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Can I put disc brakes on my 87' Schwinn Chicago?

I was looking into getting disc brakes, can I put them on my 87' Chicago Schwinn?

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 26, 2012 at 11:22am

Possible, but not advisable.   What are the reasons  you want or feel you need disc brakes on this old Schwinn?   What model Schwinn exactly?

Permalink Reply by Rocky James on August 26, 2012 at 11:25am

87 schwinn Chicago traveler. I want them because I have ridden on a bike with them and much prefer how the disc brakes feel when stopping, they do not slide as much as the pads do, and the pads have been properly checked and changed/maintained. 

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 26, 2012 at 11:40am

I'm pretty sure the Traveler of that day was made in the Greenville plant and not Chicago -if not outshored already.   There are other Schwinn guys who may be able to verify this.

Do you want front or front/rear disc?

Just doing the front will cost you approximately 3x what the bike is worth.  You could buy a new bike with Disc brakes for cheaper.   

It could be done, easiest way is to just put a new fork, wheel, and disc brake lever/caliper.  Not cheap.

You'd be much better off upgrading to a modern dual-pivot sidepull caliper and a modern alloy rim with Kool-stop pads.   Nearly as good stopping and only cost you about 1/4th what a disc brake setup would run.

if you want disc brakes buy a new bike -or a new used bike off of Craigslist.  This is true even with a High-End Vintage steel frame.  For a mid/low chromo Schwinn frame like the Traveler my mind just boggles at the thought.

A Tektro medium or long-reach dual-pivot caliper will run about $40.  Add Kool-stop Dura pads for another $20 and you are 90% there.  If you want to upgrade the rim, but a  newer used alloy front rim off of CL for another $20-30.    Maybe even put Tektro Aero levers on for another $25 (which helps a LOT with braking feel and power.)    All for about $100.

If you really want to do disc then it's going to cost you 3-4 times that much. 

Permalink Reply by Duppie on August 26, 2012 at 11:43am

Not familiar with that frame so I don't know if it is even possbile, but I thought about doing this on an older bike. Once I added up the cost of new wheels (you need disc brake compatible hubs), disc brakes, levers, and labor (even if I did it myself), I realized that it might be cheaper to wait until a new bike is due.

Even when choosing middle of the road components, I think it would be about $400 to upgrade my bike to disc brakes.

As far as rim brakes go, the pads may by well adjusted and maintained, but I have noticed significant improvements in braking by replacing brakes, levers, pads, cables, housing or a combination of them. All for a lot less money.

Permalink Reply by S on August 26, 2012 at 12:10pm

Don't forget that you'll need a new fork that has tabs for the disc brake to attach to.  Also, the frame will need to be modified and tabs for the disc brake need to be added to the rear triangle so that you can put in a disc brake in the rear as well.

Frankly, I'd just buy one of the new CX frames out there with disc brake tabs and build that up.


Duppie said:

Not familiar with that frame so I don't know if it is even possbile, but I thought about doing this on an older bike. Once I added up the cost of new wheels (you need disc brake compatible hubs), disc brakes, levers, and labor (even if I did it myself), I realized that it might be cheaper to wait until a new bike is due.

Even when choosing middle of the road components, I think it would be about $400 to upgrade my bike to disc brakes.

As far as rim brakes go, the pads may by well adjusted and maintained, but I have noticed significant improvements in braking by replacing brakes, levers, pads, cables, housing or a combination of them. All for a lot less money.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 26, 2012 at 12:11pm

It would be possible to replace the fork with a 700c 1" threaded fork with disc brake mounts -or even maybe a threadless and change out the headset if it was ISO head tube?  I'm shooting from the hip.  But the fork alone would be pricey.   It might be possible to have a competent frame-builder modify the existing fork for disc mounts but we are talking a fork that was not designed for the stresses that a disc brake would impart into it. It's iffy, not something I would want to embark on without a good frame-builder at a few dozen user-levels and pay-grades above my own.  

But this whole exercise is theoretical and I agree with Duppie that the costs involved are not reasonable when considering the original value of the bike and what you would have in the end.  

Brakes can be improved with much less expensive upgrades than going to disc.  Simply starting with new cables and housings, and new brake pads (Kool Stops work wonders) and if that doesn't help enough then think about a nice new Tektro med/long reach dual-pivot (depends on what your brake reach to the rim is)  and perhaps Tektro Aero levers.  

Permalink Reply by Jerry Lee on August 26, 2012 at 10:16pm

 well, here is another suggestion. I would say get v brakes,as they are just as good or better than a mechanical disk brake. But I don't think your bike has canti tabs for cantilever or v brakes. They can be put on by welding them on your local bike shop (LBS).

  So, I recommend for your bike is a Sturmey Archer drum brake, it would require you get a drum brake hub($68), a 36 hole rim and spokes. This can be done by your LBS, and you have stopping power of disk brakes.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sturmey-Archer-X-FD-Front-70mm-Drum-BRAKE-b...

 

or look on ebay for a wheel with drum brake hub..

Permalink Reply by Michael A on August 26, 2012 at 10:23pm

Properly set up caliper brakes should be more then enough to stop you in this area. If we lived somewhere there are hills and you carry a large load then MAYBE rim brakes are not enough. What brand brakes are on the bike now?

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on August 27, 2012 at 9:15am

Drums do not stop as well as discs.

Jerry Lee said:

 well, here is another suggestion. I would say get v brakes,as they are just as good or better than a mechanical disk brake. But I don't think your bike has canti tabs for cantilever or v brakes. They can be put on by welding them on your local bike shop (LBS).

  So, I recommend for your bike is a Sturmey Archer drum brake, it would require you get a drum brake hub($68), a 36 hole rim and spokes. This can be done by your LBS, and you have stopping power of disk brakes.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sturmey-Archer-X-FD-Front-70mm-Drum-BRAKE-b...

 

or look on ebay for a wheel with drum brake hub..

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on August 27, 2012 at 10:10am

The initial bite and feel of a drum is similar to that of a disc.  But as you start to apply more pressure on the lever the strong linear progression of a good disc brake is absent on a drum.  

The braking power of the drum does go up with increased pressure but the increase doesn't quite go up commensurately with the increased lever pressure like it does with a disc.   The power of the drum's braking starts to level off at a certain point and as you squeeze harder and harder the braking power increase you get back isn't keeping up with the amount of extra squeeze you are putting into the lever.   You get back more from the brake but not as much as you did at that initial braking bite and soon afterward.  The relationship of lever squeeze to braking power is not linear like on a disc.  At a certain point the squeeze/power curve starts to level off as the drum reaches its limits and squeezing a LOT harder only produces a little more power from the drum.   Eventually it just stops giving much more power at all even at Herculean squeezing levels.

I would not say that a drum is as good as a disc when it comes to stopping power and linear progression of braking power from initial bite to full-on braking (most of the time most people never ever use more than the first little bit of the braking potential of their brakes .)  It's still good, and a drum has a lot of advantages over a caliper  brake (especially older crappy caliper brakes) but it's nowhere near as powerful or has as linear of a braking power output from initial bite to full-on braking power as a disc.   At normal braking levels the average rider might not even tell the difference.  But under very hard braking the amount of pressure needed at the lever can become quite excessive if  you need it.. 

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