K2 / Proflex Riders Group
General => Tech Forum => Topic started by: bayarearider on October 17, 2003, 08:22:43 am
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I am curious.....have any of you tried making your own disc brake adapters for the noleen fork and the proflex frame?
I know there are some available on RDI and ebay. But i don't want to spend $160 on two small pieces of metal with holes in them. Just curious if any of you have tried this. I already have disc brakes and and shopping for a set of wheels. I was planning to put this stuff on a new frame...but am itching to try this project.
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i just saw OP's how to page for fabricating a disc brake adapter on the crosslink carbon fork. Will this procedure work on the regular cross link elt as well?
any have the pictures of his work? The links seem to be all broken
thanks
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there has been talk that bob girvin has said that the aluminium legs will not cope with the stresses imposed by a disc mount and that the carbon legs are marginal.......if you do it try to keep any loads concentrated on dropout or talk to someone who understands these thinks and reinforce your fork leg
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too bad the pics and links are gone - they're on my old computer and website and both are now gone
i actually sent kiwi a pic of a bolt on adapter for an aluminum crosslink that i eventually installed and rode up and down the street - but never stressed - once i saw how thin that aluminum really is.
i got nervous for a while just on a carbon xlink but over time, i never gave it a second thought and put some major stress on the carbon legs with my disc system
look in my gallery at the blue fox - it's the original that started it all - i think there's a few other funky ones in there as well
the 'campbells soup can, tin snips and some rusty old nuts and bolts' is always an option
http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/album_k2.pl?photo=Old_Proflexer/Clampon%20ELT%20disc%20mount.jpg
the original
http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/album_k2.pl?photo=Old_Proflexer/Front%20Disc%20Mount%20Crosslink%20Finished%20Side%20Closeup.jpg
OP
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i may have kept OPs aluminium version and his write up on the carbon one....now where the ........hmmm
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I did it with just a Dremel, so you shouldn't have too much of a problem. Mine is still working perfectly after almost a year. There are some pics in my gallery...
http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/album_k2.pl?album=matno
Here are the measurements (from the "Files" link to the left) that were very helpful for me...
http://idriders.com/proflex/files/is2000%20disc.pdf
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thanks for the replies everyone
matno,
yours looks pretty good. I have the worldcup frame so i mine will look a little different. I noticed that my rear dropout has two threaded holes. Anyone know what these are for?
did you have these hole on the evo frame? did you use them?
what cutting tool did you use to cut the aluminum?
thanks!
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you should be able to use those holes to mount the plate (like an 857 or so) - they're for an adapter #5996 but it's not for use on a carbon arm (according to k2) only on the aluminums
OP
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matno,
I have the worldcup frame so i mine will look a little different. I noticed that my rear dropout has two threaded holes. Did you have these hole on the evo frame? did you use them?
No. No. My K2 5000 has a large oval hole (about 1.4" long) that I used to anchor my adaptor. I just custom fit a piece of aluminum into that hole, then bolted the outer plate directly to it. I was going to put a third plate on the inside for an anchor, but the oval piece I cut ended up fitting so tightly that I didn't bother. Someday I may still have to if it works loose. Your frame should be much easier to work with if it has those two holes. Like OP said, you may be able to order an adaptor from K2 that might work (might require a little creative thought).
What cutting tool did you use to cut the aluminum?
I used a Dremel and a hacksaw (mostly the Dremel). The aluminum was 1/4" thick 6061 aluminum plate. Two things would have made my job MUCH easier: a bench vise and a grinding wheel. That little tiny grinder on the Dremel took FOREVER to work with. (Not to mention causing some fun bleeding before I decided to wear leather gloves!) And hacksawing a small piece of aluminum without having it clamped into a vise was no picnic either. When you live in a small apartment in the Bronx, you have to make due! Some day I'll have a respectable garage...
Also, one of these days I'm going to get around to painting that adaptor black. I just never got around to it. Doesn't really bother me, except that I bought the paint for it last year...
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Hey OP or Matno,
do you know exactly what that adapter for? is it for mounting disc brakes? if so, would it be as simple as buying the adapter and bolting the caliper to it?
i got a killer deal on some disc wheels today. so i am half way there.
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I noticed on my buddies 3000 , there are the two threaded holes that look like theyre for a disk brake mount. However, I dont know if they fit any standard or are just there if you want to try to make something like a lot of people have. The 3000 has that Seatstay mounted shock and the swingarm is a different angle but IM not sure if that is even a factor in making the mount work. I plan to upgrade my rear to disk, but wether im going to do a Manto deal, the RDI, or BrakeTherapy (http://www.braketherapy.com) I have not decided yet. I say go for it, but I dont think that the holes in the RDI plate will 100% line up to the ones pre-drilled in your dropout ... you may have to make your own (in which case we should get manto's template!!! ;) )
Regarding the Front, Im guessing you have an Elite crosslink or similar. I really wouldnt try mounting up a disk bracket to that unless you know someone who can weld you one on, and as was mentioned, I dunno how it deals with the braking forces. OP's method seems to have worked great but that is on carbon. My thought with that is that the braking force applied only pushes the plate forward onto the forkleg, in which case it seems like the bonding method would hold up (and it has for OP) but what if you want to do tricks or decide to roll back and then grab the front a bit ... wouldnt that be more likely tp rip the mount clean off? OP, was this ever an issue?
