spinconn

Not sure I am in the correct forum, excuse me if not. I want to upgrade my Giant Contend 4 AR with a Shimano 105 groupset and Hunt aluminum wheelset. The groupsets I am looking at are with the older rim brakes, and that is OK with me, but my stock wheelset and the proposed Hunt set are disc wheels. Is there a problem trying to install and use rim these rim brakes on either of those disc wheelsets?

I know, I know, it is stupid to try an expensive upgrade on an entry level bike but I want to do it anyway for my own enjoyment.

GhostRider62

Yes. And finally, yes.

big john

You understood that?

Iride01 

How will you know the expensive wheel set did much for you if you don't ride the wheel set it came with for a year or so to get used to it. Your good feeling about anything better about them might just be you fooling yourself that you spent your money well.

Not that I don't appreciate the better qualities that better more expensive wheel sets can give you. To me, if ride comfort is the quality, you are looking for, then you are probably wrong to think going to more expensive wheels will give you that. Typically, they give you better performance for handling the bike.

alcjphil

If the wheels don't have proper brake tracks on the rim you will not be able to brake properly and it is likely that your rim brakes will damage the rims
As well, most disc brake wheels require thru axles while most rim brake bikes have quick release axles

GhostRider62

Yes. It is a problem and yes, it is stupid.

Iride01 

Oh, as usual I had it twisted. I thought you were putting rims with a braking surface on a bike with disc brakes. So in that case, I'll go with the first response made in this thread for the answer.

How old is your Contend that it didn't come with disc brakes?

alcjphil

I looked up that bike and it appears to have mechanical disc brakes. When buying the groupset, you simply don't buy rim brake callipers, you use the disc brake callipers that are already installed on the bike
If your bike already has disc brakes there is likely no provision for installing rim brake callipers anyway
Looking at pictures of the bike, there is no place to mount a rim brake either in front or the back

Broctoon

Additionally, disc brake hubs have a wider OLD dimension, requiring a frame and fork with the correct spacing.

Some early disc brake wheelsets were built with rims that can use rim brakes. Lately, most don't have braking surfaces on the rims. Manufacturers want to take advantage of the opportunity to make the rims lighter and more aero, so their disc-specific wheels absolutely will not work safely with rim brakes. If you want to confirm, you should contact Hunt. Tell them what you want to do and see what they say.

msu2001la

Let me see if I can help this thread.

It's a disc brake bike that has Shimano Claris. The discs are mechanical.

The OP wants to upgrade that stock Shimano Claris and OEM brand alloy wheels to Shimano 105 and Hunt Aluminum wheels.

The stock disc brakes are cable actuated mechanical calipers, so a rim brake groupset will work - you just have to keep your existing mechanical disc brake calipers. You won't need the rim brake calipers that come with these groupsets.

As an alternative, you should consider getting a Shimano 105 hydraulic groupset. This would require you to install new brake calipers (and hydraulic hoses) but would be a much bigger upgrade than keeping the mechanical disc brakes.

This is correct, and likely where things get confusing for you and others reading this. Your bike is disc brake, and will always be disc brake. Any wheels you buy should be disc brake wheels.

Yes - definitely a problem. You can't install rim brakes on your bike. It's disc. It'll always be disc.
The good news here is that a rim-brake groupset can work though - you'll just need to use them with the existing mechanical (cable) disc brake calipers. Mechanical disc brakes use the same cable and lever as rim brakes.

Ignore the haters. There's nothing wrong with upgrading your bike - just make sure you get the right parts.

veganbikes

I could agree with the mechanics of msu2001la but I wouldn't put a lot of money towards the bike. It is rare that a frame is special and they just put whatever low initial cost gruppo on it. I would just save the money and get the bike with 105 on it already you will likely get a much better bike and in the end save some money to a point. Yes a new bike is more expensive but buying a single groupset vs. any bike brand buying 100,000 groupsets is a more expensive proposition.

Ride this bike figure out what you like and don't like and then try some bikes that seem like they have what you want and save up for them or buy them and have this one as a back up or a rainy day bike or beater or something. N+1 is scientifically proven to make sure you have bikes.

Psimet2001 

Square peg- Round hole.

delbiker1 

Sometimes, one just has to try something to find out it will not work, no matter how many knowledgeable, or not so knowledgeable, people say it will not work. I had a bike that was built with the ability to use rim brake calipers or mechanical disc brakes. The fork and rear were pre-drilled for road, it also had cantilever mounts installed, not the posts, and the original wheels had both brake tracks and and 6 bolt disc hubs. I only used the original mech disc set up, and gave the bike to a friend with the original set up. It is a Schwinn Super Sport DBX, I believe a couple of other companies built the same style, but I do not know of any at this time.
To my way of thinking, it does not make sense to buy a group set that is not compatible with the bike it is intended for, then attempt to change the nature of the bike to fit the group.

