Brakes Fitting a rim brake to a frame with no brake mounts

[FurryOnTheInside]

Or to a single wheel trailer, as I'm planning to do.

The brake mounts and arch brace can be chopped from an old crappy suspension fork, or sometimes this whole piece can simply be unbolted with its brake mounts attached.

The ideal fork is the Top Gun yellow ATB 26" fork with "Cromagnon Technology" down the side, like it impressed anyone lol. I'm sure it's 100% awful as a fork, but what a lovely bolt on/off arch brace! Perfect for clamping to the seat stays of your frame so you can have a V brake, U brake, or perhaps even a hydraulic rim brake.

There is also the Rockshox Quadrant 21R which may be just as good. Not that I've tried it.
There are many other old Rockshox forks which have the right sort of arch brace and brake mounts but may be bonded rather than bolted, but that's okay. Nothing a hacksaw and a dremel won't fix!


I am going to have to buy an old fork off fleaBay especially for this project because all the ones I have are too good, even my RSTs, lol.
They are cheap though, especially if they don't work (as a fork), so I will pick one up for less than £10 even if it takes a month to "win" one that cheap.

I will be using mine to put a V brake on my single wheel bike trailer. I think it's worth doing for safety now that I can tow a lot of weight very fast.

Then I can have FOUR levers on my handlebar which will look too cool.

 

[darwin]

Wouldn't the brake fit where those 2 plastic covers are on the front of the U? Maybe the old cantilever style might work using the top center mounting hole on the U? Cantilever style only uses 1 mounting point if I'm using the right name for them.

 

[gary55]

Wouldn't the brake fit where those 2 plastic covers are on the front of the U? Maybe the old cantilever style might work using the top center mounting hole on the U? Cantilever style only uses 1 mounting point if I'm using the right name for them.

The U your talking about on these particular forks bolts on, and what he is talking about is removing it from the forks and using it to install rear brakes on a frame with no tabs or a single wheel trailer.

 

[gary55]

Or to a single wheel trailer, as I'm planning to do.

The brake mounts and arch brace can be chopped from an old crappy suspension fork, or sometimes this whole piece can simply be unbolted with its brake mounts attached.

The ideal fork is the Top Gun yellow ATB 26" fork with "Cromagnon Technology" down the side, like it impressed anyone lol. I'm sure it's 100% awful as a fork, but what a lovely bolt on/off arch brace! Perfect for clamping to the seat stays of your frame so you can have a V brake, U brake, or perhaps even a hydraulic rim brake.

View attachment 80411

There is also the Rockshox Quadrant 21R which may be just as good. Not that I've tried it.
There are many other old Rockshox forks which have the right sort of arch brace and brake mounts but may be bonded rather than bolted, but that's okay. Nothing a hacksaw and a dremel won't fix!
View attachment 80412

I am going to have to buy an old fork off fleaBay especially for this project because all the ones I have are too good, even my RSTs, lol.
They are cheap though, especially if they don't work (as a fork), so I will pick one up for less than £10 even if it takes a month to "win" one that cheap.

I will be using mine to put a V brake on my single wheel bike trailer. I think it's worth doing for safety now that I can tow a lot of weight very fast.

Then I can have FOUR levers on my handlebar which will look too cool.

Good idea. I would cut off the tabs on 1 of the 1000's of clunker frames people have laying around and weld them to the stays. Then again I'm usually working with steel, and your usually working with aluminum. It would sure be handy for a heavy load that starts pushing and wanting to come around you while going down hill. Brake the trailer and it pulls everything straight.

 

[FurryOnTheInside]

Good idea. I would cut off the tabs on 1 of the 1000's of clunker frames people have laying around and weld them to the stays. Then again I'm usually working with steel, and your usually working with aluminum. It would sure be handy for a heavy load that starts pushing and wanting to come around you while going down hill. Brake the trailer and it pulls everything straight.

Yeah my current build is alloy, all my working bikes are alloy, but my special projects are cro-moly and the trailer is steel with square tubing. I actually threw out an old steel fork that had mounts for canti/V brakes on it and rejected the ones I saw in fleaBay. Like most people I have no welder at home and I don't want take my bike to a guy who'll burn a hole through it. (I am sure it could be done with epoxy also )

..but also, having the mounts on a flat, thick, stiff, alloy plate, clamped to the rear of the stays using P clips etc, allows me to change the wheel size or change the brake type (U or V/canti) by moving the mount up or down, or allows me to move it on to my next frame/project. Adjustable! Reusable!

 

[gary55]

You definitely have great versatility with your idea.

 

[darwin]

Gotcha, I understand now.