I have a med size p-38 with a 20" front wheel and I assume the fork is a 16" since the clearance
between wheel and fork is close with a Conti tire. I had a Shimano RX or XT mounted on the rear of
the fork. I decided to change to a 105 brake set and fou nd the reach of the front brake was too
short to mount on the rear of the fork. It works great mounted on the front ,but to allow turning
clearance you must modify the brake so the cable comes in from the bottom instead of the top. I put
a loop in the cable and used the threaded cable adjuster in the bottom
. To clamp the cable on the top I used another threaded cable adjuster and using a Dremel tool I cut
a slot in it to allow the cable to be clamped by a nut . I can get a pic of it if anyone wants to
see it. Ben Fox "Jeff Wills" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Alex" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<
[email protected]>...
> > I purchased a used P38 that had a 16" wheel on the front. I then
purchased
> > a 20" wheel for it and put it on. The brakes could of course no longer contact the wheel and the
> > clearance to the fork was minimal. The only
brake
> > I could buy at the local dealer was a 105 calliper brake that now stops
me
> > from making left turns. Does anyone know if Lightning supplies a longer fork for bikes with a
> > 20" wheel than with a 16" wheel? Does anyone
know
> > what brake I can use that will give the necessary clearances to the
frame?
> >
> > Many thanks
> >
> > Alex
>
> Something's weird here. I've used "normal-reach" caliper brakes on my Lightnings for many years.
> Turning to the right or left should not be restricted if the caliper is mounted on the back of the
> fork. Fuzzy picture here:
http://www.pacifier.com/~jwills/Gallery/photos/photo_3.html
>
> You probably can't do this with modern short-reach calipers. Fortunately, Shimano now makes
> normal-reach (47-57mm) calipers in two grades: R-600/Ultegra (
>
http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=BR0610 ) and RX-100 (
>
http://harriscyclery.net/site/page.cfm?PageID=49&SKU=BR0551 )
>
> My wife used the RX-100 calipers for several years- she never had trouble making left turns.
>
> Jeff