Converting Rim Brake to Disc Brake
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ส.ค. 2024
- Disc brakes are the industry standard on road bikes these days, so can I upgrade my old rim brake bike to disc brake?
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I love my old rim brake road bike. I have owned it for 7 or 8 years, and must have done around 25,000 miles on it, however I find that I am riding it less and less in favour of bikes with hydraulic disc brakes.
On my rim brake bike I use fully carbon rims, so under heavy braking, delamination is an issue, and braking performance in the wet is not only dreadful, it can be quite dangerous, especially if you have to navigate heavy traffic. However I LOVE the frame. It’s stiff, fast, incredibly comfortable, and looks fantastic in my opinion. So in this episode, by changing the fork and a few other components, I’m going to upgrade the front wheel to disc brake.
I initially tried mechanical disc brakes. The performance was great, plus it meant that I didn’t have to change the groupset, but I understand that some people REALLY dislike mechanical disc. So I also tried a spare hydraulic disc brake groupset I had lying around in the workshop, and the end result is honestly fantastic.
It rides really well, the different shifters on the left and right don't bother me at all, and the braking performance is top tier.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Start
00:27 - Intro & parts required
01:26 - Converting to disc brake
04:18 - Wheelbase changes
05:57 - Siroko sponsor
07:15 - Ride test
09:06 - Hydraulic disc brake
12:07 - Selecting the right fork
13:50 - Final bike weight
14:39 - Bonus bonus clip
Intro roll:
Created by Dev Joshi - www.go2dev.co.uk
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Email: tracevelouk@gmail.com
Please note:
I am not a professionally trained bike mechanic. There can be risks associated with using products that are unbranded, untested, or come from sources where the provenance is unknown. Please talk to a qualified bike mechanic if you are in any doubt.
In essence, be careful, do your research, and cycle safe!!! - กีฬา
Of course its only a guess based on your youtube videos but you seem like a very genuine guy, I'm always so happy when a child comes into this world with good and interesting/inquisitive parents. Congratulations!
Thankyou Thomas, what an awesome comment!
Your videos inspired me to try and build a carbon fiber AliExpress bike. I sourced many of the components from a boken bike i got for cheap off Craigslist. Watching how you deal with problems and solutions that dont work out or look off and how you pivot off those and try new things has been a huge help. It's just about ready to ride and i might be have a maiden ride this weekend, so thank you so much for your videos! Good luck with the kid!
I wanted a gravel bike so I converted my late 90s Schwinn hard tail, 26in, mt bike. Even though it came stock with cantilever rime breaks, the rear triangle had lugs for disk breaks. I discovered I could fit a 29er disc wheelset on and 700*35 tires. I bought a new ridged carbon, disk, mt bike fork for 26in wheels and still had plenty of clearance for the new 29er wheels. I had a cheep Microshift rd groupset lying around and got some mechanical break calipers. It made a sweet gravel bike. It's pretty heavy but it is bomb proof, super comfortable and it is my go to gravel and family bike. It doesn't always work and sometimes compromises are made. Ultimately if the individual likes it and keeps that person riding, then it is the perfect bike!
First off: cool build! Fun to see the resourceful approach. Secondly: congrats on the impending new family member! You'll have your hands full - the bike (when you can get to it) will be a welcome break. Cheers from DC!
Congratulations Luke! Best cycling channel out there and I'm glad I hopped on this train early on :)
Great News man and Congrats!
First, of course, you're doing us a real service by trying all this wacko stuff. But second, when the stuff works, it's a delight seeing how happy and excited you get. (I can hardly wait to hear you gush about the baby!)
So excited for you mate, you will - as you do everything you turn your hand to - smash this! Hope all goes well & hopefully see you soon! Best of luck mate ❤
That’s a neat concept.
Great to see some recycling (ouch). Fantastic work as always. Good luck with the little one. Can’t wait for the aero road bike passenger seat conversion / mini trailer / aero carbon cargo bike video 🚴🏼♂️🛒
I love to tinker and did a frankenstein build like this myself, though I was lucky that the Giant fitness hybrid aluminum frame I started with already had a rear disc brake mount so all I had to do was replace the fork to get a full disc bike. I converted the hybrid (originally 3x9) into a 1x11 drop bar 'gravel' bike, and I love it overall. Still have some other plans, namely replacing the bar with a more gravel type bar and going to Ultegra R8000 shifters / GRX800 derailleur when get around to converting my current Ti road bike to 105 Di2 and can then use some of the mechanical components from it, but the bike as it is now with Sensah SRX Pro is still pretty darned good. Took it to Canada with me this past summer and rode some pretty epic rides in the Rockies with it (including a 300km 2500m elevation gain 14 hour one day ride that was amazing), and it performed admirably.
