Rotor size
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the great roberto
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Unless you are charging down mountains then 160mm dia are fine.
Most start here, try out 185mm's then go flat out for 203mm ones.
Then realise that 203's are way too big, and weigh more.
Yes, then do stop you better,yes they can take more heat, but they weigh more and ulimately it's about what contact your front tyre has with planet earth. If that contact is via gravel then caution is required with any disk brake, let alone a 203mm.And don't forget that some front forks only recommend a max of 185mm dia. All this force at a dia of 203 ( or what ever the radius is) can ultimately "bend" a fork, albeit not perminantly.
I've had al sorts of combinations, and am back with 160 mm dia front and rear.Feel free to try and decide for youself. And IMO 203mm look way too silly!
Most start here, try out 185mm's then go flat out for 203mm ones.
Then realise that 203's are way too big, and weigh more.
Yes, then do stop you better,yes they can take more heat, but they weigh more and ulimately it's about what contact your front tyre has with planet earth. If that contact is via gravel then caution is required with any disk brake, let alone a 203mm.And don't forget that some front forks only recommend a max of 185mm dia. All this force at a dia of 203 ( or what ever the radius is) can ultimately "bend" a fork, albeit not perminantly.
I've had al sorts of combinations, and am back with 160 mm dia front and rear.Feel free to try and decide for youself. And IMO 203mm look way too silly!
MikeD
Senior Retro Guru
Your original question doesn't seem to have much to do with the question you're actually trying to answer ;-)
It's worth paying some attention to warranty conditions even if the warranty has expired - if a fork wasn't warrantied for 203mm rotors originally, there was probably a good reason for that.
If your brakes come with a 203 rotor, there'll be an adaptor to mount the caliper further out. Either use an adaptor for a smaller rotor or, depending on exact fork and brake, leave the adaptor out altogether.
What brakes, what fork?
It's worth paying some attention to warranty conditions even if the warranty has expired - if a fork wasn't warrantied for 203mm rotors originally, there was probably a good reason for that.
If your brakes come with a 203 rotor, there'll be an adaptor to mount the caliper further out. Either use an adaptor for a smaller rotor or, depending on exact fork and brake, leave the adaptor out altogether.
What brakes, what fork?
Kooka cable brakes on Z2 BAM's.. on a '97 Zaskar frame.
If the rotor size was governed by the calipers then these brakes will be no use.. that's the crux of the original question.
Since it seems it's not, there shouldn't be an issue using rotors of my choice..
Which makes me wonder why you asked 'what brakes' since it would appear not to matter??
If the rotor size was governed by the calipers then these brakes will be no use.. that's the crux of the original question.
Since it seems it's not, there shouldn't be an issue using rotors of my choice..
Which makes me wonder why you asked 'what brakes' since it would appear not to matter??
it'll depend on what brakes your after , if it's say hayes hfx9's and they come with 8" rotors then you'll be able to down-size no problem just by changing the adaptors/mounts 
EDIT , i was eating lunch and your last post was'nt there
you got a pic/link of the kooka brakes ?
EDIT , i was eating lunch and your last post was'nt there
you got a pic/link of the kooka brakes ?
It always helps knowing what you want to use with what . More specific answers can be given then , if you had said a hope caliper then specific caliper numbers can be stated for whatever disc size you wanted . generally 160mm is fine for most riding . If your going downhill a lot then a larger front can help . Or if you tend to do more light xc then going to a 140mm on the back to save a few grams could be the way to go .
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