What size front brake?

CRASH · Jun 1, 2016

How do you determine what size front brake the bike didn't come with one? I'm going to be putting a front brake over a 26x1.75 wheel. I know that the 26x2.2 needs a 1080, but I think that will be too big for the front. I don't even know what the 1080 means, come to think of it. Help?

Wildcat · Jun 1, 2016

More important than the tire width would be the reach from the fork crown to the rim. I always had enough extra brakes laying around to use one the right length. You could measure the distance from the hole where the brake will bolt to the forks down to the rim where the brake pad needs to be to find the right size.

I don't know what 1080 means either.

horsefarmer · Jun 1, 2016

I guess I've been lucky so far - just using the scrounge method of digging thru my parts bin.

LukeTheJoker · Jun 1, 2016

I think the 1080 is a reference to reach not width, from memory it is the longest common length.

Luke.

Wildcat · Jun 1, 2016

I had a bike that came with short center pull brakes that I couldn't find anywhere, so i made an adjustable bracket.

Bicycle808 · Jun 2, 2016

Yeah, measure from the brake-bolt hole in the fork (front) or brake bridge (rear) to the rim's braking surface, and buy brakes with "reach" in a range that corresponds to your set-up. Depending on what reach you have, you might need the 1080 (85 to 108mm reach), but if the clearances are fairly tight, you might be able to rock a 890 (68 to 86mm reach)..... without measuring, you'll just be winging it...