Is my bike frame disk brake compatible?

[amberwolf]

I often only *have* a front brake, because my cargo bikes break back wheels enough that they become so warped (often with broken spokes) the rim brakes won't work and I even have to take the pads off to keep the wheel from rubbing, sometimes. Disc brakes would be the obvious answer to that, but as of yet I don't have any disc-compatible rear wheels (and budget has never allowed purchasing a hub to fix that, and time hasn't allowed hacking up a pair of hubs to make a thread-on-disc version, and then adding caliper mounts to the frame, etc.).

Plus in various situations, especially in certain turns with the sand and dust around here, braking on the rear can be a bad idea, causing the rear wheel to slide out from under me.

As rear-heavy as most of my bikes are, I rarely have to worry about flipping the bike when hard braking on teh front. Most of the time I cant' even lock up the wheel no matter how hard I brake or how the brakes are setup (another reason for wanting disc brakes, to add braking force to an existing rim brake).

But even with "regular" bikes I usually tend to brake with the front first, using the rear when that's not enough, for a typical straight-line stop. I just modulate it so I dont' endo, and practice with it so my hands know how far they can go before it will lock up, for those emergency stops I won't have time to think about the process.

 

[kmxtornado]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I think this weekend I will try stopping with the front to see if the back is indeed heavy enough on my bike to keep the bike flat. Being that the hub and battery are both back there, I can imagine that it would. It should be a fun experience. I'll try to keep it safe and report back later.

 

[john7700]

It should be a fun experience.

My God son don't go out there get going 20mph and grab a handful of front break. I assure you that you, the battery, and the motor will all go flying over the bars. I'm not trying to be mean but some times I read your post and wonder how you made it this far :lol: The last two times you did it you said you went endo. It will do it again. What the folks here are trying to tell you is that the break is so strong that it takes on most of the work as the weight is shifted forward. Therefore, you have to modulate it very carefully, but it will stop you much faster in the event of emergencies. Most of the time you may use your rear break for ease of operation but when you really need to come to a stop the front break is what gets it done. You need to develop bike skills to handle stopping from the higher speeds we are capable of. To compensate for momentum shifting forward, practice emergency stops. In a safe area, get your bike up to speed then with your peddles at 3 and 9 apply your brakes. Stand up on your peddles, get off the saddle, extend your arm straight out and get your but as far behind the saddle as you can. You will feel the weight shift and with practice you will learn to stop your bike in a very short distance.

Good luck, and please, bring a camera with you.

 

[MadRhino]

...I should know b/c I flipped over the handlebars on more than one occasion as I was stupidly holding something in my right hand and only engaged the left lever. Or maybe you mean that both still need to be used: rear first, then followed by using the front brake?

As a DH rider, I can tell you that the rear brake is useless when you are speeding down a 30% slope, and locking the front sure will send you flying. John7700 is right, it is all about modulation. On the flat, stopping from 40 Mph, I can modulate the front brake enough to ride 30ft on the front wheel to come to a stop with the rear still in the air. Doing this require alot of training, and very precise brakes. What you should practice first, is to brake strongly with the front, only just hard enough so that you feel that the rear wheel is very close to lift. That will bring you to your shortest effective braking distance.

 

[kmxtornado]

Interesting. Thanks to both of you for the tips. I appreciate you going into detail on the approach. Both of you are somehow very good with words and express it in a very genuine way like a coach or matter-of-fact and aren't arrogant about it at all. Tough to do. So thanks for being gentlemen. Anyway, my wife's stick, so I'm staying indoors this evening. No bike test yet and thankfully so. It's good that I read you guys' post first. I think I get what you guys are saying.

But you say, "modulate" the brakes, does that mean I should be sorta tapping the brakes? Not pulling the lever gradually?

As far as flipping over the handlebars, here's the details (for your entertainment):

1. I was in college, riding along the sidewalk on campus. I was holding my jacket in my hand while holding the handlebars. Dumb idea b/c the sleeve eventually got caught in the spokes and the bike immediately stopped. Bam! I flew over the handlebars and fell down completely. The impact was so strong my keyring actually bent! Crazy. The guys across the street didn't laugh and genuinely asked if I was okay. More than I was expecting. So to them, thanks!

2. My friend let me ride his Gary Fisher bike. I didn't know what that was but just took his word for it that it was super expensive. My bike had been super old (current white bike in my blog) so when I grabbed his brakes, they were super sensitive. I was stupidly holding a tube of drawings (studying architecture) in my right hand and engaged the lever with the left (front brake) and bam again! I went over the handlebars, but this time I somehow instinctively jumped over the bars and landed on my feet! No impact to the ground! It was the most graceful over-the-handle-bar-almost-fall ever.

 

[MadRhino]

Modulation is the play that you do with the brake lever, varying the pressure in the purpose of braking as close to, but avoiding locking the wheel. Disc brakes have better modulation range, and good disc brakes give you a precise feel of the bite that you exerce on the disc. The best brake levers are adjustable, so you can set reach and bite point, in order to personalize the brake action to your hand size and preference.

 

[hjns]

As a DH rider, I can tell you that the rear brake is useless when you are speeding down a 30% slope, and locking the front sure will send you flying. John7700 is right, it is all about modulation. On the flat, stopping from 40 Mph, I can modulate the front brake enough to ride 30ft on the front wheel to come to a stop with the rear still in the air. Doing this require alot of training, and very precise brakes. What you should practice first, is to brake strongly with the front, only just hard enough so that you feel that the rear wheel is very close to lift. That will bring you to your shortest effective braking distance.

Wow, thanks! This is very useful information, and I am going to practice once or twice every day when I am on my bike.