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Fixed Gear.... with a front disc brake?

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Singlespeed & Fixed Gear "I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

Fixed Gear.... with a front disc brake?

Old 02-02-08, 10:14 AM
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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.
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Old 02-02-08, 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by doomkin
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.
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Old 02-02-08, 11:04 AM
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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.
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Old 02-02-08, 11:07 AM
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Originally Posted by geeknerd99
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.
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Old 02-02-08, 11:18 AM
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If '08 really is the year of massive stopping power then I will finally be one of the cool kids.
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Old 02-02-08, 12:40 PM
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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.
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Old 02-02-08, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by barba
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.
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Old 02-02-08, 01:00 PM
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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.
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Old 02-02-08, 02:18 PM
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Originally Posted by doomkin
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

Originally Posted by wikipedia
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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_brake_systems
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Old 02-02-08, 02:20 PM
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Originally Posted by mander

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.
https://www.novacycles.com/catalog/pr...roducts_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.
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Old 02-02-08, 02:38 PM
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Originally Posted by jmichaeldesign
https://www.novacycles.com/catalog/pr...roducts_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.
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Old 02-02-08, 05:38 PM
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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.
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Old 02-02-08, 06:16 PM
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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.
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Old 02-02-08, 11:15 PM
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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 ), and I've never had any problems applying sufficient force in the rain (until the point that the front breaks traction).
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Old 02-03-08, 01:42 AM
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Old 02-03-08, 07:21 AM
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Originally Posted by DiRT!
Single Speed, not fixed, but hotter than a $50 pista.

Good luck finding one

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

-Rob.
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