Converting a 90's MTB to disc brakes - 1992 Mongoose Switchback 

Cheers mate.

Yeah mate. I’m about 9km from the city. So pretty close. I have a love hate relationship with Sydney. It’s a beautiful city but I also love to get out as often as I can. I don’t have to drive far for work so I waste all my fuel on weekends away 😂 Omafiets is awesome. Every time I walk in there I have to go tunnel vision to what I’m after and get out before I’m tempted to buy something 😂 I’ve just put on my fork racks and they sit nearly perfectly in line with the two tone. It’s hard to even see really. Cheers 🍻

Sunset shot was awesome, especially with the shed in the foreground!

@@advanturest You know a Surly Ghost Grappler would really work for you... ...it's calling you... "Timmm... buuuuy meeeee..." 😁

@@sirbarryvee-eight6485 haha, My 40th birthday is this year. Maybe you should send this to my wife as a hint 😂 On a serious note. I think I’d like a new bike but I honestly don’t know what style I want. I currently have a dual suspension XC bike that bearly gets ridden. Part of me what’s to get rid of all my bikes and get one for everything I do. A hard tail would be good but I’m short and the frame size doesn’t provide much real estate for a frame bag on the small frames. This makes me want something like the Ghost Grappler which isn’t designed for suspension. But what if I occasionally want suspension. It’s all too hard 😂

Haha, thats awesome, and yes super sketchy. I love it. sounds like something I would have tried growing up. I remember having some random bike that I called the Harley Timson, It was a laid back thing, can't remember the length of the forks but I remember thinking it was like a Harley. I probably found it in street clean up as I was always looking for bikes. It had a 3 speed hub with a big lever on the top tube. It was the best.

I know the exact support you’re talking about. Pretty much all conversions I’ve seen online have added it. Plus a lot of new bikes also have it in place. I did think of added one but decided I’d like to see if it’s even required. Nothing like a good test to find out. I’m not convinced I do though. On my old Raleigh I’ve been riding, I dodged up a bracket to hold a rear calliper using one of the rack mounts and a hose clamp. It’s been working perfect for close to 2 years now. The frame hasn’t bent, the dodgy bracket hasn’t even moved. If you want to see what I’m talking about go to the very end of my last Barrington tops video. I show it there. 42nd minute. Time will tell if my frame starts to bend. I’m only a light weight so that helps, I do load the bike up a bit though. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nvvpi0VSPSM.htmlsi=6J-qkQSXTbfHhHoR

Cheers mate. Is that the IBOC Comp SX? I’ve seen an IBOC similar to mine but it has the double butted lightweight TANGE tubing and 1 1/8 headset. I’m so tempted to buy it 😂 I’m packed ready for a trip this weekend. Hopefully my ideas plan out ok and the weather is kind. 🤞

@advanturest no Mate not the IBOC, it's the Y shape light blue frame one. Bit of a radical frame but a comfy ride. Hope the weather holds out for your trip Mate, safe travels.

I was a little worried about melting a hole through the frame so I think my amps were a bit low. Probably why my welds weren’t as nice as I’d hoped. It may have helped though as I had no issues with alignment. Saying that the jig did hold it in place pretty well. I’ve watched a few RU-vid videos of people welding bikes and a lot use the pulsing function. I guess this is to keep heat down. I’m very much a rookie at welding but there is only one way to get better. As for Graffiti, that bench seat was covered in it and there’s me with spray paint in my hand 😂 Nothing suss there.

After a few private comments I’m a little concerned I shouldn’t have done that 😂 Beats getting overspray on my neighbours cars though.