With the effort/price its going to take to mount something to the front fork, you may as well do what I did and get a telescopic fork with the mounts already there and increase your travel. I did cause my SmartShock on the crosslink blew and tho its not too much to have it reworked, I decided to go with more travel, and travel that works for other than pure XC use. Im not knocking noleen/girvin at all, just that it has a VERY specific use.
you and I are the only active bay area people on here that i know of, we should meet up for a ride sometime. you can check out my upgrades!
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the 5996 in action:
(http://www.groundzero.co.nz/images/rohloffspeedhub4large.jpg)
eye candy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - you're welcome.
for rear plates, the galleries have pics of several as well as for disc mounts crosslinks.
if i was ever rolling backwards on a bike, well, that wouldn't be happening - i have enough issues rolling forwards
OP
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funny - i'm about to undertake this project myself. i've just had hope mini's fitted to my oz - and the rear 'official' k2 disc brake adaptor just ain't gonna cut the mustard. it doesn't allow the mini caliper to sit low enough on the 165mm rotor [it's currently only using about half to two thirds of the braking surface]. the other thing i don't like is that you have to fit an awful lot of shims in there to bring the caliper in-board enough. so it's to the drawing board for me...
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yours looks pretty good. I have the worldcup frame so i mine will look a little different. I noticed that my rear dropout has two threaded holes. Anyone know what these are for?
Bay Area rider rdi has an adapter to siut any world cup frame.x56 x57 AL or carbon swingarm...did we ever establish wot model your bike is???
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For everyone who ignored it the first time...
http://idriders.com/cgi-bin/YaBB_K2/YaBB.pl?board=news;action=display;num=1060041368
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Wow, i thought this thread would be dead a long time ago.
thanks for the replies
Kiwi,
it's a proflex 3000 that i was planning to fit the mounts on. I still have the proflex 857 (with no rear shock) that i bought for $75.
I will not be fabricating a disc mount for the ELT, as i just bought a marzocchi marathon S (yesterday) that i was going to use for my new build. But might try it on the 3000 until i get the new build together.
OP,
that thing looks crazy, reminds me of the coaster brake i used to have on my BMX bike with i was 10.
Does K2 sell that piece? i e-mailed K2, and they informed me that they do not sell any disc mount adapters for the prolflex 3000, and they told me to try the hammerhead adapter. Wait, OP is that your bike in the picture? If yes, did you purchase that from K2?
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that is the original disc brake adapter sold by proflex for their bikes
not my bike but i wish it wuz
857 with rohloff hub and trac pearls
OP
here's the other side
(http://www.groundzero.co.nz/images/rohloffspeedhub2large.jpg)
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Well, i have time this weekend...and nothing to do so i am looking to begin this project. This maybe a dumb question, but i've never bought pieces of aluminum except for maybe a can of pepsi, where can i buy the 1/4' piece?
And matno, I couldn't really make it out from the picture, but all you have is one piece of alluminum right? Or are there two pieces with the dropout sandwiched in between?
one last question, since it will be for my world cup frame, anyone know what size nut i need for the two pre-existing holes on the dropout? Or will i have to bring the whole thing down to the hardware store and try each one.
Not sure who's bike this is bike i found it in the files section. Is this the hammerhead mount?
(http://idriders.com/proflex/files/K2%20Proflex%20857.jpg)
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You should be able to get the aluminum from a machine shop. Look them up in the phone book (or on Qwestdex under metal).
My adaptor was actually originally going to have THREE pieces of aluminum, but ended up with two. The outer plate is obvious. The "middle" plate fits perfectly into the oval cutout on the swingarm. It's important because it is the main connection between the brake and the swingarm, at least in the direction of the braking forces. I was going to have a 3rd plate on the inside to hold the whole thing on, but my oval shaped piece ended up fitting so tightly that it wasn't necessary. There's not a lot of side-to-side load on the brake mount. In hindsite, if I were to do it over again, I'd intentionally taper the oval piece to fit tightly (I accidentally did this, but it would have saved some headache to do it on purpose!) Both plates have holes that are threaded, and they pull together, so the inner oval plate actually wedges into the hole from the inside. Did I explain that well? One of these days, I'm going to get a real digital camera, take the adaptor apart, and take some pictures (and then paint it black). 8)
I'm not sure about nuts for the holes in your dropouts. I just used 5mm bolts and drilled and tapped my adaptor. I didn't actually make a single modification to the frame.
And yes, that picture is a Hammerhead...