New front forks?

[Tabs]

Hi,recently done a conversion on a old GT mountain bike and everything is good but I quite fancy upgrading the front brake to a disk, does anyone know where I should look for a set of suitable forks (non suspension)disk brakes are totally new to me, cheers

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Plenty on Ebay, which is where I get all my bike stuff.

 

[Tabs]

Aye av had a look and I know once I get the correct fork to fit the bike the rest should be pretty straight forward, it's just knowing where to measure so the headset fits etc.

 

[LeighPing]

Hi,recently done a conversion on a old GT mountain bike and everything is good but I quite fancy upgrading the front brake to a disk, does anyone know where I should look for a set of suitable forks (non suspension)disk brakes are totally new to me, cheers

I did the v-brake to front disk brake conversion. Do you have any pics of the bike you want to convert?

 

[Tabs]

I did the v-brake to front disk brake conversion. Do you have any pics of the bike you want to convert?

View attachment 16649 View attachment 16641 View attachment 16642 View attachment 16643 View attachment 16644 View attachment 16646 View attachment 16647 View attachment 16648

 

[Tabs]

This one

 

[LeighPing]

This one

Assuming that it's 1 1/8th? Is it? Also what size wheel is it? You need to measure up first, to get the correct fork.

 

[LeighPing]

Aye av had a look and I know once I get the correct fork to fit the bike the rest should be pretty straight forward, it's just knowing where to measure so the headset fits etc.

Will that front wheel take a disk brake? It doesn't look like it. So, you'll need a new front wheel as well.

 

[Tabs]

Will that front wheel take a disk brake? It doesn't look like it. So, you'll need a new front wheel as well.

View attachment 16651

Yip your correct, al need a new front wheel as well.

 

[anotherkiwi]

You could save yourself the bother and put a Magura HS11 (or 22 or 33) hydraulic brake on the front. What brakes does it have? I put an Avid single digit 7 on the back because the Tectro was starting to show its age.

Those two brakes stop a fully loaded 23+ kg bike and trailer no problem.

 

[Nealh]

You need to remove your current forks to check them, are they 1", 1&1/8th or tapered. Also measure the head tube length so that you don't but one which is too short, the other part which is needed is the crown race which sits at the very base of the head tube. Will your one easily come off ? Most have a small slot opposite each other to allow a small bladed screwdriver to allow some prying off.

 

[Tabs]

You could save yourself the bother and put a Magura HS11 (or 22 or 33) hydraulic brake on the front. What brakes does it have? I put an Avid single digit 7 on the back because the Tectro was starting to show its age.

Those two brakes stop a fully loaded 23+ kg bike and trailer no problem.

Never knew hydraulic rim brakes existed! av had a quick look online and that could be an easier option, cheers

 

[anotherkiwi]

You will feel the difference especially in dosing the braking power. I have given up doing stoppies, it seems to disturb people when men over 60 behave badly on a bike

And the weight saved over a disk brake is about 200 g. a wheel IIRC.

 

[jms]

that bike's got cantilever brakes. the ebc kit levers are for v brakes or cable disks. there's (at least) two different cable pull ratios.

http://sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html#levers

swap to decent vbrakes and pads and that bike will stop loads better before you try anything else.

 

[Tabs]

that bike's got cantilever brakes. the ebc kit levers are for v brakes or cable disks. there's (at least) two different cable pull ratios.

http://sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html#levers

swap to decent vbrakes and pads and that bike will stop loads better before you try anything else.

Didn't realise that there was a big difference between cantilever and v brakes so thats another thing to look into, every days a school day, cheers

 

[Tabs]

Just had a wee look into the V brake idea,it's the easiest and cheapest upgrade (about £20) so at that money it's got to be worth a shot, cheers

 

[LeighPing]

CLARKS ELITE TRIPLE CONTOUR BICYCLE ALL WEATHER MTB ATB V-BRAKE PADS BLOCKS PAIR.

I used these before upgrading to a front disc. Still have a pair on the back. Recommended.

 

[Tabs]

CLARKS ELITE TRIPLE CONTOUR BICYCLE ALL WEATHER MTB ATB V-BRAKE PADS BLOCKS PAIR.

I used these before upgrading to a front disc. Still have a pair on the back. Recommended.

View attachment 16665

 

[Tabs]

I did change the brake blocks/pads to clark ones (not them exact ones) and the brakes improved a lot, av never had a hairy moment or near miss but I would just like to feel more confident that if the situation arose I could stop in a hurry.

 

[Tabs]

Well I finally got round to changing the brakes over from cantilever to the v- brakes and also fitted the Clarks elite brake blocks and after a quick wee run around the block they seem a lot better, al get a better idea when I use the bike to go to work and see how it copes with the couple of steep hills along the way, cheers