Rear Discs on a Nomad

[bike_the_planet]

Hi - I have an old (2000) Thorn Nomad. Whilst I appreciate that, due to the excessive torque, it is impractical (and dangerous) to modify a set of steel forks to fit disc brakes, I was wondering whether it would be still possible to fit rear disc brake mounts. Would standard seat stays be capable of taking the force or are they too thin? If it is possible, I would consider purchasing some commercially available forks with disk mounts on them to complement them at the front.

Anyone done this before? Is it possible?

Cheers

Tony, Perth, WA

[Andrew]

Hi Tony,

For any advice on your Nomad it is best to contact us direct. We often miss things on the forum.

Here is our designer Andy.B's brief reply:

"The stays will be strong enough as long as a brace approximately 80mm long
is added between the seat stays and the chain stays. Such a brace must be
skilfully low temperature brazed into position...the opportunity to trash
the frame, by using too much heat, when doing this exists.
WRT fork the Nomad has an L1 measurement (from centre axle to crown seat) of
about 370mm...each increment of 20mm will change the head angle And seat
angle) by about 1 degree and raise the BB by about 12-13mm. A typical 80mm
travel suss fork has an L1 of 450-470mm. If the nomad is large and has a
long top tube...the handling will be awful...if it is small and has a short
top tube, the handling will be worse than that!
I would upgrade to XTR V brakes...which have great modulation and can lock
either wheel or, if you NEED discs because you are running in deep
mud...sell the Nomad and buy an MTB." - Andy B


If I can help any further please do not hesitate to contact me direct: andrew@sjscycles.com

Best regards

Andrew G

quote:Originally posted by bike_the_planet

Hi - I have an old (2000) Thorn Nomad. Whilst I appreciate that, due to the excessive torque, it is impractical (and dangerous) to modify a set of steel forks to fit disc brakes, I was wondering whether it would be still possible to fit rear disc brake mounts. Would standard seat stays be capable of taking the force or are they too thin? If it is possible, I would consider purchasing some commercially available forks with disk mounts on them to complement them at the front.

Anyone done this before? Is it possible?

Cheers

Tony, Perth, WA

[freddered]

Why do you want to fit a rear disc ?  You don't mention what problem you have with current braking set-up.

[bike_the_planet]

quote:Originally posted by freddered

Why do you want to fit a rear disc ?  You don't mention what problem you have with current braking set-up.

Freddered - my brakes are ok. What I am finding is that I wear rims this way. It seems to me that the future of bicycle brakes will probably be disc based. It seems a more elegant solution to have to replace pads, and maybe discs occasionally, rather than the whole rim every so often.

I appreciate Andy B's comments - after all, he designed the frame!

Thanks for everyone's input.

Tony Perth, WA