1993 Kona "HOT" 650B conversion

[Faghetaboutit]

OK, the size 19 is slightly more marginal than the 20. If you used Nokon, you would have no problem though. Please excuse my polluting your hot thread with an image of my humble scrapheap rescue, but I think it does show that Nokon is so flexible that this arrangement works perfectly, even on such a short run as on the size 16.

I have heard people say they have drilled the dog collar a couple of mm so that the ferrule fits inside, but I haven't bothered and it works so I don't think it necessary. I've heard other people suggest using a plastic ferrule as the dog collar is soft alloy and a metal ferrule will wear it away after n years, but I haven't and I don't see any sign of wear atm.

That method looks a great solution for the 'normal' v brake system but pauls brakes don't use a std brake pipe, its a built in affair so you couldn't use a nokon cable there, I did used a pauls with a dog collar on my 20” and it worked.......until it rained then it siezed

 

[Anthony]

pauls brakes don't use a std brake pipe, its a built in affair so you couldn't use a nokon cable there, I did used a pauls with a dog collar on my 20” and it worked.......until it rained then it siezed

Can you explain further please? (a) how did the dog collar make your Paul's seize? (b) why am I wrong in thinking you can use Nokon as a straight replacement for standard outer?

I used it there without a standard pipe to maximise the flexibility, but Gearless doesn't need to. It seems to me he could use the Paul's pipe and still have sufficient flex twixt there and a dog collar.

 

[Faghetaboutit]

i guess you could use the nokon as a replacement for the standard outer and run it direct into the pauls brake pipe but whats the point? cant see it making it much better. as for the siezed up issue, as the outer didnt actually sit 'in' the stop as is the problem with dog collars, it was ok when lubed up but as soon as rain and dirt came on the scene it stopped working all together, i had to turn up the tension on the springs to excess for the brake arms to return. in a word- rubbish

 

[Anthony]

i guess you could use the nokon as a replacement for the standard outer and run it direct into the pauls brake pipe but whats the point? cant see it making it much better.

The point is that Nokon is hugely more flexible than standard outer* - if I had used standard outer there without a pipe, it wouldn't come anywhere near working. It would just push the left side brake arm into the rim, even if you disconnected the brake tensioner altogether. Nokon doesn't push it into the rim at all.

* but totally non-compressible along its length of course

as for the siezed up issue, as the outer didnt actually sit 'in' the stop as is the problem with dog collars, it was ok when lubed up but as soon as rain and dirt came on the scene it stopped working all together, i had to turn up the tension on the springs to excess for the brake arms to return. in a word- rubbish

The Nokon system is a 1mm cable within a separate liner and Nokon links outside that. If you look on my photo, I have run liner through the dog collar and an inch or so forward, and that keeps the cable sweet. But if that wasn't good enough for extremes, you could run liner all the way.

 

[Faghetaboutit]

ahhhhh i see, is that like the gore-tex ones then as i was thinking about trying one of those but couldnt find any for sale anymore

 

[CTK]

What about a disc brake on the front? It would make it easier to live with the loss of power at the rear.

I wouldn't remove the bosses- its not worth the hassle. Save a few extra $$$ and get a 650b frame custom made!

 

[GearlessinSeattle]

No disc up front as my wheels are rim brake only.

I have decided to keep it as a 650B and go with the Pauls that are on it.
Here are a couple of photos that show the clearance on the brakes. Not much.

I also added a white flight and will add black cranks when I find a pair. HINT HINT.

 

[mfh126]

Aren't the Stan's rims disc-only? The Flows have a very short sidewall.

 

[GearlessinSeattle]

Aren't the Stan's rims disc-only? The Flows have a very short sidewall.

Mine are for sure rim compatible. It's the WI hubs that are not disc.

 

[mfh126]

Aren't the Stan's rims disc-only? The Flows have a very short sidewall.

Mine are for sure rim compatible. It's the WI hubs that are not disc.

Sorry, thought you were running Flows. I took a closer look at your pictures and see that they're 355s. My Flows have a decal on the sidewalls which is why I asked the question.