Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Fixed Gear.... with a front disc brake?

I had a daydream today about a fixie with a 203mm Avid Code DH brake in the front. Behold my new faceskid-stop technique!

Then I wondered... why don't we see more fixies with a disc brake? Or is that the ultimate in jackass?

My friend has a disc on his Miyata 1000 conversion... it is an excellent setup.

I'd do it but I'm incredibly not cool.

I plan to run a disc up front on my next build, actually...

crazy stopping power! everyone is going for that vintage conversion look that newfangle stuff is shunned! :lol:

Disc brakes are not jackass. I am strongly considering front-discing my new Crosscheck. It makes a lot of sense for an all weather commuter that sees a lot of braking---discs are a lot cheaper to replace than rims.

disc hub laced to non machined leopord print deep V. I can smell it already.

With Avid's proliferation of mech. disc brakes for both road and v-brake levers, it makes sense to me that we'll start seeing more and more discs show up.

Hydraulic though..... I pitched the idea of running the Avid Code to a buddy of mine. He then suggested that I replace my rear wheel with a fan and nose-wheelie my way around town.

07 was the year of no brakes. 08 will be the year of max braking power. A fixed gear with a front disk would probably give you the most versatile and powerful stopping system ever devised. I wouldn't spend the money on it myself but if I saw it on someone else's bike I would probably think it was cool.

There was once a picture of a Merlin track bike with a front disk... sexiest thing I've ever seen.

A good dual pivot with decent pads gives plenty of stopping power for my purposes for good road conditions. You also would need a fork with tabs to mount the brake.

Disc brakes are really nice of wet or muddy conditions, though. The sand a salt they use in the winter here can scour through a rim faster than you would guess. Post a pic of your Crosscheck, mander. I am considering picking up either that or a Soma cross frame this spring.

I've considered a front disc on my long distance fixed gear which sees a lot of long tiring descents.
Or simply having both front and rear calipers may be just as effective......as far as braking arm fatigue is concerned during these long descents.

i was having the same thoughts of running a disc on my bike today

Disc is good for all weather

My winter rig next year is going to rock a Drum brake, Even better than disc for snow. You don't have to worry about brake fade when its -5

Well, I've never seen a track fork with disc tabs....I think you'd have to run either a cyclocross fork or some sort of clamp adapter...or maybe something really cool, that I don't even know about.

As for why/why not...there's not really any reason to. Not any reason not to either, besides overkill. I run discs on both my mountain bikes, but have zero use for them on my fixies, rim/no brakes are just fine.

does anyone have any pics of bikes with this setup?

^^^^^^^Exactly.

Rise and come out of hiding!

all I have is the surly steamroller fork so far, but I got the disc mount TiG'd on by my buddy (one of those "can weld a beer can" guys),...now all I need is the steamroller frame, and wheels, and,......

I have wanted a disc FG since I first thought of it, over a year ago

cool sheit

Any place that does frame work will braze on a set of disc mounts,

Or you could go with a lugged and bonded carbon fork so as not to disrupt for "vintage" look to much (http://www.bontrager.com/Road/Components/Forks/21236.php)

disc brake front wheel is gonna kill some cheapie headsets.

it was suggested to me by my fellow wrenches, that if you're gonna run anything stronger than caliper brakes, you better be rollin' on some chris kings.

I'd love that kind of stopping power. My puny little center pull almost didn't stop me in time today when some idiot mistimed the yellow and ran a red in front of me. It is only the ultimate in jackass if the brake isn't connected to a lever.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2085/2205649343_b497e0e013.jpg

But it is a mountain bike. You can just see the disc at the top of the photo. Chainline looks odd because of camera angle. It is set up as a 26" rear / 29" front, but has a 26" front right now. Cog is bolted to the disc side. I may have to try a 700 rear wheel just to see...
Does it count as a flip/flop if you change cranks?

