# disc wheels with v brakes?



## tater9.75 (Oct 14, 2012)

I won a set of mavic wheels for disc brakes. My bike has v brakes though. Would it be possible to use the wheels on my bike or should I just sell them?


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## Zoke2 (Nov 16, 2007)

disc wheels typically dont have the braking surface for rim brakes ... what model are the rims or can you post a pic


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## tater9.75 (Oct 14, 2012)

They are crossmax disc


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

Better yet, if your bike has mounts, pick up a set of mechanical disc calipers and rotors and make the move to discs. The most expensive part (the wheels) is already taken care of, so no time like the present.


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## mimi1885 (Aug 12, 2006)

I don't think crossmax disc wheel has the rim brake surface. The more entry level like crosstrail(I think) can be used on both disc and rims.


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## tater9.75 (Oct 14, 2012)

My bike is to old for disc brakes.


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## CRchris1996 (Apr 4, 2012)

-keep the rims.
-dont use them with V-brakes they are great rims and expensive rims
-buy a new frame 
-buy disc brakes
and now you have a great bike


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## Scott In MD (Sep 28, 2008)

You can set up a non-disc frame with disc brakes. The front is easy, the back requires some zip ties. I removed the caliper brakes from a Spesh Stumpjumper and ended up chopping off the rear brake pins from the frame with a hacksaw .... I'll try to get some pics up but it worked great.


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## rideit (Jan 22, 2004)

Zip tes? 
WTF?


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

tater9.75 said:


> My bike is to old for disc brakes.


Then the wheels are probably worth more than your current bike. Buy a new bike (a less expensive but more modern one with discs would be fine) and put your wheels on it.

Or, sell the wheels AND your current bike and buy something nicer overall, but understand the wheels won't be as nice.

Those wheels could be a big part of the foundation of a nice ride. Half assing rim brakes onto them would ruin them.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Scott In MD said:


> You can set up a non-disc frame with disc brakes. The front is easy, the back requires some zip ties. I removed the caliper brakes from a Spesh Stumpjumper and ended up chopping off the rear brake pins from the frame with a hacksaw .... I'll try to get some pics up but it worked great.


That is really bad advice. Neg rep coming when I get to my computer.


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## dharel1705 (May 21, 2012)

Scott In MD said:


> You can set up a non-disc frame with disc brakes. The front is easy, the back requires some zip ties. I removed the caliper brakes from a Spesh Stumpjumper and ended up chopping off the rear brake pins from the frame with a hacksaw .... I'll try to get some pics up but it worked great.


Not exactly safe or wise to do. If the bike was not designed for disc brakes, don't use them. Bad advice to give.


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

Scott In MD said:


> You can set up a non-disc frame with disc brakes. The front is easy, the back requires some zip ties. I removed the caliper brakes from a Spesh Stumpjumper and ended up chopping off the rear brake pins from the frame with a hacksaw .... I'll try to get some pics up but it worked great.


Zip ties? yea, show us some pics...


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## gmmeyerIII (May 8, 2012)

Visit link below. These products work great. Better than the old AtoZ products.
They have one for a front fork as well.
For the price it is a bargain.

Disc Brake Bracket Frame Adaptor Bicycle 3 Sizes | eBay


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## Rooster09 (Jan 11, 2013)

That is a VERY dangerous idea. It could work just fine, but you are adding a force to a frame that it isn't designed to handle at all. If you're gentle on the brakes or the frame is decently overbuilt, it probably would be just fine. But if it isn't, you risk buckling a seat stay, or even worse a fork. disc brakes should never be added to a frame that wasn't designed with them in mind.


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## gmmeyerIII (May 8, 2012)

Adding discs brakes to frames without a seat stay addition is nothing new.
The diameter of my 1999 Rockhoppers seat stay is larger than my 2004 Stumpys seat stay.
I still run a AtoZ bracket on a Rockhopper. Been on there for six years without a hiccup.
The only problem i have with it is wheel removal on occasion. The bracket will get out of alignment.
Solid as a rock. 
No way possible braking will buckle any aluminum or steel front fork. Not possible.


