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Home-Made Drop Bolts

August 13th, 2003 · 4 Comments · Trek 560

Home Made Drop Bolts for Bicycle BrakesMy rear brakes rub against the 700×30c tire I have. It is just 2mm of clearance that I need. Sheldon has a great suggestion for building a “drop bolt” that will let me move the brake caliper up and out of the way.

Requires that you get 3/4” x 1/8” aluminum stock from a hardware store. Then drill two holes. Put a 6 mm bolt into the rear stay and then mount the brake on the second bolt.

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4 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Frank // Jun 11, 2004 at 20:45

    Hi,
    I was wondering if you still have all the original
    components from you 560, i.e. wheels, handle bars,
    brake levers etc.
    Please let me know if you are interested in selling them.

    Thanks

    Frank

  • 2 Rich Tong // Jun 14, 2004 at 11:37

    Great question. I’m actually keeping all the components right now. I think that I’ll keep them for the day when I try to make the bike look like an original. Thanks for asking!

    I do love the thing for sure.

  • 3 gwadzilla // Aug 26, 2004 at 13:55

    no CANTIS?
    you will want the power
    so much about going fast on a cross bike is being able to stop fast on a cross bike
    or else you will have to be slowing down so far in advance that you will be snailing along

    just a thought…

    maybe a used hybrid fork on the front would do the trick
    not as retro frankenbike as you are seeking

    but would give you better braking power if you had the CANTILEVER BRAKES….at least in the front

    later

  • 4 Rich Tong // Aug 29, 2004 at 3:41

    You are right, cantilevers or disc brakes would make more sense. I’ve been riding this a little and it works fine except for the brakes. Having Campy road levers plus the old suntour brakes really doesn’t work super well.

    Also the seat position is high like a road bike which is a bit scary when doing down hill.

    Thanks for the tip. The best solution is a “new” bike really, but it was fun to put together and also perfect for the easy trail with the kids kind of riding.

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