Adapting single bolt caliper brake from 27" fork to reach 26" wheel?

The short version of the reason, since someone is sure to ask, is that
I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. I could
just relace the hub (the only important part) into a 27” wheel, but
that has 2 problems.

1) I won’t be getting the results from a 26” wheel, which is ideal
2) More importantly, I have no use for a 27” wheel. If I do decide to
relace this hub, I’ll want to do it onto a 700C wheel, and I’d rather
not do it twice. I’d also, once again, need to rig the brakes from a
fork designed to work on a 27” wheel, this time to work on a 700C
wheel.

Any ideas how to get this done? I seem to recall reading of some
method or product to convert brakes from 27” to 700C, but can’t
remember where. As for making it work on a 26, I’m clueless.

I’m pretty sure the people I’ll be getting the wheel from won’t care
if I relace to another similar wheel size, so if it’s a lot easier to
go to 700C and fit a brake I will. Still, I’d rather test it right
out of the box before I go nuts on it. If I do have to relace it,
I’ll relace it to 700C as that will give me the option to use it on a
couple different bikes.

Brake is a typical single bolt through the forks cantilever. Ideally
I’d like to find or create a bracket that will allow me to use this
fork to stop a 26” wheel. If that’s going to be unrealistic, then I’d
like to use this same fork to stop a 700C wheel.

Any help appreciated!

Dan

On Apr 6, 12:05*pm, " wrote:
The short version of the reason, since someone is sure to ask, is that
I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. *I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. *I could
just relace the hub (the only important part) into a 27” wheel, but
that has 2 problems.

1) I won’t be getting the results from a 26” wheel, which is ideal
2) More importantly, I have no use for a 27” wheel. *If I do decide to
relace this hub, I’ll want to do it onto a 700C wheel, and I’d rather
not do it twice. *I’d also, once again, need to rig the brakes from a
fork designed to work on a 27” wheel, this time to work on a 700C
wheel.

Any ideas how to get this done? *I seem to recall reading of some
method or product to convert brakes from 27” to 700C, but can’t
remember where. *As for making it work on a 26, I’m clueless.

I’m pretty sure the people I’ll be getting the wheel from won’t care
if I relace to another similar wheel size, so if it’s a lot easier to
go to 700C and fit a brake I will. *Still, I’d rather test it right
out of the box before I go nuts on it. *If I do have to relace it,
I’ll relace it to 700C as that will give me the option to use it on a
couple different bikes.

Brake is a typical single bolt through the forks cantilever. *Ideally
I’d like to find or create a bracket that will allow me to use this
fork to stop a 26” wheel. *If that’s going to be unrealistic, then I’d
like to use this same fork to stop a 700C wheel.

Any help appreciated!

Dan

Harris Cylercy used to sell a drop bolt for lowering calipers. But
they don't have them anymore. Harris does have an article on doing it
yourself.

http://sheldonbrown.com/home-drop.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#dropbolts

http://sheldonbrown.com/dpdropbolt.html

Could you maybe buy a really long reach caliper and use it?

These have 73mm reach. Not sure that would be enough to get down to a
26" rim or not. $60 online, kind of steep. Tektro R365.
http://www.tektro.com/02products/10sb-1.php

On Apr 6, 1:26*pm, "
wrote:
On Apr 6, 12:05*pm, " wrote:





The short version of the reason, since someone is sure to ask, is that
I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. *I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. *I could
just relace the hub (the only important part) into a 27” wheel, but
that has 2 problems.

1) I won’t be getting the results from a 26” wheel, which is ideal
2) More importantly, I have no use for a 27” wheel. *If I do decide to
relace this hub, I’ll want to do it onto a 700C wheel, and I’d rather
not do it twice. *I’d also, once again, need to rig the brakes from a
fork designed to work on a 27” wheel, this time to work on a 700C
wheel.

Any ideas how to get this done? *I seem to recall reading of some
method or product to convert brakes from 27” to 700C, but can’t
remember where. *As for making it work on a 26, I’m clueless.

I’m pretty sure the people I’ll be getting the wheel from won’t care
if I relace to another similar wheel size, so if it’s a lot easier to
go to 700C and fit a brake I will. *Still, I’d rather test it right
out of the box before I go nuts on it. *If I do have to relace it,
I’ll relace it to 700C as that will give me the option to use it on a
couple different bikes.