I'd love that kind of stopping power. My puny little center pull almost didn't stop me in time today when some idiot mistimed the yellow and ran a red in front of me. It is only the ultimate in jackass if the brake isn't connected to a lever.

my weinnman centerpull brake stops so freakin hard, I actually have to be careful, because it's actually rather easy to lock up the front end, great for nose wheelies (FG's make manuals impossible tho)

the disc is just for the "thats so freakin tender" factor

disc brake front wheel is gonna kill some cheapie headsets.

it was suggested to me by my fellow wrenches, that if you're gonna run anything stronger than caliper brakes, you better be rollin' on some chris kings.

It sounds like they are trying to sell you a Chris King headset. I don't believe that to be true.

disc brake front wheel is gonna kill some cheapie headsets.

it was suggested to me by my fellow wrenches, that if you're gonna run anything stronger than caliper brakes, you better be rollin' on some chris kings.

I find that hard to believe. How is decelerating to the point of lifting the front wheel going to stress your headset more than running over a little bump? Bike shop wrenches say some of the darndest things... one told me that running chains with slack on a fixed gear stresses the bearings because of the snap when the drivetrain switches between forward and reverse.


****


It's not forum relevant, but here's my Crosscheck because barba asked to see it (attached). It's a dogs breakfast build of things I had around... heavy 36 spoke touring wheels with Marathons, 11-34 mountain cassette, 53-39 road crankset, 9sp DA barcons, mismatched stem spacers... It's totally fun as a nukeproof all-weather commuter. With a disc in front it ought to work even better for that purpose. I might fixify it when I get around to not being poor.

The Crosscheck frames aren't pretty but they sure get the job done. I considered the soma but with this sale I was able to find, this frame was much much cheaper, and the horizontal dropouts sort of sealed it. The colour is misty mountain grey, which is a genius marketing term for primer grey.

Many thanks mander, that is a good looking bike. That is almost exactly what I am think about building (right down to the yellow tape). The horizontal dropouts on the Crosscheck are a major plus.

disc brake front wheel is gonna kill some cheapie headsets.

it was suggested to me by my fellow wrenches, that if you're gonna run anything stronger than caliper brakes, you better be rollin' on some chris kings.

That's not the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard to try to sell $$$ parts, but it's in the top 10 no problem.

Hey thanks barba. I'm still considering some light amber shellaced cloth tape; I saw a grey Cross-check with that color through a gis and it looked great. Also after the marathons die (this will take a while) I might get it some ruffy tuffys or another similarly beefy skinwall tire.

I had a daydream today about a fixie with a 203mm Avid Code DH brake in the front. Behold my new faceskid-stop technique!

Then I wondered... why don't we see more fixies with a disc brake? Or is that the ultimate in jackass?

Sounds like a cool idea to me. If I were buying a new fixie I'd probably buy it.

If '08 really is the year of massive stopping power then I will finally be one of the cool kids.

I have thought about this topic as well, I was planning on doing this on my group buy frame. I am running a shimano dynohub on the front. I was planning on getting the disc version, but it was sold out in the US and it would be 8plus weeks to get it.I ran into another difficulty in finding a 1in fork with disc tabs that didn't alter the geometry of the frame substantially.

It sounds like they are trying to sell you a Chris King headset. I don't believe that to be true.

regardless, i had bought a king headset before the recommendation.

i haven't been doing it nearly as long as these guys have so all i can rest my opinions on are on a couple of old school mechanics.

honestly, it makes sense to me. that much stopping power will go straight to the headset and you'd probably need something beefier to deal with all the front-back force caused by sudden strong stopping. i mean, isn't that why they were invented to begin with?

it's been my understanding that kings were created as heavy duty headsets - not just long lasting ones. sure any run of the mill HS will last forever with the proper care but not all are designed for the kind of stresses we put on our forks.

I thought kings were invented because mountain bikers sometimes ride off big drops, and threaded headsets were getting destroyed. Doomkin I really don't think those guys' word is to be trusted on this one.

