Disk Brake Retrofit?

Quoted message said:

I know nothing about disk brakes and have a newbie question. Is it
possible to retrofit disk brakes onto an older mountain bike frame that
does not have the necessary mounts? It seems as though the
manufacturers of disk brakes would have come up with a way to do this
with millions of older bikes out there. Also, if the answer to the
first question is yes, can I use my existing brake levers/cables?

Thanks,
Don

Yeah, it's possible in most cases to fit a rear disk brake mounting
bracket. Your forks will need the right mounts though - no adapter
brackets for them AFAIR.

In all liklihood you will NOT be able to use the existing levers and
cables - different pull ratios just to begin with.

Don't forget that you will probably need to lace disc-compatible hubs to
the wheels too. If the bike never had discs then it's unlikely that
it's wheels will have hubs that will accept rotors.

Unless you have an old spare set of disc brakes lying around, it is
REALLY not worth the money trying to retro-fit disc brakes to a bike
that never had them.
--

dkingtn said:

I know nothing about disk brakes and have a newbie question. Is it
possible to retrofit disk brakes onto an older mountain bike frame that
does not have the necessary mounts? It seems as though the
manufacturers of disk brakes would have come up with a way to do this
with millions of older bikes out there. Also, if the answer to the
first question is yes, can I use my existing brake levers/cables?

What frame have you got? If it's a steel frame, and you really like it,
then you can get a mount welded to the stays. If it's alu, then you could
get an A2Z mount, but it would probably be better just to get a new frame.

bomba said:

What frame have you got? If it's a steel frame, and you really like it,
then you can get a mount welded to the stays.

We welded a disc mount to my bro's Mt Vision Pro (alu). Worked a treat.
Need a tig welder tho.

J

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Quoted message said:

I know nothing about disk brakes and have a newbie question. Is it
possible to retrofit disk brakes onto an older mountain bike frame that
does not have the necessary mounts? It seems as though the
manufacturers of disk brakes would have come up with a way to do this
with millions of older bikes out there. Also, if the answer to the
first question is yes, can I use my existing brake levers/cables?

Thanks,
Don

Well I never thought these things were legit, kinda like the Shockster, but
here ya go!

http://therapycomponents.com/conversion.htm

Chris G said:

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Quoted message said:

I know nothing about disk brakes and have a newbie question. Is it
possible to retrofit disk brakes onto an older mountain bike frame that
does not have the necessary mounts? It seems as though the
manufacturers of disk brakes would have come up with a way to do this
with millions of older bikes out there. Also, if the answer to the
first question is yes, can I use my existing brake levers/cables?

Thanks,
Don

Well I never thought these things were legit, kinda like the Shockster, but
here ya go!

http://therapycomponents.com/conversion.htm

You doubt the almighty Shockster!?!?

"MattB" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Chris G said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I know nothing about disk brakes and have a newbie question. Is it
possible to retrofit disk brakes onto an older mountain bike frame that
does not have the necessary mounts? It seems as though the
manufacturers of disk brakes would have come up with a way to do this
with millions of older bikes out there. Also, if the answer to the
first question is yes, can I use my existing brake levers/cables?

Thanks,
Don

Well I never thought these things were legit, kinda like the Shockster,
but here ya go!

http://therapycomponents.com/conversion.htm

You doubt the almighty Shockster!?!?

Nope I doubt it one bit! It is one of those things that had to be done.

I've heard of it being done. Not sure about who makes them. but you can pick
up Seperate brake adapters that mirly clamp onto the rear end of the frame.
Best advice is either go talk to a local bike shop.. or pick up a new frame.
also odds are if u are running V-brakes OR cantilever.. You won't be able to
use your old cables ( to short ) but if u are running Mechanical Disk
Brakes, you can use your exzisting levers. Just need new cables and cable
housing.
In the long run.... You are way better off buying a new frame that has the
tabs for disk brakes. You won't regret it.

Just retrofit the front wheel and save yourself a lot of trouble. I set
up my old trek 8000 with a front mechanical disk when the front hub
wore out. Most front shocks these days already have the disk break
mount.

If you buy the Avid mechanical brakes you'll need a medium amount of
leverage. Too much leverage means too little cable pull and finicky
adjustment, but too little leverage means you have to clamp down on the
breaks amazingly hard. Hydraulic brakes are way better! Anyways, if you
get the mechanical brakes I suggest that you buy a pair of brake levers
that have adjustable leverage -- many do. Avid makes a particularly
nice lever that gives an infinitely variable leverage adjustment.
Shimano makes a lever that has three leverage positions. I put a nice
XTR v-brake on the back wheel with good results. (Another advantage of
having the adjustable levers is that you can back off the leverage on
the rear brake to get more balanced braking -- with the older style
center pull you can back off on the leverage of the rear brake if you
just use an after-market cable hanger and make the length of the legs
of the inverted Y a bit longer than normal.

I never did get much advantage out of the Avid mechanical brake, other
than the fact that it looked cool. (Probably why the bike was stolen!)

Happy mountain biking,
Dave Wissenbach

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Quoted message said:

Just retrofit the front wheel and save yourself a lot of trouble. I set
up my old trek 8000 with a front mechanical disk when the front hub
wore out. Most front shocks these days already have the disk break
mount.

If you buy the Avid mechanical brakes you'll need a medium amount of
leverage. Too much leverage means too little cable pull and finicky
adjustment, but too little leverage means you have to clamp down on the
breaks amazingly hard. Hydraulic brakes are way better! Anyways, if you
get the mechanical brakes I suggest that you buy a pair of brake levers
that have adjustable leverage -- many do. Avid makes a particularly
nice lever that gives an infinitely variable leverage adjustment.

yes, I have a set of System 7 levers..good stuff indeed.

Quoted message said:

Shimano makes a lever that has three leverage positions. I put a nice
XTR v-brake on the back wheel with good results. (Another advantage of
having the adjustable levers is that you can back off the leverage on
the rear brake to get more balanced braking -- with the older style
center pull you can back off on the leverage of the rear brake if you
just use an after-market cable hanger and make the length of the legs
of the inverted Y a bit longer than normal.

I never did get much advantage out of the Avid mechanical brake, other
than the fact that it looked cool. (Probably why the bike was stolen!)

now that just sucks!!

Quoted message said:

Happy mountain biking,
Dave Wissenbach

Good info Dave....what r-u new?? 😉

Happy trails to you.....the Van Halen version, not Roy & Dale...

Dave W