🥖 I'm all in favour! You're breaking the mould with this mashup Luke. Aesthetically, the neon bar tape and the stripe on the replacement forks works for me in 'tying them together'. Good luck with the new baby - you'll do great!
Hi Luke, another cracking "project" to keep us all enthralled! Young Lady permitting keep doing what you're doing, even warts n all rough non edit footage stuff would be fantastic! The bonus footage was so good that's why I think you've got such a following, genuine kinda guy!! 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼🍼some baguettes and baby bottles for you too! I hope all goes well with the eminent arrival and i wish Mrs Luke an uncomplicated speedy delivery!🙂🙂🙂
Really good conversion, been considering doing this to my old Quintana Roo TT for a while
Hi Luke, I am planning exactly the same mod to my bike, it's a 2014 Merida Scultura. I have a fork/wheel/cable actuated hydraulic disc brake in my aliexpress shopping cart waiting for pay day. I will try and document it as I go. Thanks for the video, it's given me a little more confidence.
I'm in Melbourne, and replaced the steel fork with carbon (caliper mount) fork, and installed a Shimano XT caliper hyd brake; and had a Mavic A719 rim (25mm int) laced to a 6-bolt rotor hub. This cost me about $A750 5 years ago. Bike (3 x 9spd) is for rail trail touring, and my current local cafe ride. The hyd disc front brake is really good, and I know will stop me on a hill with 15kg on the rack, or when a car crosses my path from a side street. The cost was equal to what I paid for the bike 15y ago. No regret about doing it. Ride confidence and personal health security being benefits. Hydraulic is meant to have better modulation than mechanical. TPG make a hyd caliper that uses cable activiation, saving replacement of the bar activator (shifter-brake handle). It was cool to see Trace's video on this topic.
Kudos for the effort, feels like a breath of fresh air among the sea of youtube cycling content
Very much enjoyed this. Favorite Trace velo vid to date👍
Funny timing of this video as I am currently researching this conversion for my 2012 Felt Z6. It's pretty much as simple as I expected it to be.
lots of content these days, loving them
Really enjoy your grounded channel and well done on the new edition to the family.
Ah, Luke... This feel like that time when my brother told me I was gonna be an uncle! I'm so happy for you! I love the channel and really hope it continues to grow. Come to Mexico! You'll be blown away by the number of hacks people uses on their bikes!
Congratulations on the baby, being a parent is hard but amazing. You will be a great parent. Thank you for the videos 😎. Take care of yourself.
I love your channel so much, Luke. Thank you for the many hours of great videos.
Being a parent made me a better person, and my kids are my favorite people ever. I hope you and your family have a wonderful time getting to know each other.
As always, a very informative and fun video, learn a lot from you sir, Trace Velo is the best when it comes doing budget bikes and upgrades, i can relate much more, and get some tips from you..
BTW, i congratulate you in advance sir for the biggest blessing coming to your family.. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉God bless you all
Big shout out to Siroko. been using there kit since Luke put me onto them a few years back. not one bad thing to say about them. Honestly brilliant. Cheers Luke
I'm a pandemic cyclist who started as cycling enthusiast on 2020, your videos was so informative and inspiring. Thanks Luke and congrats for being a parent 🥖🥖
*Scamdemic.
You misspelled pandemic it is PLANdemic.
Was going to say the same. Take care and enjoy the ride of parenthood! All the best to Mum and wishing the three of you a happy welcoming.
I always wanted to see this done as always thanks for the great content
Hi luke. Probably your best creation to date. It also offends both the rim Brakers and disc brakers all in one go!! Absolutely excellent! I can only imagine the wars that will take place in the comments section?? 🤣😂🤣😎😁👍🏻
Congrats on the little one! Many Blessings to you and the family! 🙏😎👍🏻
Congratulations to you and I hope that your new addition arrives safely. Treasure every moment as they grow up so fast, and there are so many joys along the way.