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## Rooster09 (Jan 11, 2013)

Why in the world would you say not possible? I understand that most things are sufficiently overbuilt, especially at the entry level area. But as a mechanical engineer, I simply would not intentionally load something in a way entirely counter to what it was designed for. Everything is designed for a certain load with a certain factor of safety. Size of the tube is also only part of the equation. I'm not saying you can't do it and that it won't work, I'm saying it isn't safe, and there's no was I'd do it. But I also ride my bikes very agressively. It's your decision, don't get me wrong, but there's no way you will convince me that it is OK to make a bike less safe for a beginner.


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## gmmeyerIII (May 8, 2012)

Well considering that both the seat stay and the fork are both designed to withstand the load of a bike braking with 
v brakes. I cannot see the disc brake putting that much more load on a stay and fork even if the force resides to one side instead of dual force. 
As a student of civil engineering i am taking my chances.


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## Rooster09 (Jan 11, 2013)

And that's perfectly fair, you're sufficently aware of the risks, and it is your decision. The differences are like you mentioned, all of the load is on one side instead of split between the two, but location matters as well. You may note that many disc frames have a gusset bridging the seat and chain stays. It isn't just there for show, it's to resist the bending moment being applied to the stay at that point. Just to be clear, I think the chances of failure are very slim, so it is a question of how much risk do you find acceptable. I just can't recommend it to someone. 

As far as what to recommend to the OP, definitely don't use V brakes on those wheels. As far as to what to do with them, it is all a question of budget. A new bike would be great, but lots of us can't afford that.


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## gmmeyerIII (May 8, 2012)

I agree with the gusset. As far as failure to frame I have ever rarely seen it.
Not to say that it cannot happen, but it it is rare.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

gmmeyerIII said:


> I agree with the gusset. As far as failure to frame I have ever rarely seen it.
> Not to say that it cannot happen, but it it is rare.


Maybe not failure, but flex. Especially with forks. Sure, it's possible to weld a disc tab onto an old steel road fork, but that fork is gonna flex like hell because it's not designed with those forces in mind. But swapping forks is easy compared to putting disc brakes on the rear end of a bike not designed for disc.

Sure, there have been a lot of adapters over the years that do so by spreading the forces to locations on the bike designed to take stress (rear rack mount, canti post). Brake therapy adapters, Specialized Sharkfin adapters. Not sure which A2Z adapter you use, but it's probably not sold anymore like the other two I mentioned. Those are different than what was described - hacking off another frame's disc tabs and zip tying them onto the frame. The zip ties are the clear weak point, not to mention that method isn't doing near as good a job of distributing the forces of the disc caliper. In THAT application, I do worry about catastrophic failure of the stay, but probably not before a few zip ties break...and I wouldn't want to be around for that one, either.


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## gmmeyerIII (May 8, 2012)

This is the adapter that i have been using for years.
Skewer goes through the middle of item and other end 
rests on seat stay. They forces work together instead of putting all pressure on seat stay.


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## gmmeyerIII (May 8, 2012)

Also i agree with the fact no zip ties should be used to hold your brakes together.
That is for sure a death trap waiting to happen.


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## oopsthathurt (Aug 5, 2013)

mimi1885 said:


> I don't think crossmax disc wheel has the rim brake surface. The more entry level like crosstrail(I think) can be used on both disc and rims.


i know the Crossride doesn't have a rim brake surface...got'em on my Mamba (and soon for the Fuel).


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## ricky916 (Jun 7, 2011)

I think what he meant by zip ties is having to zip tie the cables to the chain stay. I dont even think it would be possible to zip tie brakes and have them even work at all. 

