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Can I fit disc brakes to a 1989 steel frame road bike?

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Can I fit disc brakes to a 1989 steel frame road bike?

Old 06-12-22, 09:42 AM
  #1  
tajimirich
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Can I fit disc brakes to a 1989 steel frame road bike?

Update: I've decided I'll just try to get top tier rim brakes instead of disc brakes.

The title says it all, my bike has a vintage steel frame from 1989, I'm wondering if I can install disc brakes?

I'm not super confident in my brake pads' ability to stop me in a pinch, and I'd rather the disc solution as it requires less pressure on the brake levers to affect stoppage, as far as I understand it.. I recently took the regular, how would you call it, horizontal lever brakes off my bike to free up handlebar real estate, so I'm only using the brakes in my gear levers and I'm still getting used to it.

.. my wheels are campagnolo Zonda wheels - would they need specific brakes?

Note: I put this here because I'm not sure it is a road bike specific question? I dunno, hope nobody minds.

Last edited by tajimirich; 06-13-22 at 09:34 AM.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:07 AM
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Bikes were not dangerous before disc brakes. They don’t all need “upgraded”.

There’s lots you can do to improve your braking.

New cables and housing, lube all the pivot points. Clean the rims with 600-1000 grit sandpaper and alcohol. New pads, Cool Stop Salmon are loud and work great. Probably and afternoon of fiddling and $40. Less than $100 for a shop.

This would be your only real option and good news, it’s a good option.


To convert to discs, you’d need to stretch your frame to 130mm and find the mythical 130mm QR disc hub. Then get a mount welded or brazed to the frame.

Up front is a little easier, but a threaded 1” fork with disc mounts is not going to be easy to find. The 100mm QR disc hub does exist though.

TRP makes some great road lever/calipers. That’s another $300.

I think the conversion would be close to a grand and might not work very well.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:08 AM
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Originally Posted by tajimirich
The title says it all, my bike has a vintage steel frame from 1989, I'm wondering if I can install disc brakes?
Sure, you can do almost anything if you put enough time and money into it.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:19 AM
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I have both rim and disc brakes on my bikes. I would not spend the money to upgrade from rim to disc. In fact, I think I prefer rim brakes better all the way around.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:22 AM
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tajimirich
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Originally Posted by rosefarts
Bikes were not dangerous before disc brakes. They don’t all need “upgraded”.

There’s lots you can do to improve your braking.

New cables and housing, lube all the pivot points. Clean the rims with 600-1000 grit sandpaper and alcohol. New pads, Cool Stop Salmon are loud and work great. Probably and afternoon of fiddling and $40. Less than $100 for a shop.

This would be your only real option and good news, it’s a good option.


To convert to discs, you’d need to stretch your frame to 130mm and find the mythical 130mm QR disc hub. Then get a mount welded or brazed to the frame.

Up front is a little easier, but a threaded 1” fork with disc mounts is not going to be easy to find. The 100mm QR disc hub does exist though.

TRP makes some great road lever/calipers. That’s another $300.

I think the conversion would be close to a grand and might not work very well.
Hell of an answer there...

For starters I would say that these brakes I've been using have been tuned up and such, etc etc, twice in the last week, er because I switched handlebars twice and they all got re-worked or whatever. They're not brand new brakes, but they've been serviced recently yeah.

The sensation I'm getting is this: I usually have my hands up top, I don't often find cause to get down into the.. dropped part of the handlebars? I am overwhelmingly doing urban riding over middle distances and getting down there just feels like it gets in the way of my awareness and reactions, maneuverability.. anyway so that means I'm using my brake levers with suboptimal leverage - maybe I'm depressing them halfway down rather than at the tips.. if you know what I mean.

So I give them a good squeeze, and the bike slows etc, but I feel like I need to really go wild with finger strength to get a really rapid halt. I'm worried that if I ever see a car or some such suddenly appear in front of me I'll not be able to stop in time. It doesn't feel ideal, but I don't want to put those regular hand brakes on the handlebars because I've got a light and cycling computer taking up space. So yeah.

You've given me food for thought about disc brakes though.. definitely.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:23 AM
  #6  
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I doubt you could ever mod a lightweight road fork to accept disc brakes. The cross section is probably not going to withstand the force. The solution is to replace the fork with a disc brake compatible fork. I'm not up to speed on who is producing 1" diameter disc brake road forks, but I'm sure they are out there.