Seems like inherent optimism bias and terror management theory will always help regardless of ideologies such as antinatalism based on consent and efilism.
All the best mate! You're gonna love it!
Mixing hydraulic and mechanical brifters is underrated imho.
I started out with a complete Tiagra 4600 groupset with mechanical Shimano disc brakes on a used CX/gravelbike and swapped out the lefthand brifter and front brake for an Ultegra 6800 series hydraulic J-kit soon after. The gain in performance (and confidence) was astonishing for an ~150 € investment.
The swap from the righthand Tiagra brifter, RD and mechanical rear caliper to an hydraulic GRX400 brifter/rd and Deore-brake combo on the other hand (pun intended) two years later didn't do much besides giving a more even brake feel between both hands.
Dude congratulations on your new girl! As a parent of two crazy young boys (7 and 10) and I can tell you you're in for the ride of your life! And btw I love your personality! I love the energy you have in your videos! Happy days!
Wow.. I’m impressed. I’ve never seen this setup before. Looks like is good idea.
We live on the edge. The frankenstein bike is the best! Many want the "purest" of bikes but sometimes that's boring. This was a fun project. Finding the fork can be a little daunting to be honest but once you have that set you can jump to all the other parts rather quickly. As for parenting, it's an exciting time. Enjoy those first golden years , no matter how tough. It goes fast. You can still work and get things done but it will be more surgical and fine tuned. All in good ways. Take a bit of time for adjustment and most importantly mom will be hella tired and post partum is real.
Almost converted my old commuter/gravel bike doing something like this. It was a 2004 Giant TCX and was surprisingly light and fun to ride, but winter commutes could be sketchy with those old cantilever brakes. Ultimately, I realized there were wo many things I wanted to change that it would be cheaper just pick up a slightly used gravel bike that already came with discs.
Congratulations. Can't wait to see the baby grow into riding a balance bike in a few years.
Nice video, Luke! Unfortunately fell from my bicycle a week ago, got myself a cast (bad), yesterday got operated and had 2 screws into my elbow (even worse, the pain is like a bloody torture), god only knows how much time will be needed to recover.
Oh, and here's a baguette 🥖
get well soon man.
Hope your pain goes away asap. Any details on the cause?
@@2wheelsr2wheels39 crashed from bike, landed on the elbow.
Get well soon bro! Don't rush it and make the most of the time off the bike! I've broken both my collarbones and came back after each time even stronger than before! You got this!
I've thought about this in the past. Glad to see someone actually do it! This is the kind of bike I love to see 🥖
Great video. I have been thinking the same thing for a while now with an old dengfu frame, that I love to ride. Will do it.
Exciting times ahead, congrats pal 😊
I watch your videos because I find you like a breath of fresh air even though I would not be caught dead wearing lycra (sorry major sponsor). Good luck to you and your new family.
Congrats Luke! Never had one myself. A hydraulic disk bike. Or a child.
Good luck with the baby baguette! 🥖🥖🥖 😁 another great video if a slightly wacky idea! All the best Luke, looking forward to your next video
That was good. I was thinking of changing the fork on my Ritchey Logic to disc. I love the bike but could do with a bit more braking.Anyway, congratulations, but I was surprised that you were due so soon, you're not showing....😏😅 Seriously though, all the best. Kids are both the best thing and hardest thing 👍. Oddly I still miss the night feeds. 🙃
Awesome mate, love it! 👊👍
That would give me a headache riding with different shifters 😂
A couple of years ago, I converted my Planet X EC 130 frame into a flat bar road bike with Clarks M3 disk brakes, after market Chinese fork and I molded a carbon fibre mount on the rear, I talked to Planet X, they advised against the rear as they said the seat and chain stays would not be strong enough, I did it anyway and molded a triangle of carbon in the corner. It would have been great If I spent more money on a decent fork, it had so much flex that I thought the headset was loose, I didn't trust it so I took it apart.
Your life will be enriched so much when the little dudette arrives. ❤
Congrats Luke!
congratz! hope you can combine the little one and work and cycling!
🥖 🥖
It’s one of those feelings that’s truly hard to contain, having your first child. Its really neat so kind of see those feelings bursting out of you. Definitely a feeling you so far in life have never experienced. Congratulations again. I just have to say AGAIN I love your choice of nursery decor. Top notch!!
I have a very decent cube road bike from 2014 that I want to start riding again, this is the perfect little upgrade project for it.