Brake is a typical single bolt through the forks cantilever. *Ideally
I’d like to find or create a bracket that will allow me to use this
fork to stop a 26” wheel. *If that’s going to be unrealistic, then I’d
like to use this same fork to stop a 700C wheel.

Any help appreciated!

Dan

Harris Cylercy used to sell a drop bolt for lowering calipers. *But
they don't have them anymore. *Harris does have an article on doing it
yourself.

http://sheldonbrown.com/home-drop.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#dropbolts

http://sheldonbrown.com/dpdropbolt.html

Could you maybe buy a really long reach caliper and use it?

These have 73mm reach. *Not sure that would be enough to get down to a
26" rim or not. *$60 online, kind of steep. *Tektro R365.http://www.tektro.com/02products/10sb-1.php- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks. The Sheldon thing is what I was thinking of, too bad it's no
more. On his long reach page though, he lists a set of tektro extra
long reach calipers, lever and all, for $20. Reach is 74-95mm. That
would probably reach my 26" rim. If not, it would certainly reach a
700C wheel. Thanks for the link, should have gone to Sheldon first.
Of course my concern now is going too long (if 74-95 doesn't reach my
26, will it be too long for a 700C?) I suppose for $20 I could get a
pair and find out. Probably cost less than gas to drive to and from
Harris Cyclery.

Again, thanks for the link!

On Apr 6, 10:38*am, DanKMTB wrote:
On Apr 6, 1:26*pm, "



wrote:
On Apr 6, 12:05*pm, " wrote:

The short version of the reason, since someone is sure to ask, is that
I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. *I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. *I could
just relace the hub (the only important part) into a 27” wheel, but
that has 2 problems.

1) I won’t be getting the results from a 26” wheel, which is ideal
2) More importantly, I have no use for a 27” wheel. *If I do decide to
relace this hub, I’ll want to do it onto a 700C wheel, and I’d rather
not do it twice. *I’d also, once again, need to rig the brakes from a
fork designed to work on a 27” wheel, this time to work on a 700C
wheel.

Any ideas how to get this done? *I seem to recall reading of some
method or product to convert brakes from 27” to 700C, but can’t
remember where. *As for making it work on a 26, I’m clueless.

I’m pretty sure the people I’ll be getting the wheel from won’t care
if I relace to another similar wheel size, so if it’s a lot easier to
go to 700C and fit a brake I will. *Still, I’d rather test it right
out of the box before I go nuts on it. *If I do have to relace it,
I’ll relace it to 700C as that will give me the option to use it on a
couple different bikes.

Brake is a typical single bolt through the forks cantilever. *Ideally
I’d like to find or create a bracket that will allow me to use this
fork to stop a 26” wheel. *If that’s going to be unrealistic, then I’d
like to use this same fork to stop a 700C wheel.

Any help appreciated!

Dan

Harris Cylercy used to sell a drop bolt for lowering calipers. *But
they don't have them anymore. *Harris does have an article on doing it
yourself.

http://sheldonbrown.com/home-drop.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#dropbolts

http://sheldonbrown.com/dpdropbolt.html

Could you maybe buy a really long reach caliper and use it?

These have 73mm reach. *Not sure that would be enough to get down to a
26" rim or not. *$60 online, kind of steep. *Tektro R365.http://www..tektro.com/02products/10sb-1.php-Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks. *The Sheldon thing is what I was thinking of, too bad it's no
more. *On his long reach page though, he lists a set of tektro extra
long reach calipers, lever and all, for $20. *Reach is 74-95mm. *That
would probably reach my 26" rim. *If not, it would certainly reach a
700C wheel. *Thanks for the link, should have gone to Sheldon first.
Of course my concern now is going too long (if 74-95 doesn't reach my
26, will it be too long for a 700C?) *I suppose for $20 I could get a
pair and find out. *Probably cost less than gas to drive to and from
Harris Cyclery.

Again, thanks for the link!

The DIY drop bolt may be the easiest route. But for a front wheel,
it's also possible to change the fork. This will mess up the geometry,
but you might get away with it if you can find an old, slack-angled
26" suspension fork (thinking also of the need for canti posts, an
endangered species on many modern bikes). It's just a different
compromise.

BTW, I want photos. This thing should be hilariously ugly!

