Steel forks, disc brakes & low-riders: nice or nightmare?

[jawj_uk]

Hi everyone, I thought I'd throw this to the sharks and see if I come out with any limbs...

First of all, I love disc brakes. They work and work and work and don't mess around, no matter how cruddy and wet the world is. I particularly like Shimano's hydraulic discs as they're very easy to work on and have plenty of feel and power. On a trip a few months ago I ended up on some vicious muddy and rocky downhills when my route planning failed to take into account that not all bridleways are tarmacked. I mean, how inconsiderate of them! ;-) If I hadn't had a disc brake on the back I'm not sure I could have stopped... Sure, you can fit V-brakes and tungsten carbide rims, but I'm not sure they'd cut it in situations where the the mud is up to your nipples.

I also like 'rigid' steel forks. They feel good, don't suffer brake dive, track wonderfully and last forever. I've had a Raven Nomad for just over a year now and the forks supplied are absolutely superb. I'm not a heavy bloke or an abusive rider, but I'm always keen on a little 'air' when I can get it and the forks have flown over a few speed bumps. With no problems.

I like carrying stuff in low-rider panniers on the forks. It balances the bike and makes sense to distribute weight front and rear. Admittedly on my last cycle camping trip I was too lazy to fit my low-riders (not sure why I didn't get round to it in the last year...) but the bike handled fine with all my stuff piled on the back.

Now comes the crunch: I want all three of these things! I want disc brakes on the front and back and have the ability to have lowriders on my forks. I'm sure we've all read Thorn's and Andy Blance's stance on the matter, which is certainly justified: on standard fork dropouts that face downwards, a disc brake could certainly force the wheel out and ensure you'd be using your face as a brake. having said that, I use a Kona Project II rigid fork with a disc brake on another bike and certainly brake very hard on that and haven't had any trouble. I think it shold be fine if you just make sure your wheel is in securely.

I've noticed that Fox forks have slightly forward facing dropouts to ensure that disc brakes forces acting on the axle don't force it out of the dropout.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Any body seen any nice steel forks that can resist the forces associated with disc brakes, and take lowriders, and not be too heavy, etc.?

I'd love to hear from y'all!

George

[vik]

On a trip a few months ago I ended up on some vicious muddy and rocky downhills when my route planning failed to take into account that not all bridleways are tarmacked. I mean, how inconsiderate of them! ;-) If I hadn't had a disc brake on the back I'm not sure I could have stopped... Sure, you can fit V-brakes and tungsten carbide rims, but I'm not sure they'd cut it in situations where the the mud is up to your nipples.

George I'd caution against selecting discs because you encountered a small section on a tour where you might prefer them.  I'd use the brakes you think are best for the majority of your touring needs and just get through the other bits.  Discs come with some significant issues that should be considered.  I'm not saying you shouldn't get discs - just make sure they are the brakes you really want all the time not the brakes you think you might need in limited number of circumstances.

Now comes the crunch: I want all three of these things! I want disc brakes on the front and back and have the ability to have lowriders on my forks.

...snip...

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Any body seen any nice steel forks that can resist the forces associated with disc brakes, and take lowriders, and not be too heavy, etc.?

I'd love to hear from y'all!

George

You'll find any disc touring fork you come across will be pretty heavy.  It needs to be to deal with the asymmetrical braking forces from the front disc brake.  It will also not be as comfortable as a classic curved touring fork design for rim brakes as it has to be stiffer to deal with the forces from the disc brake.

I know Tout Terrain offers a disc specific fork on their Silkroad touring bike that can take a low rider.  Perhaps they would sell one separately?

http://www.tout-terrain.de/2/products/touring-bikes/silkroad/silkroad.html

[vik]

Hey George I found a rack that would work well with any front disc fork you end up with.

The Old Man Mountain Ultimate LowRider.

http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/FrontRacks.html



The cool thing is this rack will work with any fork even if it doesn't have rack mounting brazeons and you can mount panniers in a high or low position for greater clearance [off tarmac] or greater stability [on tarmac].

I have 4 OMM racks on my bikes [although not this model] and have abused them for years without any issues.

[jawj]

Thanks very much for your advice and suggestions, Vik. I'll certainly look into the OMM rack.

The thing about disc brakes is that I do think they offer considerable benefits over rim brakes. I use them on two of my mountain bikes, am well-acquainted with chopping and changing bits and bleeding and all the rest of it and love the way they are unaffected by weather or mud. I'm sure they're the future of braking for most, if not all, applications. There are certainly more and more bikes being sold with disc brakes, especially in the commuting sector. Having said this, and working as a mechanic, a lot of these brakes are a pain in the backside to set up, but they do work pretty well and are a lot more tolerant of pot-holed wonky wheels. In the stop-start of commuting (where my 'touring' bike sees most of its miles) disc brakes are very good at not wearing rims out.

Oh well, let's see what the future holds!