Converting Rim Brake to Disc Brake

Disc brakes are the industry standard on road bikes these days, so can I upgrade my old rim brake bike to disc brake?

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I love my old rim brake road bike. I have owned it for 7 or 8 years, and must have done around 25,000 miles on it, however I find that I am riding it less and less in favour of bikes with hydraulic disc brakes.

On my rim brake bike I use fully carbon rims, so under heavy braking, delamination is an issue, and braking performance in the wet is not only dreadful, it can be quite dangerous, especially if you have to navigate heavy traffic. However I LOVE the frame. It’s stiff, fast, incredibly comfortable, and looks fantastic in my opinion. So in this episode, by changing the fork and a few other components, I’m going to upgrade the front wheel to disc brake.

I initially tried mechanical disc brakes. The performance was great, plus it meant that I didn’t have to change the groupset, but I understand that some people REALLY dislike mechanical disc. So I also tried a spare hydraulic disc brake groupset I had lying around in the workshop, and the end result is honestly fantastic.

It rides really well, the different shifters on the left and right don't bother me at all, and the braking performance is top tier.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Start
00:27 – Intro & parts required
01:26 – Converting to disc brake
04:18 – Wheelbase changes
05:57 – Siroko sponsor
07:15 – Ride test
09:06 – Hydraulic disc brake
12:07 – Selecting the right fork
13:50 – Final bike weight
14:39 – Bonus bonus clip

Intro roll:

Please note:
I am not a professionally trained bike mechanic. There can be risks associated with using products that are unbranded, untested, or come from sources where the provenance is unknown. Please talk to a qualified bike mechanic if you are in any doubt.

In essence, be careful, do your research, and cycle safe!!!

[thomasullmann]

Of course its only a guess based on your youtube videos but you seem like a very genuine guy, I'm always so happy when a child comes into this world with good and interesting/inquisitive parents. Congratulations!

[landerson]

I wanted a gravel bike so I converted my late 90s Schwinn hard tail, 26in, mt bike. Even though it came stock with cantilever rime breaks, the rear triangle had lugs for disk breaks. I discovered I could fit a 29er disc wheelset on and 700*35 tires. I bought a new ridged carbon, disk, mt bike fork for 26in wheels and still had plenty of clearance for the new 29er wheels. I had a cheep Microshift rd groupset lying around and got some mechanical break calipers. It made a sweet gravel bike. It's pretty heavy but it is bomb proof, super comfortable and it is my go to gravel and family bike. It doesn't always work and sometimes compromises are made. Ultimately if the individual likes it and keeps that person riding, then it is the perfect bike!

[alanpage]

I'm in Melbourne, and replaced the steel fork with carbon (caliper mount) fork, and installed a Shimano XT caliper hyd brake; and had a Mavic A719 rim (25mm int) laced to a 6-bolt rotor hub. This cost me about $A750 5 years ago. Bike (3 x 9spd) is for rail trail touring, and my current local cafe ride. The hyd disc front brake is really good, and I know will stop me on a hill with 15kg on the rack, or when a car crosses my path from a side street. The cost was equal to what I paid for the bike 15y ago. No regret about doing it. Ride confidence and personal health security being benefits. Hydraulic is meant to have better modulation than mechanical. TPG make a hyd caliper that uses cable activiation, saving replacement of the bar activator (shifter-brake handle). It was cool to see Trace's video on this topic.

[alextorresphoto]

We live on the edge. The frankenstein bike is the best! Many want the "purest" of bikes but sometimes that's boring. This was a fun project. Finding the fork can be a little daunting to be honest but once you have that set you can jump to all the other parts rather quickly. As for parenting, it's an exciting time. Enjoy those first golden years, no matter how tough. It goes fast. You can still work and get things done but it will be more surgical and fine tuned. All in good ways. Take a bit of time for adjustment and most importantly mom will be hella tired and post partum is real.