On Apr 6, 1:54*pm, Ryan Cousineau wrote:
On Apr 6, 10:38*am, DanKMTB wrote:





On Apr 6, 1:26*pm, "

wrote:
On Apr 6, 12:05*pm, " wrote:

The short version of the reason, since someone is sure to ask, is that
I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. *I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. *I could
just relace the hub (the only important part) into a 27” wheel, but
that has 2 problems.

1) I won’t be getting the results from a 26” wheel, which is ideal
2) More importantly, I have no use for a 27” wheel. *If I do decide to
relace this hub, I’ll want to do it onto a 700C wheel, and I’d rather
not do it twice. *I’d also, once again, need to rig the brakes from a
fork designed to work on a 27” wheel, this time to work on a 700C
wheel.

Any ideas how to get this done? *I seem to recall reading of some
method or product to convert brakes from 27” to 700C, but can’t
remember where. *As for making it work on a 26, I’m clueless.

I’m pretty sure the people I’ll be getting the wheel from won’t care
if I relace to another similar wheel size, so if it’s a lot easier to
go to 700C and fit a brake I will. *Still, I’d rather test it right
out of the box before I go nuts on it. *If I do have to relace it,
I’ll relace it to 700C as that will give me the option to use it on a
couple different bikes.

Brake is a typical single bolt through the forks cantilever. *Ideally
I’d like to find or create a bracket that will allow me to use this
fork to stop a 26” wheel. *If that’s going to be unrealistic, then I’d
like to use this same fork to stop a 700C wheel.

Any help appreciated!

Dan

Harris Cylercy used to sell a drop bolt for lowering calipers. *But
they don't have them anymore. *Harris does have an article on doing it
yourself.

http://sheldonbrown.com/home-drop.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#dropbolts

http://sheldonbrown.com/dpdropbolt.html

Could you maybe buy a really long reach caliper and use it?

These have 73mm reach. *Not sure that would be enough to get down to a
26" rim or not. *$60 online, kind of steep. *Tektro R365.http://www.tektro.com/02products/10sb-1.php-Hidequoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks. *The Sheldon thing is what I was thinking of, too bad it's no
more. *On his long reach page though, he lists a set of tektro extra
long reach calipers, lever and all, for $20. *Reach is 74-95mm. *That
would probably reach my 26" rim. *If not, it would certainly reach a
700C wheel. *Thanks for the link, should have gone to Sheldon first.
Of course my concern now is going too long (if 74-95 doesn't reach my
26, will it be too long for a 700C?) *I suppose for $20 I could get a
pair and find out. *Probably cost less than gas to drive to and from
Harris Cyclery.

Again, thanks for the link!

The DIY drop bolt may be the easiest route. But for a front wheel,
it's also possible to change the fork. This will mess up the geometry,
but you might get away with it if you can find an old, slack-angled
26" suspension fork (thinking also of the need for canti posts, an
endangered species on many modern bikes). It's just a different
compromise.

BTW, I want photos. This thing should be hilariously ugly!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Suspension forks are out, must be a steel rigid fork. It will have an
electric front drive hub. The bike, an 1960's Rudge, already has a
26" rear wheel, since that's the high quality fixed/free flip flop
wheel I had lying around. It's a frankenbike if there ever was one.
I don't use rear brakes, so I never worried back there. Now that i'll
be doing 25MPH with an extra 20+lbs in bike, I'm thinking being able
to stop it will be a bonus. Do you want pics in it's current 67er (I
guess that'd be the modern term, 26" rear 27" front) fendered form, or
should we wait until I have a 26" electric hub front wheel on there as
well?

On Apr 6, 2:00*pm, DanKMTB wrote:
On Apr 6, 1:54*pm, Ryan Cousineau wrote:





On Apr 6, 10:38*am, DanKMTB wrote:

On Apr 6, 1:26*pm, "

wrote:
On Apr 6, 12:05*pm, " wrote:

The short version of the reason, since someone is sure to ask, is that
I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. *I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. *I could
just relace the hub (the only important part) into a 27” wheel, but
that has 2 problems.

1) I won’t be getting the results from a 26” wheel, which is ideal
2) More importantly, I have no use for a 27” wheel. *If I do decide to
relace this hub, I’ll want to do it onto a 700C wheel, and I’d rather
not do it twice. *I’d also, once again, need to rig the brakes from a
fork designed to work on a 27” wheel, this time to work on a 700C
wheel.

