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Adding disc brakes to rear of Giro 20...

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Adding disc brakes to rear of Giro 20...

Old 06-03-15, 08:15 AM
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Adding disc brakes to rear of Giro 20...

I'm not impressed with the stopping ability of my Giro 20 and am considering putting BB7 disc brakes on the back wheel.

Anyone done it? And is there anything special I should know?

Thanks!
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Old 06-03-15, 04:21 PM
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First, make sure your bike has the caliper mounting points on the left chainstay. You'll probably need a new rear wheel with a disc capable hub.

Other than that it's pretty much buy the parts and bolt them up. I'm a strong advocate for using Jagwire Ripcord cable housing with cable disc brakes, especially on bikes that have long cable housing runs. The ripcord housing is compressionless so you'll get much better performance. Unfortunately it costs about twice as much as other cable housing.
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Old 06-03-15, 08:02 PM
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Rear wheel? Real braking power lies in the front, as the limit of braking is when the rear wheel has unweighted and cannot contribute any stopping power.

My suggestion is that if you are going to do disc on one wheel, do the front instead.
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Old 06-03-15, 11:30 PM
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The first few rides with new disk brakes the stopping power will be reduced until the pads and rotors are bedded in. When I put BB7's on my Giro 26 I thought I had made a mistake. Found braking much better disks. Would also second doing both wheels. With the stock levers use mountain BB7.
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Old 06-04-15, 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by Steamer
Rear wheel? Real braking power lies in the front, as the limit of braking is when the rear wheel has unweighted and cannot contribute any stopping power.

My suggestion is that if you are going to do disc on one wheel, do the front instead.
That's definitely true with the relatively high center of gravity on diamond frame bikes. I'm much less sure with SWB recumbents and I'd definitely be unsure with the lightly loaded wheel on LWB recumbents.

To me the deal breaker would be the cliper mount. If I had caliper mounts on both ends, I'd install disc brakes on both ends.
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Old 06-04-15, 09:43 AM
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& descending dragging rear wheel braking the brake disc and caliper gets quite hot ..

In the shop, a repair we had ... a MTB came in, where the BB7 plastic adjuster knobs partially Melted ..

it is possible to replace just those parts , but typically a whole new caliper is sold.
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Old 06-05-15, 05:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
First, make sure your bike has the caliper mounting points on the left chainstay. You'll probably need a new rear wheel with a disc capable hub.

Other than that it's pretty much buy the parts and bolt them up. I'm a strong advocate for using Jagwire Ripcord cable housing with cable disc brakes, especially on bikes that have long cable housing runs. The ripcord housing is compressionless so you'll get much better performance. Unfortunately it costs about twice as much as other cable housing.
One of the things I like about the Bacchetta is that even if you don't order it with disc brakes, it come ready to have them installed if you choose to do so later. The frame does have the mounting points and the rear wheel also has the hub ready to mount a rotor.
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Old 06-05-15, 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
That's definitely true with the relatively high center of gravity on diamond frame bikes. I'm much less sure with SWB recumbents and I'd definitely be unsure with the lightly loaded wheel on LWB recumbents.

To me the deal breaker would be the cliper mount. If I had caliper mounts on both ends, I'd install disc brakes on both ends.
LWBs are not relevant. It's clear we are talking about a Giro 20. SWBs can be endo'ed. I've done it. The rear wheel goes weightless in a panic stop.

I also found from direct experience that you can lock up a rear wheel on a Giro 20 with the stock V brakes. At least I could. Going disc back there yields nothing.

Go disc on the front VA Caver.
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Old 06-06-15, 08:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Steamer
LWBs are not relevant. It's clear we are talking about a Giro 20. SWBs can be endo'ed. I've done it. The rear wheel goes weightless in a panic stop.

I also found from direct experience that you can lock up a rear wheel on a Giro 20 with the stock V brakes. At least I could. Going disc back there yields nothing.

Go disc on the front VA Caver.
You realize, of course, that your post could be used equally well to argue for putting the disc brake on the back.
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Old 06-07-15, 06:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
You realize, of course, that your post could be used equally well to argue for putting the disc brake on the back.
No, I don't see how it could.

You're the only rider I have come across who thinks the front brake has less stopping power than the rear. (assuming the same kind of brake. also talking SWBs, here.)
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Old 06-08-15, 07:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Steamer
No, I don't see how it could.

You're the only rider I have come across who thinks the front brake has less stopping power than the rear. (assuming the same kind of brake. also talking SWBs, here.)
If your front brake grip is so great as to lift the rear tire off of the ground why would you want to make the front brake even more powerful?

I think that you're picking apart my posts trying to find a point you can disagree with. My premise was that the existence or lack of brake caliper mounting points would be a major factor for me for installing a disc brake. That was simply answering the question OP asked. If my bike had mounting points on both ends, I said that I'd install a disc on both ends. If I only had a mounting point on the rear, I might put one just on the rear.

In reality, my Enduro Sport frameset came with a disc caliper mount on the rear but without a disc mount on the fork. I chose not to use any disc brakes and I'm perfectly satisfied with my bike's stopping power as it is. I don't have anything against disc brakes, I just don't feel a need for them.
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Old 07-07-15, 08:44 AM
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I put a disc on the rear of my V-Rex and have been very happy with the performance. As Retro put it, the front was already strong enough. Now the rear is strong, too.
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