Ok, I have a follow-up to the op's question. How much of a pain in the ass do you all think it would be to get a disc hanger attached to my cross check's steel fork? Does anyone have a ballpark idea of how much it would cost, assuming that i finish the job myself with a can of spraypaint?

I'm asking just because i like this fork's lugged crown, plus the fact that it's steel and it's guaranteed not to mess up my geometry.

honestly, it makes sense to me. that much stopping power will go straight to the headset and you'd probably need something beefier to deal with all the front-back force caused by sudden strong stopping. i mean, isn't that why they were invented to begin with?
As discussed earlier, if you can lift up your rear wheel with your brake (regardless of type), you have reached the maximum stopping power. I know I can do that with dual pivot. The advantages of disc brakes are not that they offer more stopping power, its they can offer that maximum power in more conditions than rim brakes


Disc brakes perform equally well in all conditions including water, mud and snow. This is due to their position closer to the hub and away from the ground and possible contaminants like water which can coat and freeze on the rim in colder temperatures. They also avoid the problem that rim brakes have of wearing out the wheel rims, especially in muddy conditions, as well as the requirement that the rim be straight.

Disc brakes offer better modulation of braking power and generally require less finger effort to achieve the same braking power. The advantages of discs make them well-suited to steep, extended downhills through wet and muddy off-road terrain, common in freeride bicycle riding. The use of tires as large as 3.0 inches in width also makes disc brakes necessary, as rim brakes cannot straddle such a wide tire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_brake_systems

Ok, I have a follow-up to the op's question. How much of a pain in the ass do you all think it would be to get a disc hanger attached to my cross check's steel fork? Does anyone have a ballpark idea of how much it would cost, assuming that i finish the job myself with a can of spraypaint?

I'm asking just because i like this fork's lugged crown, plus the fact that it's steel and it's guaranteed not to mess up my geometry.

http://www.novacycles.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_137_145&products_id=811

Shouldn't be more than 20-30 bucks to have welding shop put it on, unless they have a minimum, even then shouldn't be more than 50. Just gotta make sure it's in the right spot.

http://www.novacycles.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_137_145&products_id=811

Shouldn't be more than 20-30 bucks to have welding shop put it on, unless they have a minimum, even then shouldn't be more than 50. Just gotta make sure it's in the right spot.

Hey awesome! Thanks, that gives me the optimism to start looking around locally.

When I get the dough I'm going to put a carbon fork with a road BB7 on the fixed Monstercross bike. Great stopping in the mud and in wet commutes. What more could I want?

-Rob.

I've been running a fixed MTB for street/polo use for a while now, and I have to say, it's great. Avid brakes are by far the best as far as set up goes, and they work damn well to boot. Being able to adjust the angle of the brake in relation to the rotor (vertically) is an Avid-only feature. Worth EVERY penny.

Like JohnnyDoyle, I run discs on my mountain bike and love 'em. I ride year-round in Boston, though, and haven't had any real need for discs at all. My dual-pivot brake has more than enough power to lift the rear unless I consciously get my center of mass down/back and then crank on it, but that's not a way that I actually use the brake anyway, so it's not a problem.

In deep-ish snow (3-5"), I sometimes run into the situation where snow gets caught between my brake pads and rims, but when that happens actually applying braking force would break the front loose pretty quickly anyway with the tires that fit in my fork, and I can control my speed sufficiently with the back anyway.

I find that my braking power increases in the rain anyway (probably a sign that I need to sand my pads or get new ones :o), and I've never had any problems applying sufficient force in the rain (until the point that the front breaks traction).

http://www.bianchimidwest.com/images/roger_c1dm.jpg

http://www.bianchiusa.com/07_roger.html

http://www.bianchimidwest.com/images/roger_c1dm.jpg

http://www.bianchiusa.com/07_roger.htmlSingle Speed, not fixed, but hotter than a $50 pista.

Good luck finding one :rolleyes:

Best bet is to get a San Jose, add a CF front fork and disc brake.

-Rob.