rccardr 

You do you, please report back on results.
There is an interesting discussion over on The Paceline about the topic of adding disc brakes to a rim brake frame, with some legit engineers adding technical data. Worth a read.
Also, do your carpet a favor and buy a big tarp or a cheap large rug to work on. Those bike gease/lube stains won’t come out.

smd4

Don’t take it personally. Probably 95% of BF members are on Kapaun’s ignor list. It’s what he does. I consider it a badge of honor, myself. He makes it sound like you should be upset that he won’t be reading your posts anymore. Consider yourself lucky. Hopefully you won’t have to see the photo of him squeezing a chain together with two screwdrivers. His ignore list makes it easier for him to see only what he wants to see.

smd4

I love that the grumps complaining in this thread didn’t have word one to say in the Huffy with Campy parts thread. Hypocrites all of ‘em.

Ryan_M

This isn't ridiculous at all, make it what you want it to be. I started out with a Giant Roam 3 that was pretty meh. I liked the frame though. Only remaining original parts are the frame and MT200 brakes. It's a fantastic bike now.

Do you need a shock fork? I put a rigid carbon one on mine and like it much better.... save a lot of weight and money over a shock fork too

tFUnK

That pic should just be a sticky at this point😁

tFUnK

Not the same thing. Putting nice parts on a bottom frame at least yields insight into how much of the ride experience can be attributed to the frame vs componentry. Putting bottom parts on a bottom frame is a waste of time and money.

smd4

For you.

smd4

HA!

Leisesturm

No. For anyone. Where we lost the script was when "you do you" won out over "here, let me show you a better way". We won't survive being pulled in 300 million different directions at once. We didn't get here by being pulled in 300 million directions at once. We arrived at the apex predator pinnacle by working together. Solving problems individually, and in small teams, and spreading the knowledge further and archiving achieved knowledge for successive experimenters to build on. Now we want to throw that all away and extinct ourselves in solitary selfishness and ignorance. <smh>

maddog34

Bill blocks almost everyone.. don't sweat it.

and that frame is almost IDENTICAL to a buddy's High end Fuji Dirt jumper frame... right down to the tubing alloy...

PS.. welding anything on a heat treated and annealed aluminum frame is a VERY bad idea... a well set up V-brake with Kool Stop Orange pads will work fine.

Leisesturm

Don't know Bill but I do know ... "a broken clock is right twice a day".

smd4

Seriously? We went from replacing parts on a bike to human extinction? SMH is right…

aaronM46

What you are saying is moronic. How do you think we learn? Trial and error. If I only listened to what people told me based on what they think is correct then I would be a machine. Where do you think innovation comes from? Following what others say or do? I listen to what others say BUT attempting to learn for myself along the way is where genius resides. I have gone against many people and their theories or knowledge in the past. Most of the time I stumble, as expected. Sometimes I find something nobody else has seen because they are too blinded by "here, let me show you a better way".

This project may seem foolish but I will learn from it and this will help other people in the process whether you believe that or not.

aaronM46

Oh, and why do so many of you look at my parts list like it is garbage? There are good quality parts there that may not have a designer name or logo and carry a fifth of the price. This is why. You will know what I think of them. If they suck it's my money and not yours. If they are awesome then there you go, although I imagine many of you are much too vain to bolt a part onto your bike carrying the name "Zoom" even if it was a fifth of the price of your un-pronounceable Italian Complaginitoryiaclitorus company and the exact same quality.

OH, and Leisesturm. It is so ironic how you mentioned "here, let me show you a better way" when I stringently scoured reviews of every single part I have selected to insure that people were satisfied with their purchase and the quality of what they had purchased.

aaronM46

Is my frame a copy of that Fuji Dirt jumper frame?

