Disc Brakes on an older bike??

[Phreetogo]

I have a 2004 Marin Bolinas Ridge and was wondering if there was a way to get disc brakes on the rear. I have a new shock that is disc brake compatible, but the rear doesn;t look like it has the right mounts. Is there an adapter or something for older bikes?? Thanks

[net wurker]

Whattchu tallkin bout, Willis??? A disk-compatible shock? Not sure what that means, and not sure how you plan on mounting a shock on a hardtail?

[lamp no 3]

Well I recently got a new bike with disc brakes,And I'd say go for the disc brakes if you have money, but if you got disc brakes, you'd have to get wheel hubs that would be disc brake compatible.Check if you have 2 holes by the back of the bike by the rear hub to see if you could mount the disc brakes.Does that answer your question, lol? :- )

BTW the front forks, they aren't shocks, they are called forks.

[EnglishT]

BTW the front forks, they aren't shocks, they are called forks.

Both are technically correct names for them.

As some anal people would point out....

[net wurker]

Oh, fork. Duh. I couldn't figure out what he was saying.

Yeah, you will need to swap out your hubs to go to disk brakes. And replace the fork. I am not sure about mounting the rear brake calilper, if it is possible. You may want to post this in the brake forum.

[EnglishT]

Cant see any mounts for a rear disc brake - thats gonna mean a new frame....

Then again, you could always go oldschool and put Magura Hydraulic rim brakes on it... now those are cool

[blackfire]

You will only be able to put disc brakes on the front on that bike. you will have to change out the front hub to a disc compatible hub. meaning a new front wheelset would be the way to go.

The rears. sorry. you are out of luck on those. But on the bright side.. 60-80% of your braking is done on the front. so you don't need disks in the back.(no mounting spots for calipers. and doubt there is proper clerance.) You can look for a rim brake upgrade for the rears that will give you ample stopping power. and ride disks in the front. nothing wrong with that

[BlurredVision]

You could try the A2Z Dm-UNI disc brake frame adapter. Only place Ive found them was on Ebay but a few have used them with success here. Otherwise, since most of the braking is done by the front, just out the disc brake up front and leave a v brake on the rear. You will need disc compatable hubs as stated before as well as longer brake cables to reach the caliper(s).

[snaky69]

You need new wheels, an adapter for the rear to accept disc, plus the discs themselves, IMO it's not worth it.

[mx_599]

brake therapy and WOOdman both offer kits. mind you, this whole endeavor will be a little expensive. you need brakes, new hubs, and this kit and you have to be mechanically inclined.

i very successfully used the WOOdman kit. however, it would almost just be my suggestion to leave your bike alone and keep it as rim brakes.

good luck

mx

[Phreetogo]

You could try the A2Z Dm-UNI disc brake frame adapter.

Cool that looks like it would do the trick!! I'll look into it. Thanks everyone for the advice!!

[Sullycanpara]

Yeah, if you absolutely have to go disc, because you have been sold by the hype (hey, I have been hehe) then you have a couple options. As others ahve said, there are adapters you can get for the rear to be able to mount the caliper, then you need a new wheelset, the brakes themselves...etc....

Might I suggest that you look at running a disc on the front, and a rim brake on the rear. I recently upgraded my wife's bike this way. It is a HECK of a lot cheaper, as when I totalled it up for my wife:

New levers (to upgrade from her crappy v-levers): $30 for SD-7s
New Front disc: $50 for BB-7
New Rear Disc: $50 for bb-7
Rear Disc Adapter: $70 (for adapter, plus S & H)

So you're looking at $200 (ballpark) to go full disc on a bike, and that doesn't include the wheelset, which I had a spare disc set, that was also rim compatible. So if you're going full disc, factor in another $150 minimum, and UP, depending on the quality you're looking for.

Or, if you went disc front, rim rear, you can drop the $70 for the adapter, and the rear brake goes from $50 to $30 for the SD-7 rear brake I bought my wife, but she (and you) could have kept the rear rim brake you've got. You'll still have to get a disc wheel for the front, but you don't for the rear. So you'll save at least $150 - 200 by not going disc for the rear, and will have just as good a brakign system as if you went full disc.

Good luck,

Tim

[mx_599]

[beeristasty]

If I had to do it again, I would definitely go with the Woodman or BT adapter vs. A2Z's. Don't get me wrong, it does its job on my beater, but for my mtb, I'd feel much more comfortable with one of the other 2.

My main gripes:
1) the A2Z can shift fore and aft a little
2) the inner and outer plates add some extra width to the drop outs, causing my rear skewer's nut to barely thread onto the shaft.
3) there's a plate that butts up against the seat stay - not sure if a frame is designed to handle braking forces from this area

Just a note, but your dropouts don't look like they'd play well with the A2Z adapter.

[mx_599]

i would lean towards brake therapy unless you're a good mechanic. the WOOdman worked great, but i had to do a lot of my own problem solving and i had to lace a wheel with their hub

mx

[eat_dirt]

just run a disc in front and upgrade the rear to a single digit 7.

there's nothing inherently wrong about mixing and matching.

it just looks... different.

[cobba]

Disc brake on the front is all you'll need, you've got a XC hardtail and if you ride it the way it's meant to be ridden adding a disc on the back won't make much of a noticeable difference except for lightening the weight in your back pocket and adding more weight to the bike. There's been a few instances, not often but it has happened where some of these disc brake adapters have actually caused damage to frames, these brake adapters would probably also void a frames warranty. A few years ago some bikes were built with discs on the front and V's on the back, it wouldn't look out of place with only one disc on it.

[Rufudufus]

I've seen pictures of bikes with the woodman-type adapters where the brake post busted off the frame, they're not designed to sustain force from that direction.

I run a hydro disk in front and a v-brake on the back, looks funky but who cares?

[Razorfish]

I don't know what some of the comments about XC hardtail brake requirments being any different. It doesn't matter. If you're on a steep technical downhill you're going to be hammering the brakes just as much as any FS AM or downhill bike.

My bike has disc brakes and my son's doesn't. We ride together and often on the long descents we switch bikes because his hand gets tired. There's definitely a difference. Here's what I've done. Disc conversion on the front of his bike. Due to weight transfer the front does most to all the stopping so I'm not converting the rear.

- BB7
- New cable
- Budget front wheel.
- Original stock levers worked fine.
- Shock already has disc brake mounts.
= about $120.