[jimbrittain]

First, of course, you're doing us a real service by trying all this wacko stuff. But second, when the stuff works, it's a delight seeing how happy and excited you get. (I can hardly wait to hear you gush about the baby!)

[LukeRichardson]

I love to tinker and did a frankenstein build like this myself, though I was lucky that the Giant fitness hybrid aluminum frame I started with already had a rear disc brake mount so all I had to do was replace the fork to get a full disc bike. I converted the hybrid (originally 3x9) into a 1x11 drop bar 'gravel' bike, and I love it overall. Still have some other plans, namely replacing the bar with a more gravel type bar and going to Ultegra R8000 shifters / GRX800 derailleur when get around to converting my current Ti road bike to 105 Di2 and can then use some of the mechanical components from it, but the bike as it is now with Sensah SRX Pro is still pretty darned good. Took it to Canada with me this past summer and rode some pretty epic rides in the Rockies with it (including a 300km 2500m elevation gain 14 hour one day ride that was amazing), and it performed admirably.

[captain]

Congratulations to you and I hope that your new addition arrives safely. Treasure every moment as they grow up so fast, and there are so many joys along the way.

[GAMeRAchilles]

Your videos inspired me to try and build a carbon fiber AliExpress bike. I sourced many of the components from a boken bike i got for cheap off Craigslist. Watching how you deal with problems and solutions that dont work out or look off and how you pivot off those and try new things has been a huge help. It's just about ready to ride and i might be have a maiden ride this weekend, so thank you so much for your videos! Good luck with the kid!

[rascal]

Congrats on becoming a new dad! As a dad of a could of girls, it is a wonderful experience. They both like to bike, and my youngest was involved in youth cycling. Now, my youngest is in college and my eldest is starting a family of her own. I would not trade this experience for anything.

[emdblues]

Congratulations Luke! Best cycling channel out there and I'm glad I hopped on this train early on :)

[bingus]

lots of content these days, loving them

[songfta]

First off: cool build! Fun to see the resourceful approach. Secondly: congrats on the impending new family member! You'll have your hands full - the bike (when you can get to it) will be a welcome break. Cheers from DC!

[ABCDE]

Mixing hydraulic and mechanical brifters is underrated imho.
I started out with a complete Tiagra 4600 groupset with mechanical Shimano disc brakes on a used CX/gravelbike and swapped out the lefthand brifter and front brake for an Ultegra 6800 series hydraulic J-kit soon after. The gain in performance (and confidence) was astonishing for an ~150 € investment.
The swap from the righthand Tiagra brifter, RD and mechanical rear caliper to an hydraulic GRX400 brifter/rd and Deore-brake combo on the other hand (pun intended) two years later didn't do much besides giving a more even brake feel between both hands.

[_camric]

Congratulations on the baby, being a parent is hard but amazing. You will be a great parent. Thank you for the videos 😎. Take care of yourself.

[owensnicholas]

I love your channel so much, Luke. Thank you for the many hours of great videos.

Being a parent made me a better person, and my kids are my favorite people ever. I hope you and your family have a wonderful time getting to know each other.

[oSirSniffleso]

Funny timing of this video as I am currently researching this conversion for my 2012 Felt Z6. It's pretty much as simple as I expected it to be.

[ricardorusso]

next step: fully hydraulic groupset with front disc and rear hydraulic rim caliper! xD

[Robutube]

🥖 I'm all in favour! You're breaking the mould with this mashup Luke. Aesthetically, the neon bar tape and the stripe on the replacement forks works for me in 'tying them together'. Good luck with the new baby - you'll do great!

[ranggasyailendra]

I'm a pandemic cyclist who started as cycling enthusiast on 2020, your videos was so informative and inspiring. Thanks Luke and congrats for being a parent 🥖🥖

[richiejames]

Big shout out to Siroko. been using there kit since Luke put me onto them a few years back. not one bad thing to say about them. Honestly brilliant. Cheers Luke