So right now I have access to an extra IRO mark v frame that is one size too small for me. This is what I am picturing for this winter. I am thinking of throwing a 29er fork on the front with a disc brake. This would require that I get a new front wheel as I don't have any right now that use a disc. I would probably also use a rear caliper as I might be running a free wheel from time to time. I was also thinking that as a secondary idea I can route the brake cable for the disc brake through the fork so that when it gets warmer and I take off the rear brake I can screw around with barspins and similar craziness. I would probably want to use drops with cross levers during the winter as my daily commute is around 15 miles total with maybe two or three group rides thrown in each week. I would be running probably a 28 in the back and a 35 in front.

My questions to the forum are;
1) is this an unnecessarily expensive solution that would be easier and more cheaply solved by just buying a new bike? I'm happy to spend some time putting this together, hell I'm probably almost as excited about building this as I am about riding it, but if there are going to be endless issues I have a pretty busy schedule already.

2) assuming that I already have the frame, fork, headset, cranks, bb, chainring, seatpost, saddle, rear brake, cog, lockring and chain, how much should I expect to spend on wheels and the brake setup?

3) would routing the cable through the fork be very difficult to set up and would it cause problems with braking efficiency. This would be a mechanical disc brake btw.

Also, if you guys have any general suggestions, or info on a good cheap brake set up andor a good front wheel for this purpose please let me know. I probably want to stick with a 700c in front. I have a rear that works for a 28 but I would not trust a 35 on my current rims.

Everything on a bicycle works together.

If you install a 29er fork, you're going to be changeing your head tube angle. That'll affect how your bike handles.

BMX free style riders route their brake cable through a hollow stem bolt and out the bottom of the fork crown. I've never seen that done with a disc brake but I suppose it's possible. That's quite a bit of brake housing so be sure to find compressionless housing or you'll lose a lot of brake efficiency.

Honesty, while a frame can be pricy to acquire, it affects every single component that you install on the bike. I think that it's a false economy not to start with one that fits you.

In my humble opinion, for riding in winter, one wants LESS brake and not MORE brake.

Ride fixed so you can brake by back-pedaling, and save the front brake for special situations.

For winter, I prefer either a front cantilever brake or a single pivot caliper brake.

Winter riding is one of the few situations where you want to avoid the front brake whenever possible. Just touching the brake on a patch of ice will put you down faster than you can realize what happened. Better to ride carefully, leave tons of room and stop as best you can using your rear brake.

As a longtime winter commuter (15+ years) on snowy, icy, streets I've found that I use my back brake almost exclusively as it's far too easy to have the front slip out from you, and I even use studded tires.

As for brakes, Avid BB7s are quite nice and not too expensive.

The cable routing you describe is known in the BMX community as "Pott's Mod."

Personally, I would get something more like a Surly fork, ie. designed for road bike geometry but able to take fat tires.

Then again, if ****ing with the geometry is your thing, maybe consider dropping a 26in wheel in back and a 29er in front and run some fat tires.