Genuine concern and not just playing devil’s advocate... but is it possible for many caliper/canti designed forks to lack strength or lower blade reinforcement for the lever arm of drums (similar to the way discs could overpower and crumple some forks if not made with discs in mind) ? Clearly not an issue with the Guv’nor that’s designed around them but maybe so for other bikes/forks?
I had questioned a similar conversion on my single speed although took a different path to get there: It started with the discovery of toe overlap on the 700c single speed combined with a new (to me) old Raleigh frame that was intended to just be bigger frame to move the whole build over from a much too small 21” Raleigh sports 3 speed with 26 x 1-3/8 wheels. The measurements were a little suspect from the ad but pics confirmed a very large Raleigh 3 speed frame with locking fork as on the Superbes... but it was labeled “Deluxe” and listed as 25” frame. Turns out the bigger frame is actually 25” center to center seat tube and with a much longer fork than the Raleigh Sports and takes a 700cx35 easily with tektro 559 xlong reach brakes. It’s close in stand over to my Schwinn 27” framed bike with 700cx33. So I have these practically new cream delta cruisers in 26x1-3/8 size that were supposed to be for the bigger 3 speed project but I now have other plans for that with the Raleigh Deluxe frame also already having dropouts that take modern 9mm front and 10mm rear axles rather than those of my original Sturmey Archer aw rear and dynamo front of the sports. So back to the 700c singlespeed... tire clearance is max at 700x32 rear with 539 tektro brakes 47-57mm reach. A little more wiggle room up front but not much and no fender clearance. Harris Cyclery offers a 26x1-3/8 fixed/fixed budget wheel with sun cr18 rim and sealed hubs with 120 spacing for conversion of old 3 speed frames but this would be an immediate fit on my single speed. But the matching front has an axle to match the thinner axle of the old Raleigh hubs/forks and wouldn’t fit my modern 100mmx9mm fork. So I instead consider a custom front with new SA drum brake hub with cr18 rim to match the harris stock fixed rear wheel. This eliminates calipers altogether and with the frame having no cable stops for rear brake cabling anyway if running fixed only and drum front it would be a suitable all weather rig now with room for fenders with the smaller 650a/590bsd/26x1-3/8 wheel vs the 700c/622bsd. I never followed through due to budget constraints and poor timing for any new projects and then began to question whether the fork is built to withstand the localized forces of a drum brake anyway? This is the stock fork on a Milwaukee Orange One. The frame is tig’d by Waterford but the fork is imported from Taiwan and otherwise appears to be the same spec as a Surly Pacer fork but not sure if they are really the same. Anyway... Love some of these ideas but haven’t brought myself to try them yet and in the interim just riding what I’ve got. Cheers, Brian Cole Lawrenceville NJ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