Any ideas how to get this done? *I seem to recall reading of some
method or product to convert brakes from 27” to 700C, but can’t
remember where. *As for making it work on a 26, I’m clueless.

I’m pretty sure the people I’ll be getting the wheel from won’t care
if I relace to another similar wheel size, so if it’s a lot easier to
go to 700C and fit a brake I will. *Still, I’d rather test it right
out of the box before I go nuts on it. *If I do have to relace it,
I’ll relace it to 700C as that will give me the option to use it on a
couple different bikes.

Brake is a typical single bolt through the forks cantilever. *Ideally
I’d like to find or create a bracket that will allow me to use this
fork to stop a 26” wheel. *If that’s going to be unrealistic, then I’d
like to use this same fork to stop a 700C wheel.

Any help appreciated!

Dan

Harris Cylercy used to sell a drop bolt for lowering calipers. *But
they don't have them anymore. *Harris does have an article on doing it
yourself.

http://sheldonbrown.com/home-drop.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#dropbolts

http://sheldonbrown.com/dpdropbolt.html

Could you maybe buy a really long reach caliper and use it?

These have 73mm reach. *Not sure that would be enough to get down to a
26" rim or not. *$60 online, kind of steep. *Tektro R365.http://www.tektro.com/02products/10s...Hidequotedtext -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks. *The Sheldon thing is what I was thinking of, too bad it's no
more. *On his long reach page though, he lists a set of tektro extra
long reach calipers, lever and all, for $20. *Reach is 74-95mm. *That
would probably reach my 26" rim. *If not, it would certainly reach a
700C wheel. *Thanks for the link, should have gone to Sheldon first..
Of course my concern now is going too long (if 74-95 doesn't reach my
26, will it be too long for a 700C?) *I suppose for $20 I could get a
pair and find out. *Probably cost less than gas to drive to and from
Harris Cyclery.

Again, thanks for the link!

The DIY drop bolt may be the easiest route. But for a front wheel,
it's also possible to change the fork. This will mess up the geometry,
but you might get away with it if you can find an old, slack-angled
26" suspension fork (thinking also of the need for canti posts, an
endangered species on many modern bikes). It's just a different
compromise.

BTW, I want photos. This thing should be hilariously ugly!- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Suspension forks are out, must be a steel rigid fork. *It will have an
electric front drive hub. *The bike, an 1960's Rudge, already has a
26" rear wheel, since that's the high quality fixed/free flip flop
wheel I had lying around. *It's a frankenbike if there ever was one.
I don't use rear brakes, so I never worried back there. *Now that i'll
be doing 25MPH with an extra 20+lbs in bike, I'm thinking being able
to stop it will be a bonus. *Do you want pics in it's current 67er (I
guess that'd be the modern term, 26" rear 27" front) fendered form, or
should we wait until I have a 26" electric hub front wheel on there as
well? *- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If one of you guys wouldn't mind helping me with a little figuring...

27" = 630mm
700C = 622mm
26" = 599mm

Consider difference axle to bead seat diameter is half of said
difference. (will this hold true to brake pad contact point?)

So, 27" to 700C = 4mm difference.
27" to 26" = 15.5mm difference.

Am I figuring this right?

Also, to figure out the "reach" of the current calipers that work just
fine on my current 27" front wheel, how is the caliper reach measured?

Thanks,

Dan

You can make this custom yourself by using strap steel available
at the hardware store. A better method though, is to make the two
pieces a lot longer, to go up to seat post so the strap won't bend
where it bolts through the cross bar. There is a lot of twisting
at the bolt on the cross bar without the extention.

wrote:
On Apr 6, 12:05 pm, " wrote:
The short version of the reason, since someone is sure to ask, is that
I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. I could
just relace the hub (the only important part) into a 27” wheel, but
that has 2 problems.

1) I won’t be getting the results from a 26” wheel, which is ideal
2) More importantly, I have no use for a 27” wheel. If I do decide to
relace this hub, I’ll want to do it onto a 700C wheel, and I’d rather
not do it twice. I’d also, once again, need to rig the brakes from a
fork designed to work on a 27” wheel, this time to work on a 700C
wheel.

Any ideas how to get this done? I seem to recall reading of some
method or product to convert brakes from 27” to 700C, but can’t
remember where. As for making it work on a 26, I’m clueless.

