Hi all, I’ve been riding my mountain bike regularly since for a few months which has disc brakes. Went out on my road bike the other night (in the rain) which has brake pads and couldn’t believe the difference in brake performance. Could I fit disc brakes to my road bike? I know it would cost a fair bit as I’d need to replace wheels or at least the hubs?
Pads to discs
- Thread starter Fintious
- Start date
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cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
I would just buy a road bike with discs, the frame will be built to accept disc mounts , as said you could get a frame modified but the cost vs effectiveness wouldn't be worth it .
I dont know what road bike you have so budget is something i cannot recommend but i recently bought a carrera vanquish disc for commuting for similar reasons as the consistant braking in all weathers is what i got it for and even on the basic cable discs its pretty amazing .I do plan to upgrade the calipers at some point but its more off a want rather than a necessity .
I dont know what road bike you have so budget is something i cannot recommend but i recently bought a carrera vanquish disc for commuting for similar reasons as the consistant braking in all weathers is what i got it for and even on the basic cable discs its pretty amazing .I do plan to upgrade the calipers at some point but its more off a want rather than a necessity .
Have you costed just converting the front brake to discs?
Most of the stopping power is via the front brakes, something like 80/20 front/rear.
A lot cheaper to just replace the front forks if needed, front wheel, disc and levers.
Question for the experts - are standard cable brake levers compatible with cable disc brakes?
In which case a conversion to mechanical rather than hydraulic discs would be even cheaper.
Most of the stopping power is via the front brakes, something like 80/20 front/rear.
A lot cheaper to just replace the front forks if needed, front wheel, disc and levers.
Question for the experts - are standard cable brake levers compatible with cable disc brakes?
In which case a conversion to mechanical rather than hydraulic discs would be even cheaper.
vickster
Legendary Member
Yes, I have Spyres with Apex and Rival, can also use with shimano if you must
Yeah, I thought it wouldn’t be worth it cost wise. It’s a Kineses racelite T2 with carbon forks so not an expensive bike. The brakes work but just not as well as discs so I can live with it. I really like the bike so don’t intend swapping it out. Thanks for the replies👍
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
Perhaps worth a few minutes really getting the pads set up well - a slight toe-in is usually recommended, as well as clean rims and well-aligned pads, new cables etc. I have hydraulic discs, cable discs and caliper rim brakes across my fleet - the rim brakes are pretty impressive even in that company.
You would need a new frame and new front forks that are able to take disc brake mounts.
You could swap out the front forks only for disc brakes, as you do usually use the front brake more often than the rear. But as others have said, it's probably better to look for a new bike.
Kinesis do their Tracer 1.5 disc fork which has both rim and disc brake mounts but I doubt it's compatible with the T2 as it is tapered. Either way you are looking at over £200 just for a fork and then add another £50 for a cable disc brake (TRP Spyre would work well) and at least £100 for a disc brake compatible front wheel plus rotor. This would give you a front disc brake setup, but to be honest I wouldnt' do it as it will just look like a frankenbike.
If you are going to do it, do it properly - get a new frame, I highly recommend the Racelight 4S Disc and a new set of wheels and you will be able to transfer over your existing groupset and finishing kit and add some TRP Spyres. This would get you a really good bike for well under £1000 and you could then spend a bit of extra over time to rebuild your old frameset back up as a spare bike.
If you are going to do it, do it properly - get a new frame, I highly recommend the Racelight 4S Disc and a new set of wheels and you will be able to transfer over your existing groupset and finishing kit and add some TRP Spyres. This would get you a really good bike for well under £1000 and you could then spend a bit of extra over time to rebuild your old frameset back up as a spare bike.
Soltydog
Legendary Member
- Location
- near Hornsea
I have the same bike, just retired it though. Do you still have the std Tektro brakes? Might be worth just upgrading to 105 calipers, I have 3 other bikes with 105 rim brakes & they are a big improvement, although I've never really had an issue stopping on the Kinesis
Yeah still got the tektro brakes. May we’ll upgrade them to 105’s - the 105 shifters are really good.
DRM
Guru
- Location
- West Yorks
This in spades, the difference is like night & day, and, a much more economical option
