Giant Acapulco 26"
10-21-19, 07:28 AM
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Giant Acapulco 26"
Hi, I am new to this forum. I have had this bike since 1995-ish. I have no plans to get rid of it. Yes, there will be those who insist that I rather buy a new one and get rid of this one. Well, I have to disappoint them... this is a "keeper". I plan to change it and change a lot.
- Gearing: from 3x7 to 1x9.
- From cantilever to disk brakes.
- Same 26" rims, but (obviously) with an adapted for the disks and a deeper profile.
- Finally I will repaint the bike and fit similar decals.
Yes, there are some who is reading this, thinking what the hell are you doing? I want to do this and I don't care about the haters :-) I know about the brackets for the disks that needs brazing on, the wheels that needs to fit and have disk adapters and all the other things...
What I cannot find is a similar build thread, a (positive) discussion on the issue and/or videos or YouTube or elsewhere that can assist in this regard.
Can someone give me a bit of advice please?
Kind regards
Hugo
PS. I cannot post any pics, because I am new and I can only do that after my tenth post.
- Gearing: from 3x7 to 1x9.
- From cantilever to disk brakes.
- Same 26" rims, but (obviously) with an adapted for the disks and a deeper profile.
- Finally I will repaint the bike and fit similar decals.
Yes, there are some who is reading this, thinking what the hell are you doing? I want to do this and I don't care about the haters :-) I know about the brackets for the disks that needs brazing on, the wheels that needs to fit and have disk adapters and all the other things...
What I cannot find is a similar build thread, a (positive) discussion on the issue and/or videos or YouTube or elsewhere that can assist in this regard.
Can someone give me a bit of advice please?
Kind regards
Hugo
PS. I cannot post any pics, because I am new and I can only do that after my tenth post.
10-21-19, 08:16 AM
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If you're going to convert to disc brakes, then it seems like you have the right idea about having the brake caliper mounts welded/brazed to the bike instead of clamped in some way. If you are doing this work, I would buy or make a fixture for placing the brake caliper mount correctly on the frame and fork. Precise placement of the caliper mount is important because tolerances for the rotor position on disc brakes are very very small. A fixture like this one will work (along with a dummy axle): https://www.incepi.net/products/univ...-mount-fixture
I would normally recommend against a disc brake conversion on a road bike with light gage tubing, but a Giant Acapulco probably has pretty beefy tubing to begin with, so I don't see much of an issue. Perhaps with the front wheel axle wanting to jump out of the QR dropouts on the fork under heavy braking.
Regarding the wheel, there are plenty of economical 26" wheels online with disc brake hubs, no "adapter" needed. Hard to beat this for $130 for a quality wheelset: https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...oducts_id=4060 . Then you will need some 6-bolt brake rotors of the right size for the brake and mount position you have chosen. There are a lot of combinations.
I hope what you are seeing here is that you can do this correctly, but it will cost some money, probably at least $500 by the time you factor in tools, parts, paint, etc... If you really are committed to this, don't cheap out and do it the wrong way and put yourself in danger.
I would normally recommend against a disc brake conversion on a road bike with light gage tubing, but a Giant Acapulco probably has pretty beefy tubing to begin with, so I don't see much of an issue. Perhaps with the front wheel axle wanting to jump out of the QR dropouts on the fork under heavy braking.
Regarding the wheel, there are plenty of economical 26" wheels online with disc brake hubs, no "adapter" needed. Hard to beat this for $130 for a quality wheelset: https://www.velomine.com/index.php?m...oducts_id=4060 . Then you will need some 6-bolt brake rotors of the right size for the brake and mount position you have chosen. There are a lot of combinations.
I hope what you are seeing here is that you can do this correctly, but it will cost some money, probably at least $500 by the time you factor in tools, parts, paint, etc... If you really are committed to this, don't cheap out and do it the wrong way and put yourself in danger.
Last edited by TenGrainBread; 10-21-19 at 08:21 AM.
10-21-19, 08:26 AM
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Now regarding the 1x9 setup. To do this in the ideal way you will need a new "narrow-wide" chainring, new chain, I would guess a wider range cassette or freewheel, a new derailleur with a clutch mechanism for keeping strong chain tension, and a new shifter to match the derailleur, especially if you want indexed shifting.
I would recommend a Raceface narrow-wide chainring with the correct BCD for your current cranks in the 40-48 tooth range (unless you are using this for actual mountain biking, in which case I would get a chainring in the 30-36t range).
Regarding a derailleur - you can get a 10 speed Shimano Deore or SRAM GX derailleur with a clutch mechanism and an accompanying trigger shifter. You can use the full 10 speeds if you end up going with a new disc brake wheel as I recommended above. If you want to keep your current wheel and cassette/freewheel, you will probably need to use a friction shifter.
I would recommend a Raceface narrow-wide chainring with the correct BCD for your current cranks in the 40-48 tooth range (unless you are using this for actual mountain biking, in which case I would get a chainring in the 30-36t range).
Regarding a derailleur - you can get a 10 speed Shimano Deore or SRAM GX derailleur with a clutch mechanism and an accompanying trigger shifter. You can use the full 10 speeds if you end up going with a new disc brake wheel as I recommended above. If you want to keep your current wheel and cassette/freewheel, you will probably need to use a friction shifter.
10-21-19, 10:29 AM
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Personally, I'd skip on the disk brake conversion. Your current fork was not built to take the brake forces at that point. A fork built for disk brakes may be a better idea.
11-12-19, 03:23 AM
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Thank you for the replies... I was away for some time, so hence the late reply. I have read over the suggestions and think it best to stick to TenGrainBread's suggestions. I am now convinced that the disk brake conversion is not a good option - I think the space and sturdiness of the frame will not allow for it. I would however stick to getting disk wheels to compensate for the 1x10 option. That way and if I decide to do the disc brake thing, I can always change my mind. With that in mind I will stick to the cantilever setup, but upgrade that to something good, like you'll find on modern gravel bikes. And yes, there is no cheap way of doing this. I will not skim on the cost and quality of parts. Thank you once again for all the advise.
11-12-19, 04:22 AM
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This was pretty basic bike and even without the disc brakes that is a lot of money to put into a HiTen frame set. You can likely get a much better used mountain bike for what your going to spend on this.
https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/...spx?item=32250
https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/...spx?item=32250
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
11-12-19, 07:30 PM
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^ What she said. Not to be unkind, but have you ever heard of a "money pit?" Keep the Acapulco as is and spend your bucks on a bike that is already 1x9 and has discs. Seriously.