I’m pretty sure the people I’ll be getting the wheel from won’t care
if I relace to another similar wheel size, so if it’s a lot easier to
go to 700C and fit a brake I will. Still, I’d rather test it right
out of the box before I go nuts on it. If I do have to relace it,
I’ll relace it to 700C as that will give me the option to use it on a
couple different bikes.

Brake is a typical single bolt through the forks cantilever. Ideally
I’d like to find or create a bracket that will allow me to use this
fork to stop a 26” wheel. If that’s going to be unrealistic, then I’d
like to use this same fork to stop a 700C wheel.

Any help appreciated!

Dan

Harris Cylercy used to sell a drop bolt for lowering calipers. But
they don't have them anymore. Harris does have an article on doing it
yourself.

http://sheldonbrown.com/home-drop.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/brakes.html#dropbolts

http://sheldonbrown.com/dpdropbolt.html

Could you maybe buy a really long reach caliper and use it?

These have 73mm reach. Not sure that would be enough to get down to a
26" rim or not. $60 online, kind of steep. Tektro R365.
http://www.tektro.com/02products/10sb-1.php

--
A website is a place, where, when you go there, it does everything
possible to distract you, from finding the information you came there
to see.- E.W.

wrote:
The short version of the reason, since someone is sure to ask, is that
I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. I could
just relace the hub (the only important part) into a 27” wheel, but
that has 2 problems.

1) I won’t be getting the results from a 26” wheel, which is ideal
2) More importantly, I have no use for a 27” wheel. If I do decide to
relace this hub, I’ll want to do it onto a 700C wheel, and I’d rather
not do it twice. I’d also, once again, need to rig the brakes from a
fork designed to work on a 27” wheel, this time to work on a 700C
wheel.

Any ideas how to get this done? I seem to recall reading of some
method or product to convert brakes from 27” to 700C, but can’t
remember where. As for making it work on a 26, I’m clueless.

I’m pretty sure the people I’ll be getting the wheel from won’t care
if I relace to another similar wheel size, so if it’s a lot easier to
go to 700C and fit a brake I will. Still, I’d rather test it right
out of the box before I go nuts on it. If I do have to relace it,
I’ll relace it to 700C as that will give me the option to use it on a
couple different bikes.

Brake is a typical single bolt through the forks cantilever. Ideally
I’d like to find or create a bracket that will allow me to use this
fork to stop a 26” wheel. If that’s going to be unrealistic, then I’d
like to use this same fork to stop a 700C wheel.

Any help appreciated!

Dan

I've never mounted a 26" wheel in a 27" frame, but I've mounted lots of
700c wheels. Most of the time the pads can be adjusted to reach,
sometimes I've resorted to long reach calipers. At least one time, where
I was too frugal to replace the caliper I just made an adapter plate. I
used some relatively beefy aluminum plate stock, cut it to size, drilled
it to mount to the frame and drilled a second hole lower down to mount
the caliper. It's not a big deal.

wrote:

I’m likely about to receive a 26” wheel to test that will be 26”. *I’d
like to test it in a frame that’s designed for a 27” wheel. *

Depending on the fork, you might be able to get enough reach from a
BMX sidepull caliper. They don't work worth a damn, generally
speaking, but they are long. They are also often free for the taking
on discarded bikes. They work best with 4-finger vintage MTB/
motocross-style levers and a short, gently curved cable run.

A lot of frames that came with 27" wheels had low bottom brackets of
not more than 10.5" height. If you put true 26" wheels on both ends,
you'll drop the BB to 10" or lower, so be aware of the problems you
may face with pedal strike.

And if the hub you're testing is a front hub motor, know that the
typical 27" fork does not have slotted tips that can tolerate prying
by a hub motor's flatted axle for very long. So keep the axle nuts
good and tight and use a torque arm if you can (this can be a close-
fitting open-end wrench attached to the fork leg with hose clamps).

Chalo

DanKMTB wrote:

If one of you guys wouldn't mind helping me with a little figuring...

27" = 630mm
700C = 622mm
26" = 599mm

26" MTB is ISO 559.

Consider difference axle to bead seat diameter is half of said
difference. *(will this hold true to brake pad contact point?)

So, 27" to 700C = 4mm difference.
27" to 26" = 15.5mm difference.

Am I figuring this right?

To use a 26" wheel on a 27" frame or fork, you'll have to drop the
brake pads 35.5mm, or about 1-3/8".

Chalo