Anyone know where or how I can get a front disc like on cannondale’s 2004 cyclocross bike. I want to retrofit my commuter (with steel front fork) with one. It appears the disc brake is opperated with a road lever?
http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/04/cusa/model-4XR1.html
Many of the disk systems are cable actuated and thus will work with any lever (just dont get a hydrolic disk). What you may have a hard time finding is a fork that will work with the special braze on’s needed for the caliper.
yes. that would be an avid mechanical disc ( available anywhere . . . .) with, of course, a disc specific front hub.
the fork would be/is quite easy to find with a sweet riding steel unit from one any any number of framebuilders. say steelman or viscous cycles right off the top-o-my-haid. not gonna be real cheap, but will be Fine.
Avid is the only manufacturer that I’m aware of that makes a road bike compatible disk. They also make a mtn bike disk, but they are different. The amount of cable pull is the difference.
Is your commuter a cross bike or a road bike? The aftermarket forks with disk braze-ons are for cross bikes. You can use one on a road bike, but it will raise the front end of the bike, effectively slackening the head tube angle and the seat tube angle. It will also raise the bottom bracket slightly.
Dimension makes a cheap disk fork for about $50 MSRP and Winwood makes a carbon one that costs about $200. As for the actual brake, the other posters are correct that Avid is the only company making a road compatible cable-actuated disk brake. It costs about $80. Good luck with your project. If you commute in the rain it should be a nice upgrade.