Welding on aluminum is trivial if you have the right equipment and skill. The person I learned from in aircraft mechanics school welded soda cans together with absolutely beautiful beads. I have never seen someone so steady in my life. I cannot do that and have never been able to or had the patience to learn. My welds are poor now due to arthritis but welding a bracket to a bike frame is not difficult. The aluminum is thick and easy to weld to. Short alternating beads with plenty of cooling time to negate any warping or damage to the composite and you are good to go. Fabricating the bracket would be more difficult and time-consuming without a jig. It would be easier to just buy a new frame at that point but what fun is there in that? Some people buy things and others build things.

aaronM46

The frame weighs 3.7 lbs with the kickstand attached.

shelbyfv

Some might find the scientific method more efficient. Either way, it pays to know when you don't need to reinvent the wheel.

aaronM46

What is not part of the 'scientific method' about what I am doing? I have a question, I am researching the topic, I have an idea, and I am going through with testing before going through my findings and ultimately coming back with findings and a conclusion. What part of the 'scientific method' am I missing here? Do you understand the 'scientific method'? It does not involve belief in others' findings. I can come to my own conclusions without yours. You may not like that I don't agree or that I do agree but your findings may not be the answer. Once, people thought the Earth was flat because that is what they were told and then someone used the 'scientific method' to come to their own conclusion which ultimately became what we now believe as factual. If you aren't looking forward then you are only standing still. Progress.

LesterOfPuppets

Zoom brakes are pretty bad, but I've worked on worse. Scary part is a lot of the worse ones I've worked with were on really cheap Amazon eBikes. I'm surprised there aren't more crashes involving cheap Amazon eBikes.

Tektro Aries were the cheapest disc brakes I've found to work reasonably well, pretty heavy calipers though.

I'm not aware of any Italian cable-actuated disc brakes, but maybe some are out there.

Ryan_M

I'm all for doing your own thing, the more you like your bike the more often you're going to get on it.... and at the end of the day that's most important. People are offering advice which isn't worth nothing but I understand getting frustrated with people telling you you're doing it wrong lol.

I personally would have done it differently. If you're keeping the flat bar then an Alevio or Deore groupset. I'm helping a friend make their bike a little better so I've lookied into these recently. Going up a line is a very marginal extra expenditure. I'm not a brand boy, I'm just familiar with Shimano and have all the speacialty tools so it makes it easier to work on and shuffle parts around bikes. I see you spec'ed a Sora RD and Altus shifters. One is road and the other is MTB, as far as I'm aware the pull ratios are different. Have you confirmed they're compatible?

maddog34

Rear derailleur pull ratios remain the same for most road and mtb. Arron can used any flat bar mtb shifter pair.

And i agree about going Alivio or Deore.. My Linear Trails bike is Alivio and Deore xtr mixed. It's a 1990 diamondback Ascent with 1 3/8" Panaracer Lites and lightweight tubes, some Carbon parts, and a titanium railed seat.. The back tire is getting a bit spooky looking again... Steel is Real... for a frame.. anywhere else, it just slows you down.... next up.. a Hollowtech II Crankset... it's awaiting install...

aaronM46

A little off-topic, but I am starting to see a trend with Amazon reviews. Until a few months ago I relied on them because I believed they were honest and weighted properly by my filter settings. Now my searches on Amazon are heavily construed by my previous attempts at searching. I do know that cookies are involved and all of that jazz behind the scenes BUT there is something more malicious going on now.

aaronM46

Yay! Someone, to talk to that is helpful, knowledgeable, and can type a complete sentence!

Please school me on the shifter ratios. I am dumb and have confirmed nothing regarding the interoperability of these parts. 3 in the front and 9 in the rear is all I have been going on.

Ryan_M

Im about to crash for the night so not an in-depth answer but pull ratio refers to the amount of cable the shifter 'pulls' for each index vs. the amount the rear derailleur actually moves. If the shifter and RD aren't matched you will never be able to index all the gears correctly. Shimano doesn't publish this info but I've seen it on third party sites. So far as I've seen road and mtb stuff is different. You're talking 9sp though and nearly all my stuff is 11sp. I'm not saying it won't work, only I know other stuff definitely won't, so just a suggestion to double check.

aaronM46

Someone that isn't an a**hole again. Wow. Is this a record for this website?

I totally understand now. I can actually feel that 'index' or what I will call spacing. This is not precision either. Hopefully the shifters will fall into a range I can adjust into.