Disc brakes, what’s that about then?

Supratada

Supratada

Senior Retro Guru
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Can someone point me in the direction of some schooling about disc brakes please?

Having bought a MC San An with knackered brakes and rough wheels, what do I need to do?
Can the rotors I have work with any calliper?
If I go cable rather than hydraulic will any normal brake lever work?
Is it safe to fabricate my own fork mount adapters?

So many questions. I’ll most likely buy hubs and build my own wheels.
I balked at the recent cost of some nice Pro-stops.
 
Can the rotors I have work with any calliper? Yes, pretty much, unless they are oddballs, it's just a matter of making sure the spacer/rotor/caliper are all matched as far as size goes (140/160/165 and so on). There are some older sizes that might require some lateral thought and custom spacing. Thickness of discs is *mostly* the same, around 1,8-2 mm, so any caliper will have the adjustment to use them. Just need to make sure the entire pad is resting on the friction surface of the disc, too far out and it'll suddenly stop working when the pads meet each other, too far in and you'll get juddering as the pads hit the rotor spokes.
There are some specials which are much thicker, but it'll be glaringly obvious.
If I go cable rather than hydraulic will any normal brake lever work?Yes, any V-brake lever will work with a standard MTB cable operated caliper. You can get road calipers, they will work with any cantilever brake lever.
Is it safe to fabricate my own fork mount adapters? Depends, if you're going to use bent bits of mild steel and jubilee clips, probably not. If you're going to make a proper clamp and bracket, you should be fine. Front brakes can take a lot of load.
 
An early san andreas does not have normal disc dimensions, and is very much in the 'oddball' category… what year is it, and pics would help.
 
Its a post 2000 one. Haven’t taken any pics yet, as its currently strung up in the workshop. Hubs are the more modern DEORE matt black ones and the remnants of the hydraulic brakes are something like proshift. Owner said they were bottom end of the market.

I’ve never much liked the look of hydraulic levers, especially when there are so many better looking cable ones about.
Though its a post 90’s frame i thought that its so iconic it could stand a bit of retrofication.
 
Just had a squizz at 2000 San Andreas, looks to be IS mounts on the frame. And most of the forks i can see fitted across the page also look to be IS, so it should be fairly straight forward. Should be.


So it'll probably be a nightmare.
 
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