georges1

If a frame is meant for rim brakes , so it won't work with disc brakes, so I would suggest to buy a higher end used rim brakes wheelset

alcjphil

In post #1 the OP indicated that they already have disc brakes

spinconn

It seems my original post was confusing so I will explain more. I have a Giant Contend 4 AR, which has the Claris groupset and mechanical disc brakes, and it is a medium size frame. I wanted a Contend 1 AR, which has the 105 groupset and hydraulic disc brakes but none were in stock anywhere near me and for some reason dealers far away are not allowed to ship this bike to me or to another dealer. So, I got the AR4 and, as it turns out, I love the bike and especially how well the frame fits me. So, I thought I could upgrade it to the AR1 level by getting a 105 groupset and better grade wheels, but the price for the hydraulic brake 105 groupset was more than I want to spend on an upgrade, so I was thinking of getting the rim brake version which is considerably cheaper. I did not know if it was possible to use rim brakes on a bike set up for mechanical discs, hence the original question.

I have received so many warnings in the responses to this thread I have decided to forget about the upgrade. I will keep looking for a medium AR1 and just buy a second bike if I find one, but I am now getting tempted by the AR1 in medium/large as they are in stock online and I can have one shipped to my LBS. Won't fit as well but I may give it a try.

Iride01 

IMO, bicycles shouldn't be a one bike for life thing. Save your money for your next bike. Ride the crap out of the current bike until you save enough to get the bike you really want.

big john

If you have a bike which fits why would you intentionally buy one that you know won't fit? Maybe you can adapt to different sizes, I don't know. But if I was happy with the fit of a certain bike I definitely wouldn't buy the same bike in a different size, even if it did have better parts.

mstateglfr 

Oh maybe the OP just rephrases their question, it makes sense to people, and a correct answer can be given. That eliminates wasting time and money on something that may not work.

mstateglfr 

Hang on here, many responses to your initial question were because it was phrased so confusingly. Ignore those responses since they were based on confusion.

The Content 4 and Contend 1 have the same frame and fork. Comments like 'it isnt worth upgrading a cheap Claris bike' are sometimes correct, but in this case, I think they really miss the mark. You are basically just changing the drivetrain and wheels out to make it equal or in some ways better than the Content 1.
You can install a 105 rim brake drivetrain to your bike and use it right away. The 105 rim brake option uses the same cables as a cable disc brake setup, which you already have. Basically, your current Claris drivetrain is a rim brake drivetrain. A cable disc brake operates with the same cable and brake lever pull as a rim brake.
And the Hunt wheels are disc brake, so they will obviously fit the bike. Your bike has 142mm rear drop out and thru axles. Any modern Hunt wheelset will have those specs. And very likely- the Hunt wheelset will be lighter than your stock wheels(they will be lighter than the wheels that come on the Contend 1 too).

So in the end, your bike would have 105 shifting, lighter wheels, and still use the stock disc brakes to stop.
The only think I would suggest is buy some good tires. Fast rolling tires really transform a bike and the stock Giant branded tires on your bike are not fast rolling. Its a relatively inexpensive change that is big on impact.

njkayaker

I'm assuming you mean whether you could use the levers in the groupset for your disc brakes.

(It's not likely the bike has a place to mount the actual rim brake calipers and they won't work on disc brake wheels anyway.)

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features...vs-rim-brakes/

You can use the levers on your mechanical disc brakes but you can't use the rim brake calipers. There's not going to be a place to mount the brake calipers and the rims on the disc wheel aren't designed to be used for rim brakes.

njkayaker

"Try it."

"Don't try it."

You managed to cover both sides without providing any useful advice.

This sounds like some sort of transitional thing (when disc brakes were new). Currently, people aren't going to be choosing caliper (or cantilever!) brakes over disc brakes. Making the frame compatible with other brake types increases the cost of manufacturing the frame (for no good reason).

The bike he has doesn't support rim (or cantilever) brakes.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/contend-ar-4-2021

This seems somewhat unusual. Especially for "upgrade" wheels.

The wheels the OP might be considering don't have rim brake tracks.

https://us.huntbikewheels.com/produc...-disc-wheelset

Psimet2001 

Your original question was clear. My answer stands: 'Square peg. Round Hole"

While there are a few bikes out there that can actually run either rim or disc brakes they are truly the exception- not the rule. Van Dessel did a great job of that for years but it also required swapping the fork and the dropouts on the frame. Not standard operating procedure for Giant.

So - NO. You can not put rim brakes on a frame that is already made for disc brakes.

mstateglfr 

...but the OP just wants to get a 'rim brake groupset' and the Hunt wheel will be disc wheels. The bike is already set up for disc.
So just use the 105 rim brake groupset and use the disc brake calipers already on the bike. Its really just a swap from Claris to 105 while using the same low end cable disc brake calipers.

Koyote

Yes, the OP could do that. But I think Psimet2001 was referencing the original question, part of which I've pasted below:
​​​​​​The OP's frame does not appear to have any mounting points for rim brakes, so the answer (to this question) is a hard 'no.'