I actually like it.. you think outside the box with your knowledge of bikes I’m sure this was easily a fun project to try.. I want one lol
love it! (also the bartape matches the accent color on the fork)
Congrats on becoming a new dad! As a dad of a could of girls, it is a wonderful experience. They both like to bike, and my youngest was involved in youth cycling. Now, my youngest is in college and my eldest is starting a family of her own. I would not trade this experience for anything.
Seems like the government as a byproduct of agricultural/pastoral revolution will always be in need for more consumers, wage-slaves and cannon fodder regardless of ideologies such as antinatalism based on consent.
Congrats on your baby girl. 🎉🎉You’ll be a great father!! God bless
eyyy this is something I've been preparing to do for like 2 years now. Thanks
Great channel. Been loving your work and projects. Also, if you're baby daughter has arrived - congratulations (it'll be hard work but truly worth it).
Was going to ask you about upgrading the rear caliper to disc but then realised my rookie error - no disc mounts on the frame - doh!!!
Anyway, hope all goes well with the new arrival.
👶🥖🥖🍼
Congratulations mate!
Love it! So it looks like you’re sitting on the fence on the Disc Vs Rim debate 😂
All the best with your new kiddo and family, it can be a bit difficult in the beginning but you will enjoy every moment of it all. I know with two kiddos, finding time for cycling can be a bit of a challenge but it’s all worth it. Here’s to lil Trace Velos 🥖🥖🥖
OMG, that's great ... I now know how I could build my winter bike !!!!! Just have to find a suitable fork for my current aluminum bike that is going to be soon replaced by a carbon one.
Congrats! Youre putting one of my frankenbikes to shame .... (mix of sunrace, XT, XTR and Ultegra) ... front disc brake might be the next plan! :D
Congratulations, Luke! being a parent is the greatest gift.
Sounds appropriate for natalist/expansionist cultures regardless of ideologies such as antinatalism based on consent and efilism.
Awesome experiment. Liking this sort of content
Nice video, super interesting topic! The mechanical disc brake conversion is appealing because one doesn't need to change their shifter, but was that worth the time, effort, and money? I have a nice old Cervelo TT frame converted to an aero road bike and a front disc conversion could be sweet.
Nice work broski 👏🏿
Oh and congratulations to you new dad.. enjoy those early moments they go fast.. she will attach herself to your hip🤣😁sending you peace and light 💯
Luke, you are a top bloke. Enjoy the night feeds and cuddles as it goes too fast. You'll have a great family.
I truly believe that next to the Park Tools channel, your make me a better at-home mechanic. God bless you and your growing family. Can't wait to see the child seat builds you put together in the future.
🥖 good luck Luke, let’s hope you have a good sleeper and still get to do some of this cool content..
I had a mountain bike once, that came with a mechanical disc on the front and a v-brake on the back. It was horrible. Especially in anything more than damp conditions! The disc would provide consistent braking but the v-brake would obviously take a bit longer to respond, until the rim had cleared. The result was that braking ended up as a series of lunges down the road/trail😅 Bit better in the dry, but not by much!
Nice little project Luke.
Ooooh, congratulations on the baby ! I have a 2 year old boy and it's definitely challenging working independently now. But it's so rewarding to help a child grow ! Enjoy 🥖🥖🥖
Hi Luke, great video and informative as always. But I never saw you build TT bike or do a proper conversion roadbike to TT bike. I wish you can plan that project. Thanks alot
Best of luck Luke, you are definitely on a journey now
You are an absolute legend. Thank you!
That’s an insanely Frankenstein bike😂 love it !
That's brilliant! Why didn't I ever think of that?
I've already thought about it, but I want to build an all-purpose bike based on an old road bike. there will be a gravel fork with a disc brake at the front and a Nexus hub with a brake at the rear. it will turn out to be a great and cheap bike
Yo' Trace, awesome content as always. Been an avid fan since 2020 when I had transition from being ang off roader mtb rider to a roadie. Built a cheapo gravel based on your reviews (V2 sensah empire rebranded raceworks groupset that cost me sub 100USD and a tektro c550 brake caliper and light weight sunshine cogs). Also got an awesome roadbike build from elves with mechanical 105's, SUMC chain and Alibaba supplemental parts, and it was awesome. I was wondering if you'll be open to try out the mechanical TRP spyre C (carbon parts). I find it awesome and perhaps you might give it a swig. Lotsa love from the Philippines and more power!