Sent from my HTC EVO LTE


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## Scott In MD (Sep 28, 2008)

*You freakin' goofballs ...*

OK, for you guys who hammered me with negrep (you know who you are) .... the pics are in my MTBR gallery, or you can click to them below.... my2004 canary yellow Specialized Stumpjumper FSR that I upgraded with from rim wheels and V-brakes to disc wheels and Shimano XT brakes using Zip Ties. AND yes, of course the frame had V-brake mounting bosses ... but also came OEM with ISO brake mount tabs ... it's the hose routing that uses the zip ties, you freakin' goofballs.

critique my 04 stumpy fsr - Mtbr Mountain Bike Photo Gallery

800 Bucks... New SJ Downpayment or Upgrade? - Mtbr Mountain Bike Photo Gallery

800 Bucks... New SJ Downpayment or Upgrade? - Mtbr Mountain Bike Photo Gallery

If if can figure out how to download the pics from the archive, I'll replace these hot links with pics.

(And yes, I could have / should have used better choice of words, but c'mon... there are a lot of old forks and frames out there with both ISO tabs and V-brake bosses)

Until then ... Move along people ... there's nothing here to see.... except man I miss that bike. Should have never sold it. Would have made a great buddy bike.


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## Scott In MD (Sep 28, 2008)

NateHawk said:


> That is really bad advice. Neg rep coming when I get to my computer.


Gee, Nate, thanks for the thoughtful heads-up.... I'll look forward to your negrep. Have a nice day.


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## ricky916 (Jun 7, 2011)

I knew what you meant, seriously don't know how they thought you meant zip ties holding a brake on to the frame... +repped ya bro


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## SandSpur (Mar 19, 2013)

Scott In MD said:


> OK, for you guys who hammered me with negrep (you know who you are) .... the pics are in my MTBR gallery, or you can click to them below.... my2004 canary yellow Specialized Stumpjumper FSR that I upgraded with from rim wheels and V-brakes to disc wheels and Shimano XT brakes using Zip Ties. AND yes, of course the frame had V-brake mounting bosses ... but also came OEM with ISO brake mount tabs ... it's the hose routing that uses the zip ties, you freakin' goofballs.


That was a disappointment, I was REALLY looking forward to seeing someone ziptie a caliper to a seatstay..


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

I saw a number of broken stays back when discs were first coming on the scene, and that was on bikes that had been sold with them. Mainly with the old 22mm mounting standard.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Scott In MD said:


> OK, for you guys who hammered me with negrep (you know who you are) .... the pics are in my MTBR gallery, or you can click to them below.... my2004 canary yellow Specialized Stumpjumper FSR that I upgraded with from rim wheels and V-brakes to disc wheels and Shimano XT brakes using Zip Ties. AND yes, of course the frame had V-brake mounting bosses ... but also came OEM with ISO brake mount tabs ... it's the hose routing that uses the zip ties, you freakin' goofballs.
> 
> critique my 04 stumpy fsr - Mtbr Mountain Bike Photo Gallery
> 
> ...


I have that same bike. Bought it new in April of 03, so it's not an 04. The 04, IIRC, had the shock passing through a hole in the seat tube. It is a really good bike. It was a lot of bike for the buck back then, too.

I also use zip ties on the seatstay and on the fork to hold the hydro lines in place.



> I knew what you meant, seriously don't know how they thought you meant zip ties holding a brake on to the frame... +repped ya bro


Then you must be psychic. He said this:



> You can set up a non-disc frame with disc brakes. The front is easy, the back requires some zip ties. I removed the caliper brakes from a Spesh Stumpjumper and ended up chopping off the rear brake pins from the frame with a hacksaw .... I'll try to get some pics up but it worked great.


Non-disc frame means it doesn't have disc caliper mounts. He has since corrected this statement, so it's not important, but don't make yourself out to be some kind of reading interpretation wizard when you're not. In fact, I'd call it a reading interpretation fail.


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