As for the rear dropouts, I think you can get enough reinforcement brazed in between the chain stay and the seat stay to be able to use a disc brake. But a frame builder would be the one to let you know.

The last piece is the dropout width. You will probably need 135mm dropouts which can be done by cold setting the frame. Of course there will always be the argument of QR vs. Thru Axle and that throws everything out the window. Maybe not as much of an issue on the rear and lots of disc bikes ran QR's, so it may just be a debatable topic.

John
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Old 06-12-22, 10:26 AM
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Originally Posted by 70sSanO
I doubt you could ever mod a lightweight road fork to accept disc brakes. The cross section is probably not going to withstand the force. The solution is to replace the fork with a disc brake compatible fork. I'm not up to speed on who is producing 1" diameter disc brake road forks, but I'm sure they are out there.

As for the rear dropouts, I think you can get enough reinforcement brazed in between the chain stay and the seat stay to be able to use a disc brake. But a frame builder would be the one to let you know.

The last piece is the dropout width. You will probably need 135mm dropouts which can be done by cold setting the frame. Of course there will always be the argument of QR vs. Thru Axle and that throws everything out the window. Maybe not as much of an issue on the rear and lots of disc bikes ran QR's, so it may just be a debatable topic.

John
I wonder if only putting discs on front wheel might be a thing? Risk of tipping over my handlebars notwithstanding...
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Old 06-12-22, 10:31 AM
  #8  
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Consider Kool Stop brake pads

Significant upgrade over old / hard brake pads


https://www.koolstop.com/english/rim_pads.html

.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:31 AM
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Originally Posted by tajimirich
I wonder if only putting discs on front wheel might be a thing? Risk of tipping over my handlebars notwithstanding...
Discs only on the front are pretty common for retrofit. "Generally" a good way to go for riding in bad weather.

I don't see any more of an issue going over the bars on an older 25lb steel bike than a new 15lb carbon bike with disc brakes.

John
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Old 06-12-22, 10:45 AM
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Originally Posted by 70sSanO
Discs only on the front are pretty common for retrofit. "Generally" a good way to go for riding in bad weather.

I don't see any more of an issue going over the bars on an older 25lb steel bike than a new 15lb carbon bike with disc brakes.

John
given the choice - I prefer to be clobbered by the lightweight 15 lb carbon bike than the old/heavy 25 lb road bike when flipping over the bars

this is my primary motivation for installing lightweight components
.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:48 AM
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It sounds like you aren’t getting much leverage from the hoods. I have that issue on a bike I ride that’s a similar age.

My newer bikes, even the ones with rim brakes have a totally different lever design that allows a lot better braking from the hoods. It’s still best from the drops but is acceptable on the hoods.

Does your bike have integrated shifters and brake levers? Or do you have downtube or barend shifter?

If they’re not integrated, you can replace with a more modern style lever that’s a lot more comfortable on the hoods. I did this on a bike once, used relatively cheap Tektro levers and was pretty happy.

A higher quality cable and housing set can also help. Jag wire or Shimano are pretty good.

There are so many things I’d do, including selling and replacing with newer, before trying to convert this to discs.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:48 AM
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Will your bike accept mini-linear pull brakes (also called v-brakes)?. if unsure that they will work on your bike with the existing levers, check with your LBS. If they will work, then those with Kool Stop Salmon pads should offer plenty of stopping power.
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Old 06-12-22, 10:58 AM
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Get some compressionless cable housing and some dual pivot calipers (if you don’t already have them).
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Old 06-12-22, 11:05 AM
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Originally Posted by tomato coupe
Sure, you can do almost anything if you put enough time and money into it.
In this case, it is approaching the other side of "almost".

Within the confines of sanity, I would say you could buy a new disc compatible fork, and have a front disc brake.