Dang, I was hoping you show us how to do front AND back. I was thinking when I saw the title that would be nice on my road bike! 🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯🥯
Your channel is one of the few honest, genuine ones out there. Good luck with the kid!! 🥖🥖🥖🥖🥖🥐🥐🥐🥐🥐
This is a class idea Luke. I've been thinking about getting a steel frame bike but cannot decide on rim or disk. I was actually thinking about asking if I could order it with both but this makes more sense. 100% agree that 80+% of the braking is in the front but I always brake with both using equal pressure as th rear brake aids turning - this was a must back when I used to do track days. So I might just order a rim frameset and add a disk equipped fork from my parts bin, the bike should be lighter with only one disk right?
It'll be such a small difference in weight though, and going for a full disc frame means you can go for hydraulic brakes while having matching shifters which are definitely worth it over mechanical disc
I'm father of a nearly two year old. We started to ride together when he was 4 months old (in a trailer with baby insert). At first it took us very long time to prepare everything for the kid and ourselves, wait for the right weather and sleep time to be able to do few more kilometers without crying. After few months of practice we were able to do 30-40km rides together without stressing to much ourselves or the baby. This year we did 90km ride, few ~70km ones and may shorter ones. I really enjoy those family rides although attaching ~40kg to the bike give completely new perspective :P. Probably we will see steel bike build soon ;) Every time my son sees I'm working on our bikes he need to 'help' and job takes twice the time :D. All the best for the whole family and sleep as much as possible until you can :P
Congrats on your family addition. Hope everything goes well.
Done this on my Custom bike too, works great and in the wet I get the best of both worlds 😂 Hyrdo in the front too cheers from Oz🇦🇺
back in the mid 2ks I had a MTB that I setup in a similar way... my old Karate monkey... Disc up front and V out back... because of the dropout (track end) setup disc was a bit of a PITA out back I tried disc out back as well at some point but went back to the mullet setup..
Would totally do this mod but having all the right parts is like a unicorn. 😊
Pretty nice work. Just remember that the monster turned on Dr. Frankenstein. Baguettes to you.
The only thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that you will need to check with the frame manufacture if the frame can take the stress of the front brake being disc not rim.
Congrats on the baby too 🎉🎉🥖🥖
Consult the frame manufacturer? Putting a fork with a disc has no influence on it at all...this is the one that "suffers" with braking..........Back in the day, the Felt brand introduced the Z model with discs....the frame was the same as the rim brake version....they only added the IS support for the brake caliper on the seat stay to the frame..... had that model in rim brake and discs at the same time......
You gave your bike a mullet. Love it.
Your a legend dude , love the mullet road bike mash up pretty good for a wonter hack 👌im sure you with smash being a parent 👶👶 good luck 🥖🥖🥖
Perfect timing, I have been wondering whether to keep or sell my old carbon rim brake frame as I wanted better braking. Now I know what to do to keep it.
I have used V-brakes on one end and cantilevers on the other end of an old parts bin special mountain bike, used for winter commuting, which may also have had twist shift gearing mixed with a thumb shifter at some point.
🧟♂🥖love these Franken mods. I thought about this for so long but in the end I upgraded to a disc bike. twice 😅
So wrong but so cool at the same time 😂 fair play for doing it really cool content 👌
Love the recycling and matching things up make it work mindset, but I couldn’t deal with mismatched shifters
My rim brake bike came with disk brake mounts. This is my upgrade project. And it led to a deep dive into brake technologies. My frame is from 2016 and disk brakes back then used post mount brakes. Are post mount brakes still available? I know adapters are available for modern flat mount brakes. I'd rather go with hybrid cable pull / hydro bakes.
Ugh wtf?! I love it 🥖🥖🥖 more Frankenstein builds please :)
hola Luke , felicitaciones por tu paternidad y estilo !! wow lo de cambiar la horquilla lo habia pensado y tu nos mostraste como se hace , es genial , pero esos 200 gr ...mmm , tampoco salgo cuando llueve ... fiel a los frenos de herradura . Saludos !!
Congratulations Luke! 🐣
I did something similar with my fixed gear bike. Had a spare fork lying around with IS mounts and an extra mechanical disc brake caliper. 😅