fitting fixed carbon road forks and 700c wheels to a MTB

sandbag

I have a MTB with a light frame. I want to replace the heavy suspension forks and fit carbon road forks and 700c wheels without having to upgrade to disc brakes. Obviously the 700c rims won't align with the brakes. I prepared to replace road brake and lever for the front. Is it possible to get an adapter to fit road brake to a MTB for the rear?

Failing that, is it possible to fit disc brakes to 700c wheels.

What road wheels would be strong enough for disc?
What hub would i need to fit?
How much more heavier and costly are disc brakes?

The new forks will have the added benefit of raising the handlebars. At a later stage i upgrade to road crankset and gears. Costly upgrade, but I prefer to keep the frame than replace with road bike.

Thanks

amaferanga

You might be able to use the 'brake' bridge on the rear to fit a road caliper brake. I did this with an 80's mtb frame. It did mean drilling out the existing hole a bit, leaving just enough metal to make it strong enough. If you change to road calipers then you'll need to get some road levers - either Shimano R550s or any bmx lever. V-brake levers won't work very well with road calipers.

Disc brakes would be expensive as you'd need to get a cyclocross fork with a disc mount, which are more expensive than generic 700c road forks.

It sounds like you want a road bike so why not just sell what you've got and get a proper road bike?

sandbag

I will forget disc brakes due to the cost involved. I should be able to mount decent road brakes someway or another like you described. I don't mind abit drilling, modifying.

That should of been one of my first questions. I can't get a light road fork, if using it for disc brakes, as road forks are too thin, due to the bigger forces applied from the disc brakes plus missing disc mounts.

amaferanga wrote:

It sounds like you want a road bike so why not just sell what you've got and get a proper road bike?

I will keep the cost down. I upgrade the forks,wheels,brakes and crankset. I also have the added fun of burning off racers. Seriously the frame performs well and is very comfy and light. After enough use out of it, i will get a road frame and transfer the parts.

Thanks.

Here is a example MTB with road tires fitted.

amaferanga

Having seen the bike my advice would be to forget about converting it! I can't see how you'd get a road brake on the back and I can't see a road fork working up front. I thought you were talking about an old hardtail mtb.

sandbag

Luckily, I've found a cheap answer which keeps the existing brakes.

Mavic Caliper Adjusters (overpriced for a flat piece of metal)

http://www.dirtragmag.com/blogarific/ma ... adjusters/

sandbag

It is a hardtail. I would not consider otherwise Sorry that pic is not mine, it's just an example, of how road tires look on a MTB regardless of hardtail or not. Deep section wheels look slightly better but not cheap.