Sunday, June 30, 2013

B&S Brake Adapter

The partybike is back in the stand well on its way to v3.0! I figured I would break the build into a few posts so I could focus on a bit of the weird that is going on this time around.  But before we get into specifics I suppose I'll cover the thought process behind v3.

There was nothing wrong with v2, in fact the 69er version of the party bike worked much better than I could have imagined.  After taking my lashing at the Pinnacle (and dealing with some chronic joint issues this season) I was forced to meditate a bit on what I'm doing to myself.  I ping-ponged back and forth a bit on what I thought I should do moving forward but eventually landed on using my fast/light/rigid bike for my 'important' races which I have now decided are the longer format races I've been doing lately and that I needed a friendlier bike to race the slightly more brutal EFTA courses.

Thats where v3 comes in.  If I was going to race the partybike it was going to need to be a bit more 'normal'.  The 69er worked better than I thought it would but it was still pretty weird to sit on and kind of ridiculous to climb.  So I decided if I was going to race it I wanted to find an adapter to convert the old Trek 22mm direct mount to the more standard IS so I could run disc brakes, I would need disc ready wheels and a decent 26er fork.

The adapter was going to be the tricky part but after a bunch of research I settled on the B&S Brake Adapter.  This thing isn't exactly mainstream, feels more like something a hobbyist made for their own purposes and then a few friends liked the idea and wanted one as well and it gained enough steam after that that maybe they did some sort of limited run of them.

It seems solidly machined, definitely has some heft to it (weight weenies beware).  But I would imagine you'd want this to be solid with the types of braking forces it will be dealing with.

speed holes!

I went with this adapter because many of the other options would have you mounting the brake between the chain and seat stays and many of them required you to do some weird stuff like using a front brake caliper on the rear as well as using a slightly bigger rotor to make up that difference.  Some people also claimed that certain frames just don't have enough room for that to work at all.

This design extends beyond the seat stay and has you mounting the brake where most modern frames have them situated.  They don't guarantee that this works with all frames either but based on pics online I thought I had a pretty good chance.

I wonder why this 22mm design didn't last? Its so conveniently located and easy to work with...

It doesn't come with mounting hardware but I have been wrenching long enough that I have amassed all kinds of extra/spare stuff and I ended up having some bolts that were pretty much perfect.  It took a little bit of time to get things all lined up.  Clearances are a bit tight but it all came together.



I still need to get myself some real hardware for mounting the brake itself.  Right now I am just using some presta valve nuts that ended up being the exact size of brake bolts, go figure.  That was good enough to get things situated and prove that it would work.  I'll hit the hardware store tomorrow for something more substantial.  I'm very interested to get it cabled up to see how solid it feels.  I don't want to jinx it but I think its going to work just fine.

Slapped the rear end all back together and scoured the parts bin to see if I could re-gear a bit bigger.  32x18 was just a tad small for me in general on a 26in bike, more like a climbing gear but the easy change to 32x16  is a little tall for me to stay on top of.  I think I'm at my best/most efficient somewhere in the 48-49 gear inches range.  Unfortunately with the parts I had I couldn't land there with any 'normal' gear configs.  But I did have a 38t ring and my 20t cog that I use for the Pinnacle laying around which gets me just a hair over 49 gear inches.  And it looks kinda funny, which is good.


I'll cover some of my other new parts in the follow up post when I finish the build hopefully later this week.  New fork should arrive by Wednesday I believe.  Good chance I could be racing this at Moody next weekend.

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous7/13/2013

    Will this thing work on a level betty

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  2. Anonymous7/13/2013

    And where can I get one on the uk

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  3. I think the manufacturer and most people I have seen selling them shy away from any kind of frame compatibility list. Just too much out there to cover everything. I think you have a good chance of this working on the Level Betty. As long as the mounts are on the chainstay and the geometry isn't too weird you will probably be good. Be ready for lots of tweaking to get the position just right and you might need some washers or other spacers to get everything to work just right.

    I got mine at jerseycycles.com. They ship worldwide. Good Luck!

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    1. Anonymous7/31/2013

      Got a pink one from taronto cycles took ages to get to the uk

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  4. Anonymous7/30/2013

    Hi Kevin,

    I ordered on of these last week from jerseycycles.com. How long did it take to get delivered to you?

    I want to try it out on my 1999 Klein and am really hoping it works!

    Thanks, Ray

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    Replies
    1. Maybe 5 days or so? But I'm on the east coast so it might take a bit longer depending on your location.

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    2. Anonymous7/30/2013

      Thanks! There just has been no communications from them, however, PayPal shows they have been paid. Maybe I am just a bit anxious / cautious!

      Going on 1999 Attitude Race horiz.dropouts), using Avid BB7 brakes / 160mm Avid rotor.

      Are you happy with the adapter and its performance so far?

      Ray

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  5. So far so good. Really only two serious rides on it so far though. Hasn't needed any adjustments and stopping feels solid.

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  7. Any chance someone knows where to find one of these now?

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  8. Also looking for one of these. Any ideas where I can get one?

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  9. I got mine at jerseycycles.com

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  10. Hi, I have a Trek Y 33. Where can I get the rear brake adaptor please?

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