Adding front brakes

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Lets talk about our options of front brakes and what we could add to these bikes.

The way I see it we have two choices.
1. Disc Brakes
  • Caliper hangers would be needed
    New hub laced up
    Brake hand lever
2. V Brakes
  • Brake bosses fabricated
    Brake hand lever

I'm not sure if any of the V Brake arms would clear the outside tread area of these fat tires. What do some of you think is possible? Here is an idea of moding on V brake bosses.

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33168&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30

Rightrearbrakerefassy2.jpg

Brake-close-up-view.jpg

Brake-close-up-view-2.jpg

Thanks to Dowie Soetenga on here.
 
The way I handled v-brake arms on Fugsley was to simply use hose clamps to piece two arms together.

Photo_58E50A07-7B11-0995-1AB8-A998BD62D8E1.jpg

Photo_A8FB2A3C-4A24-C50B-61F8-BA067073E983.jpg
 
Disc hub and a Moonlander fork is thr route I'm taking as soon as I can save a few bucks.
 
Here's an idea....for an inexpensive front band brake.

Get a rear freewheel hub from an OCC chopper (you could have mine if I wasn't using it for mocking up my bike :roll: ). It's definitely wide enough, since they are mounted to 20 x 4 rims. Remove the sprocket, I believe it's thread-on. Then thread on a band brake like the ones on scooters, they are the same size and pitch as most freewheel hubs (I did this on an old Mongoose BMX hub once).

The brakes are pretty cheap too, here's a 90mm on eBay for around $15-16 bucks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-90mm-Drum...t=Video_Games_Accessories&hash=item53f649aa7f


Now, if I'm wrong about the thread-on part, forget I posted this.... :mrgreen:

kingfish,
Can you take a look at the front hub on Fugsley and confirm my suspicions?

Cheers,
Dr. T
 
Houndog said:
dracothered said:
Jaxon said:
Since they are 36 spoke rims could you use a 36 spoke drum brake hub?
Remember these are 135mm wide hubs on these fat bikes.


The hub is 170mm..
The front is 135mm and the back is 170mm
 
I just tried the OCC rear wheel on the front of the Beast.

The hub is too wide to fit the forks, so forget my band brake idea. Unless you make a set of triple tree forks using the trees from a motorcycle.....hahahahaha!

That would be light, not!
But man, it would make for big ol' chopper or boardtracker wouldn't it?


Cheers,
Dr.T
 
Dr. Tankenstein said:
Now, if I'm wrong about the thread-on part, forget I posted this.... :mrgreen:

kingfish,
Can you take a look at the front hub on Fugsley and confirm my suspicions?

Cheers,
Dr. T

You are correct it is a threaded hub.
 
I think v brakes would not have enough room. Possibly cantis? Or rehub with a drum brake.
 
Could a person;
1.Use a donor fork from a mountain bike and cut a half round section off each side, with the brake bosses on this section.
2.Fit some old style cantis onto the bosses (Mafac cantis, Tektro, etc. think wide connection pts. for straddle wire)
3.Use this setup to line the pads up to the rims.
4.Weld the section to the Beast fork, in the right spot.
5.Slide a brake cable hanger onto the headset stack, (or use a pierced stem.)
6.Run cable to the straddle wire.
7.Pull out a tasty old lever and finish the job? (Right side mounted for style points :) )

It seems like something do-able. Some cable hangers I have around are only about 2mm thick at the stack height. If this is impossible, someone please improve on the idea. Can the sidewalls of the rims handle brake pads?
 
So, before I head out to do yard work, I decided to repack the front hub on my Beast (nothing exciting to it).

Well, as long as it was off I thought I'd try something......

I took an old Mongoose freewheel rear hub I had, removed the cog and added a 'drum' a.k.a. 'band' brake from a scooter. The cog and the brake are the exact same size and thread pitch, so no problem.

The Beast was upside down, so I tried it out.
Bazinga! Perfect fit!

519832da961801bb7f0281167fe8db33_zpsc2d4eeb5.jpg


df737edd9aea4c1eede9348d20895dc2_zps93380d1f.jpg


Now, I must say, it's not the quietest option (could be missing a spacer inside the brake though), but it's an option........

Cheers,
Dr. T
 
If the front is in fact 135mm OLD, then the simplest brake solution is to use a 135mm rear freewheel/disc hub with a caliper mount like the one I fabbed for the Manta Ray shown below. I used a cut down Choppers US hub because it matches the look of the original hub.___cheap Choppes US hub ___This hub will also work on the rear without modification.
DMR makes a cheepish 135mm hub that will work fine for this application. ___DMR hub








Chop 35mm out of center and make insert sleeve:


Align spoke holes offset and weld or JB Weld it:
DSC01130.jpg
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Sand and paint:
 

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