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hydraulic brakes

Old 08-16-20, 04:37 AM
  #1  
kennyc23
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hydraulic brakes

is it necessary to have disc frame set in order to install hydraulic disc brakes?

Last edited by kennyc23; 08-16-20 at 05:11 AM.
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Old 08-16-20, 05:37 AM
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shelbyfv
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Yes. There must be mounts for the calipers on frame and fork.
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Old 08-16-20, 07:03 AM
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dsbrantjr
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You could install a new fork with disc brake mounts and have disc brake up front and rim brake in the rear. This makes some sense since the front can exert more braking force than the rear before locking up. I have a bike with hydraulic RIM brake in front and cantilever in back and the braking is well-balanced. May autos have a disc front/drum rear arrangement.
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Old 08-16-20, 07:14 AM
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^^^ I think this makes good sense if you have a decent frame but want discs for bad weather, etc. Front is all you need most of the time. I'd probably stick to cable operated discs so as not to mismatch the shifters.
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Old 08-16-20, 07:31 AM
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Originally Posted by dsbrantjr
Many autos have a disc front/drum rear arrangement.
That was done for two reasons:
1. It was cheaper for the manufacturers to retain drum rear brakes.
2. A drum brake provided a simpler, more effective emergency/parking brake.

However it was more difficult to balance front-to-rear braking, particularly as anti-lock braking systems were adopted. It was a stopgap and the front disc/rear drum arrangement has all but disappeared in current cars.
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Old 08-16-20, 10:37 AM
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I've been using hydraulic rim brakes for over 10 years..



(& 3, having a parking brake gripping a hot disc, will warp it when it cools unevenly)




Buy a disc brake mount equipped fork.. most of the braking power is up front anyhow..





..
..

Last edited by fietsbob; 08-16-20 at 02:10 PM.
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Old 08-16-20, 10:52 AM
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Originally Posted by kennyc23
is it necessary to have disc frame set in order to install hydraulic disc brakes?
It's important to have a frame that dimensionally will hold a disc wheel hub and you have a method to attach calipers to. Also, skewers and open dropouts are now frowned upon for use with disc brakes in favor of thru-axles. Anything else is up to how well you DIY and are willing to put up with the potential risks.
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Old 08-16-20, 11:39 AM
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You need to have mounts on the frame to attach the brake calipers. If your current fork lacks such a thing, it's easy to swap out a new fork that does. The rear can be a bit of a problem. Depending on what material the frame is made out of, you can have disc mounts brazed on (expensive). Sometimes a person gets lucky, like I did with a Trek 3700 frame. The frame was made to accept a bolt on disc brake adapter supplied by Trek, even though the bike came with V-brakes. https://www.maddogcycles.com/product...gaAp1WEALw_wcB DO NOT attempt to use those kludge 'universal' bolt-on adapters. At best those universal bolt-on adapters don't work very well...at worst you'll end up breaking your neck. As others suggested, you can also do the front disc, real V-brake thing, which works perfectly fine since most braking force is generated by the front wheel. If you really 'need' discs front and back, maybe it's time for a new bike.

Last edited by Fissile; 08-16-20 at 03:23 PM.
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