nycbianchi

I'm having a custom Seven built and Id like advice on potentially making it "future proof" by including a braze and space for disc brakes. (I'm a passionate Campy fan and want to build the bike now but potentially upgrade some day in the future, presumably Campy will eventually come out with a decent disc brake system.) I realize I'll need a new front fork of course.

The LBS who are sizing and building up the frame are telling me sure, we can order up a frame for you with a disc braze and a wider rear triangle, but then you will need a longer rear axle. I should note that they REALLY want to build up some wheels for me, and are kinda positioning this as the only way to fill up that fat rear slot.

So first of all is this a crazy or bad idea I have, to build the bike with some options built in.

Secondly can someone explain to me how it works to fit a rim-brake wheelset into a larger triangle? From what I can tell that means a 135mm rear hub spacing, right? What hub would my LBS use for their handmade wheels? Hubs all seem to be the same width -- I dont see "extra-wide" hubs for sale by DT Swiss or Chris King. Why can't I just plop some Mavic Ksyriums in there and space it out however they would space out the handmade wheels?

I've tried to read up on this online but I can't find a decent explanation. Would love some plain-English description of how this could work, and whether it's a bad idea.

hueyhoolihan

IMO, no, it's not "a crazy or bad idea I have, to build the bike with some options built in."

OTOH, this: "Hubs all seem to be the same width" may lead to no end of confusion, if believed, IMHO.

dsaul

I'd use a disc wheelset and leave the discs off until you need them. It doesn't look that bad and will prevent you from having to buy new wheels when you switch to disc brakes.

busdriver1959

If it's the steel Axiom, you could have it built with a 130 back end with a disc mount and respace it to 135 if that becomes necessary in the future. I don't know whether titanium should be re spaced or not. Another option is to use a non Campy 135mm hub for now. Then, if Campy comes out with discs, put the new Campy hub in. Last I heard, Campy and Shimano 11 speed use the same cog spacing for their 11 speed cassettes.

unterhausen

respacing a modern steel welded bike isn't that great of an idea. Some people build halfway in between, so if you do go to discs, you have to spread the dropouts a little. Or just go ahead and get one of the many 135mm rear hubs that take campagnolo

Or use BB7 road discs with your campagnolo brake levers. Works fine

One reason I might go with discs is to switch back and forth between road wheels and gravel wheels. I'm not a big fan of one-size-fits-all approach to frame design, but that's one thing that I have actually done. And it would be nice if it was easier.

fietsbob

Id go with a frame Built for 135*, and the mounts for Both Disc and Rim Bolt on side pulls (once removed wont be leaving empyy Brake Posts )..
(IDK your wheel plans roadie 23's or Cross 32s or Brake.. bolt on side pull, or brazed cantilever bosses.)

* the extra 5 goes on the left end so 'dish' is a bit less ..

yea the Popularity of Cyclocross race and drop bar disc commuter/tour Bike sales have a Lot of Short cable Pull discs on offer .. TRP has a couple interesting offerings

under the stem cable to hydraulic converters , hose to the caliper , and cable to the caliper which has a combined hydraulic conversion in each Caliper.


BTW 135 is not Extra Wide want to talk WIDE (?) the needs of Tandem's rear wheels add even more Axle length to the Left end ..
Again hub moves right and so dish is even Less.

Sasquatch16

I would call Seven directly and see what they recommend. They would have no problem speaking to you direct.

cale

Seven reasons not to add disc-proofing:

1) Build for today not for tomorrow. Life is too short and uncertain.

2) Rim brakes are not going anywhere. If there is a transition to road bikes with discs, it won't happen overnight and it won't effect resale value in the near term.

3) Rim brakes still offer advantages. Lighter weight and better performance in the form of lower wheel stress.

4) The selection of disc-only rims and hubs is limited. For the foreseeable future, you will continue to have a larger selection of traditional rims and hubs to choose from.

5) You'll save money. It might not be much more costly to add the fitments and fork but it is more.

6) Resale value may be negatively impacted. Collectors and buyers of high-end bikes may be turned off by the "hybrid" design.

7) You'll save weight. Those added grams can add up.

squirtdad

Campy often seems to do their own thing....there is no guarantee what you do would be compatible with what campy may or may not do in the future.

unterhausen

I like this argument. Either build for discs or not. Discs work fine, rim brakes work fine. And it's not clear at this point where the disc wheels are going to be in 10 years, maybe they'll all be 152mm through axle, and the bike will not work with them anyway. I had a similar future-proofing incident back when I built my touring bike. Back then, you could get 27 1/4" tires in many more places than you could get 700c tires. So I built it for 27". Now you can barely find 27" tires. It's not a big deal to do that change, but it shows
how hard it is to predict the future.