Drum brake with Schwinn Typhoon fork?

[DesmoDog]

A question for the masses...

Is putting a drum brake on the front of a Schwinn Typhoon a recipie for disaster, or is the fork sturdy enough to take it?

The pessimist in me envisions a shuddering front end under braking, but I'm no expert on this stuff.

The fork in question:

 

[Captain Awesome]

A question for the masses...

Is putting a drum brake on the front of a Schwinn Typhoon a recipie for disaster, or is the fork sturdy enough to take it?

The pessimist in me envisions a shuddering front end under braking, but I'm no expert on this stuff.

The fork in question:

I don't know anything about drum brakes but I'm paying close attention. That's a sweet typhoon

 

[Ulu]

What I read is that most bike drums are rather anemic. Mine is.

OTOH, Typhoon forks are strong.

I doubt there will be any real issue with shuddering if the bearings are all good and snug.

 

[Wildcat]

Schwinn put caliper brakes on those style forks, so I don't see much difference in using a drum brake.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The drums on the 26" worksman industrial trikes I ride have some serious grip. We've got one with a chair on the back for hauling people who have mobility issues. Me, passenger, and trike are pushing 500lbs combined, and the drum brake slows us down pretty well. There is shudder, but as Ulu said, that comes from the headset play more than the fork.

 

[us56456712]

No problem with mine, but it’s not a strong brake. Truss rods seemed to help mine so it steers better for trail riding.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

I'd think that with a heavier rider, the Ashtabula blade forks may flex a bit from a front drum brake. Caliper brakes are mounted up on the crown, which is one of the strongest parts of the forks in question and a regular OE braking solution for them. With a drum brake and weighing 200#, I'd either run a more stout fork made to handle a drum brake better, or add truss rods.

 

[DesmoDog]

I'd think that with a heavier rider, the Ashtabula blade forks may flex a bit from a front drum brake. Caliper brakes are mounted up on the crown, which is one of the strongest parts of the forks in question and a regular OE braking solution for them. With a drum brake and weighing 200#, I'd either run a more stout fork made to handle a drum brake better, or add truss rods.

I was trying to do a free body diagram in my head to work out how different a drum would be to a caliper, but I keep getting distracted (aka I'm retired and lazy now) so figured I'd just post a question instead. ;-)

Thanks for all the comments. I keep going back and forth between wanting to make this a coaster brake, no cables bike or an IGH with front and rear brakes. Obviously the frame isnt' set up for a rear caliper but that's easily adressed with a coaster or drum brake. The front isn't set up for a caliper either... though there is a red Breeze for sale locally and I'm kinda wondering if that fork would work on the Typhoon - it's got a caliper brake already...

Too many options at this point, I keep changing from one plan to another!

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Finding an era proper red Ashtabula Schwinn fork with the caliper mount might be easy around here.

 

[Ulu]

I was trying to do a free body diagram in my head to work out how different a drum would be to a caliper, but I keep getting distracted (aka I'm retired and lazy now) so figured I'd just post a question instead. ;-)

Thanks for all the comments. I keep going back and forth between wanting to make this a coaster brake, no cables bike or an IGH with front and rear brakes. Obviously the frame isnt' set up for a rear caliper but that's easily adressed with a coaster or drum brake. The front isn't set up for a caliper either... though there is a red Breeze for sale locally and I'm kinda wondering if that fork would work on the Typhoon - it's got a caliper brake already...

Too many options at this point, I keep changing from one plan to another!

I have been fussing around in my head with the advantages and disadvantages of various bicycle brakes, because a lot of them were invented well after the time I lost all interest in bicycles about 1972.

The caliper brake has a crappy load path from the pad to the mounting screw. But it has terrific mechanical advantage against the rotating wheel. The drum is exactly the opposite. Great load path from the shoes/drum to the mounts. But Minuscule leverage vs 26” wheel.

I now have my first disc brake bicycle, and I feel that this is the best of all possible worlds, except that the disc is a measly 160 mm for a 26 inch fat bike wheel. I think a 200 mm disc would give me twice the stopping power. I don’t think I’d have any problem making it even larger.

The look of that large disc might be untenable to many people, but as a customizer I’m more interested in what works.

Yet there is another style of brake I am very interested in and I haven’t seen any discussion of it since the 1960s. Just one article and then nothing. This thought will have to foster a new thread.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-rollercam.html

 

[Ulu]

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-rollercam.html

Those are truly beautiful brakes and they look extremely strong, but I can see where you get a buildup of crap on your roller cam device.

Dirt that got between cam and the cam rollers would be constantly pressed into those surfaces, leading to a buildup.

I think Campy built some with a beautiful aluminum cover over that mechanism and everybody hated them because they were a pain to clean and you had to take the cover off to do it as well.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Campagnolo Delta Those were notoriously weak, but looked great.

I have a few sets of Rollercams around and since they work with U-Brake posts, they'll end up on pump track/BMX builds.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

The caliper brake has a crappy load path from the pad to the mounting screw. But it has terrific mechanical advantage against the rotating wheel. The drum is exactly the opposite. Great load path from the shoes/drum to the mounts. But Minuscule leverage vs 26” wheel.

To continue that thought, v brakes have a great load path and mechanical advantage against the wheel. Plus, they're pretty easy to install and tune. Wet, muddy braking surface is a drawback that drums and disks don't face, but rim brakes may.
A couple of other factors in the brake choice equation

 

[Ulu]

Great? Ehhh….
Better by 10x though.
But I will never love the noodle.

God help me I’m entertaining the notion of hydraulics on a bicycle.

 

[DesmoDog]

I've got some Brembo parts floating around if I want to get real serious about braking... ;-)

 

[Ulu]

I’m only running one brake, so it better work I’m thinking about redundant calipers, bigger disc.

 

[DesmoDog]

Too much????

 

[MattiThundrrr]

You could nudge it a little bit further

 

[Ulu]

I think the gyroscopic action there would prevent you from turning the forks at speeds over about 5 miles an hour.

And Lord help you if you ever touched the brakes in a corner!