However, the stopping power with my dual-pivot $40 Campy Veloce rim brake caliper upgrade is probably at least 80% as good as the Ultegra disc brakes on my modern bike.
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Old 06-12-22, 11:19 AM
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Originally Posted by tajimirich
I usually have my hands up top, I don't often find cause to get down into the.. dropped part of the handlebars? I am overwhelmingly doing urban riding over middle distances and getting down there just feels like it gets in the way of my awareness and reactions, maneuverability
So why did you buy a drop bar bike? Why didn't you buy something that looks like this:
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Old 06-12-22, 12:50 PM
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I vote for new pads. If you have old, hardened pads, they won't stop you well. Get some Kool Stop salmon pads, they will stop you much better. If you really want discs, it's more economical to get a used bike with discs than to convert your current bike.
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Old 06-12-22, 06:14 PM
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Originally Posted by rosefarts
It sounds like you aren’t getting much leverage from the hoods. I have that issue on a bike I ride that’s a similar age.

My newer bikes, even the ones with rim brakes have a totally different lever design that allows a lot better braking from the hoods. It’s still best from the drops but is acceptable on the hoods.

Does your bike have integrated shifters and brake levers? Or do you have downtube or barend shifter?

If they’re not integrated, you can replace with a more modern style lever that’s a lot more comfortable on the hoods. I did this on a bike once, used relatively cheap Tektro levers and was pretty happy.

A higher quality cable and housing set can also help. Jag wire or Shimano are pretty good.

There are so many things I’d do, including selling and replacing with newer, before trying to convert this to discs.
Happily, my hoods are 105s that I bought a year or so ago.. don't know how up to date they were then but yeah.

I just remember on the hand brakes I could really crunch down on them and bring my bike to a stop, but with these brakes it feels like I'm kind of doing the brake equivalent of dragging the soles of my shoes on the ground up slow down
Ehh maybe I'm just still getting used to the different feeling, it's only been a month or so since i took off the hand brakes.
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Old 06-12-22, 06:28 PM
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Originally Posted by smd4
Get some compressionless cable housing and some dual pivot calipers (if you don’t already have them).
THIS
1989 frame is not going to accept, nor was it built for the forces of disc brakes. A pair of dual pivot caliper brakes with the correct reach and mount (nutted or recessed) with kool stop pads, new cables, as well as cleaning the rim braking surface will be the best, most reasonably priced, brake upgrade to a frame of that vintage.
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Old 06-12-22, 06:54 PM
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The simple, practical, sane answer is no. Your wheels aren't disc compatible. Your frame/fork aren't disc compatible. It would cost so much to make it work that it's just not worth thinking about.
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Old 06-12-22, 07:20 PM
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Okay, "Hoods" are the rubber covers that go on the LEVERS. So, you say you got new 105 "Hoods", do you mean new levers? What kind of brake calipers? How old? If they're from 1989, they're probably single pivot, which aren't the greatest, and if the pads are the originals, they're probably hard, and could be replaced with new ones.

There's a possibility that if you've got NEW levers and OLD calipers, it's possible the levers don't pull as much cable as the calipers need. Mixing eras doesn't always work well. If you have modern levers, you might try getting modern calipers.

But, yeah, what cxwrench said is correct - fitting disc brakes safely requires a ton of work, and I bet you could solve the problem with new pads, cable and housing, or new calipers. Good pads on clean alloy rims should be able to skid both wheels without Hulk-like strength.
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Old 06-12-22, 07:26 PM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
Okay, "Hoods" are the rubber covers that go on the LEVERS. So, you say you got new 105 "Hoods", do you mean new levers? What kind of brake calipers? How old? If they're from 1989, they're probably single pivot, which aren't the greatest, and if the pads are the originals, they're probably hard, and could be replaced with new ones.

There's a possibility that if you've got NEW levers and OLD calipers, it's possible the levers don't pull as much cable as the calipers need. Mixing eras doesn't always work well. If you have modern levers, you might try getting modern calipers.

But, yeah, what cxwrench said is correct - fitting disc brakes safely requires a ton of work, and I bet you could solve the problem with new pads, cable and housing, or new calipers. Good pads on clean alloy rims should be able to skid both wheels without Hulk-like strength.
Okay.. the rubber hoods say 105, the levers which came in the box with them say 105, the brakes are shimanos that arrived with my previous bike in 2021, so they're modern, though that bike came with a Claris group set so maybe they could stand to be upgraded. I've already looked at Kool stop pads, unsure which ones to get at the moment to fit my hardware, or if I might buy new pads
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Old 06-12-22, 08:13 PM
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Cheapest and most practical way to upgrade your braking is get good quality brake shoes and pads ideally from one of the stop like KoolStop or SwissStop. You want good stiff shoes any flex in the system will lose you out on braking power and good replaceable pads with a good rubber compound in your case probably something S-group compatible. Then you want to replace your cables and housing, you want a good compressionless housing, I do really love Jagwire on this front ideally Pro or Elite, their Link housing is really nice and also quite light and flexible. For the cables you want a good stainless steel polished uncoated cable luckily Jagwire makes kits that have everything you need in one package.

