Side-Pull Brake Size Adapters
SamanthaJane
Posts: 27
Hi all,
Got a lovely vintage frame, had my brother (avid mountain-biker and lover of all things two-wheeled) check it over for clueless old me. Spent a fortnight stripping, painting and upgrading it and came to assembly yesterday.
To our horror, we realised that the wheels that he had assumed were 26” were in fact 700C wheels! Meaning the side-pull brake arms aren’t quite long enough.
Now, the reason we don’t just shrug and go back to the original wheels is that this is an electric bike upgrade and the wheel the hub motor came in is 26”. Swapping it over to another rim size would be jolly difficult and probably quite expensive.
As such, are you aware of any brake arm adapters or other trick around this? Or are there brakes with extra long arms that I can source?
Many thanks for any advice!
-Sam
Got a lovely vintage frame, had my brother (avid mountain-biker and lover of all things two-wheeled) check it over for clueless old me. Spent a fortnight stripping, painting and upgrading it and came to assembly yesterday.
To our horror, we realised that the wheels that he had assumed were 26” were in fact 700C wheels! Meaning the side-pull brake arms aren’t quite long enough.
Now, the reason we don’t just shrug and go back to the original wheels is that this is an electric bike upgrade and the wheel the hub motor came in is 26”. Swapping it over to another rim size would be jolly difficult and probably quite expensive.
As such, are you aware of any brake arm adapters or other trick around this? Or are there brakes with extra long arms that I can source?
Many thanks for any advice!
-Sam
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Comments
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Tektro have the R559 extra long drop caliper which has a max reach of about 70mm. Would that be enough?0
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Hi Bungalballs, I had a look at those, thank you very much for the suggestion. Reach is 73mm max. The ones I’m currently using are 86mm max and about 5-10mm short! I’ll be double checking everything soon.Bungalballs wrote:Tektro have the R559 extra long drop caliper which has a max reach of about 70mm. Would that be enough?0 -
I wouldn't be surprised if the Tektro work at that.
Any more reach and I reckon your only option would be to go for Centre Pull, e.g. dia-compe 750. Not sure how powerful the breaking is though.
Off-piste... you could also get canti bosses brazed on. You might be surprised how little a reputable painter/renovator would charge (e.g. Argos cycles in Bristol). Just a thought.0 -
Bungalballs wrote:I wouldn't be surprised if the Tektro work at that.
Any more reach and I reckon your only option would be to go for Centre Pull, e.g. dia-compe 750. Not sure how powerful the breaking is though.
Off-piste... you could also get canti bosses brazed on. You might be surprised how little a reputable painter/renovator would charge (e.g. Argos cycles in Bristol). Just a thought.
The tektros are quite long for brakes but vintage bikes apparently have need for notoriously long brakes.
I did actually find some even longer ones! At about £18 each, coming to 91mm (https://custom-junkies.com/point-synchr ... ar-71-91mm). I even saw the rare mention of ones coming to 108mm!
My original plan, which I think I’ll be following, is to get some “drop bolts” manufactured. They’re just bolts with an offset centre. You can get factory made ones for an insanely high price... or fabricate your own. My chosen blacksmith is backlogged but my younger brother is still at highschool and may be able to convince the teacher to let him make them in their back workshop. We’ll see tomorrow afternoon!0
