feeling a lot more flex in my forks since I added the 203. I'm starting to wonder? I'd hate to have a fork failure...
Click to expand...

with w-mart 10 speeds i do wheelies and stopys all day long with no failure and its a cheap non disk forks

thats 150lbs with about a 2 foot lever or 300foot pounds of load on the forks + the impact load of the stop

i would not worry about it

i have hit sand at 35-37mph (gps real numbers) and the bike make a dead stop and it was with vintage motored bike with paper thin forks from 73 and the forks bent from chopper rake to dirt bike and it still got me home

as long as you don't ride a bike with cracks in it, even cheap bikes are vary stroung .duh.
 
Why do people have an obsession with bigger and bigger discs? In my racing, "experts" were telling me I should have 260mm 6 piston caliper etc, we use a 210mm disc and 2 piston, and the boys happily outbrake the "experts". There's only so much stop you can apply, after that, the back wheel comes up over your head.
 
If you can skid the wheel you have enough brake.

But that's once. The go fast guys who only have 2 speeds full on & full off need better brakes 'cause they get used more. Bigger = better dissapation.

Normal people need not apply.
 
Well I cannot speak for others why they go with bigger brakes but for me it was because I was having brake fade. I was also eating up pads, had a problem with brake squeal and I was tired of my rotors turning blue.

I cut my stopping distance a lot, no more brake squeal, no more brake fade with blue rotors. Which I am hoping it will eliminate me having to replace my pads so often. Only time will tell...

For me, the difference in stopping distant between the 160 and 203 is well worth it ;)
 
I am no expert on disc brakes by any means, having never used one, but wouldnt a shizzy brake put more stress on a fork than a good brake? If you improved your braking with a larger rotor, you probably took a lot of stress off your fork. As long as you dont have excessive stopping force, you should be fine. excessive stopping force will put a lot more stress on the fork.
 
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