Also make sure your rims are nice and clean with isopropyl alcohol and everything is nice and smooth.

If you are still having issues you could look at the brakes and get really spendy with the Cane Creek eeBrakes and some nicer levers (SRAM S500s or S900s are really nice) but that is an expensive proposition.

If you are really desperate and those aren't cutting it get a bike with disc brakes already. Vintage bikes like yours aren't designed for disc brakes. If you want disc brakes get a bike with disc brakes but make sure you also have a decent groupset on it. Claris is one notch up from their bottom of the range Tourney it isn't worth much and doesn't work all that well but certainly hits a price point and that is about it.
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Old 06-12-22, 08:19 PM
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No.
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Old 06-12-22, 08:21 PM
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Originally Posted by tajimirich
Hell of an answer there...

For starters I would say that these brakes I've been using have been tuned up and such, etc etc, twice in the last week, er because I switched handlebars twice and they all got re-worked or whatever. They're not brand new brakes, but they've been serviced recently yeah.

The sensation I'm getting is this: I usually have my hands up top, I don't often find cause to get down into the.. dropped part of the handlebars? I am overwhelmingly doing urban riding over middle distances and getting down there just feels like it gets in the way of my awareness and reactions, maneuverability.. anyway so that means I'm using my brake levers with suboptimal leverage - maybe I'm depressing them halfway down rather than at the tips.. if you know what I mean.

So I give them a good squeeze, and the bike slows etc, but I feel like I need to really go wild with finger strength to get a really rapid halt. I'm worried that if I ever see a car or some such suddenly appear in front of me I'll not be able to stop in time. It doesn't feel ideal, but I don't want to put those regular hand brakes on the handlebars because I've got a light and cycling computer taking up space. So yeah.

You've given me food for thought about disc brakes though.. definitely.

I would be a hell of a lot cheaper to get an auxillary bar to attach your light and computer and put the extenders back on. You are talking about protecting yourself on an instantaneous stop. In such situations you will be limited by the friction of your tire with the road. Discs and hydraulic discs in particular come into their own for sustained braking such as on a long single track downhill on a mountain bike. They will not be that much better in stopping you in an instantaneous situation because you are going to lock the wheel with respect to the ground.

Last edited by kommisar; 06-12-22 at 08:30 PM.
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Old 06-12-22, 08:24 PM
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Originally Posted by veganbikes
Cheapest and most practical way to upgrade your braking is get good quality brake shoes and pads ideally from one of the stop like KoolStop or SwissStop. You want good stiff shoes any flex in the system will lose you out on braking power and good replaceable pads with a good rubber compound in your case probably something S-group compatible. Then you want to replace your cables and housing, you want a good compressionless housing, I do really love Jagwire on this front ideally Pro or Elite, their Link housing is really nice and also quite light and flexible. For the cables you want a good stainless steel polished uncoated cable luckily Jagwire makes kits that have everything you need in one package.

Also make sure your rims are nice and clean with isopropyl alcohol and everything is nice and smooth.

If you are still having issues you could look at the brakes and get really spendy with the Cane Creek eeBrakes and some nicer levers (SRAM S500s or S900s are really nice) but that is an expensive proposition.

If you are really desperate and those aren't cutting it get a bike with disc brakes already. Vintage bikes like yours aren't designed for disc brakes. If you want disc brakes get a bike with disc brakes but make sure you also have a decent groupset on it. Claris is one notch up from their bottom of the range Tourney it isn't worth much and doesn't work all that well but certainly hits a price point and that is about it.
Thanks for all your tips.

My bike is a bit of a frankenbike but everything is Shimano 105 or better.

I just reverted to this bike from a 2021 aluminium one, so I'm going to stick with it I think.. the wheels are a week old too so I don't think the rims have had much chance to muck up

I think my next objective will be Kool stop pads and some high tier hardware throughout.

The bike is a "Tange Prestige" so it's pretty special, I'll not push for disc brakes it it messes with the frame, so yeah that's that
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