@@advanturest it's basically tinnies in the park. Age old tradition. 😆

Cheers mate! You sound like you know what you're doing 😄 And yes, I agree with what you're saying. I have a tig at work and a much larger bench. While I rarely use it, I always seem to do better welds there. I think just being more comfortable makes a huge difference. After filming this video I've had to weld up 2 things because the fitters were away, and I also think I had the amps too low on the bike project. I was worried about blowing through the frame. After running some bigger amps on these work jobs, the filler rod seemed to suck in so much nicer and just left a much neater weld. I really do need to just keep practicing. Back to the bike job. Unfortunately, I didn't have heaps of space where I was welding it. A bigger bench would have been awesome to give me more room to rest my arms on. I probably could have set something up but with all my filming, by the time it was ready for welding, I was getting a little impatient and just wanted to get it done. This was at my parents' house, and I live an hour away. Coming back another day just pushes everything out and I just wanted it finished. I need to move out of my apartment and into a house with a shed haha. Oh and in case you're wondering, filming this at work would have been so handy. More space, better lighting, close to home. I'm just not sure management would like me doing that haha Thanks, heaps, for your tips and thanks for watching. Very much appreciated. Cheers!

I had a Mongoose Expert growing up. Loved that BMX

Next up, get all 4 brakes to run off one lever.

@@BikesnLikes haha, when I first welded the tabs on, I put the rear (left hand) lever on the bars with the caliper on the forks. On the right hand I had the cantilever front brakes. Double front's, It was a death trap front flipping machine 🤣 It would be sick to somehow double up each lever to pull both brakes on. The ultimate stopping beast. I'm going to try 🤣

@@advanturest There are levers that pull 2 cables, made for people with a weakness in one hand due to injury, stroke etc. Grab two of those, some cable discs, keep the cantis - hit all 4 brakes hard and it will be like hitting a wall! You know you want to try it... 😂

Hey mate, There is a link in this video below where I got the measurements. although I just tried clicking it and the link no longer works. The video is worth a watch anyway as he seems to know what he is doing. I'll put the file on my own google drive and I'll put the link at the bottom of this message. The measurements give you the hole positions relative to the axle, but it's not super clear on the (what I'm going to call) the depth measurement. I just worked this out by putting a wheel, caliper, and adaptor on and took some measurements. It looks like the rear tab sits flush with the dropout but the front is about 4mm offset. On the front the tab sits a little wider than the dropout. I used a lathe to make the dummy axle and put a step in it which set that depth. In this video his jig slid hard against the dropout which gave that position. I think I'll make a new jig without using a lathe and make a video on it. I think it could be handy for others. Below is the Cobra Framebuilding video and the ISO standard PDF ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gr8ths8B0fk.html drive.google.com/file/d/103VPCjcqZun2pmUOlFm_5O-Qmd4zBDj2/view?usp=drive_link

Haha, glad I could help 😂

I now know what the next video is 😂 When I was editing this I was thinking the same, “I bet people will want to know how I made the jig / fixture”. Well I didn’t film that part because I made it after hours at work. I made the dummy axle in the lathe and then used the Magura ISO drawings to mark out a piece of steel that pivots on the dummy axle. A step in the axle and some specific size spaces have me the centre line.

Hey mate, I’ve had a few questions about this so I’m planning to make a quick video about it. Works a bit crazy at the moment so it may be a few weeks. Here is a link to the measurements. This is how I worked out how to make my jig. I’ll explain more when I do film something but this should help for now. drive.google.com/file/d/103VPCjcqZun2pmUOlFm_5O-Qmd4zBDj2/view?usp=drive_link

haha, they wouldn't be far off it. These are Shimano BR-M486 brakes. They came off a bike I bought in maybe 2010. The bike was a Giant Filter 2. They work fine so I'll keep using them until they die.

No I haven’t although I can probably give you some info here. I first welded tabs on a bike about 4 years ago and it was rough and position was all wrong. After watching a heap of videos I came across the Cobra Framebuilding channel. This video I’ve linked below is where I realised what I needed to do. He has the link to a PDF document with iso dimensions on it. I used this in my video. This gave me the dimensions I needed to make my jig. The central position was a little harder, I had to measure that. It’s a bit hard to put in words though. Have a watch of this video below and he may be able to explain things a little better. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gr8ths8B0fk.htmlsi=c8skE2fOZqhZOfLy

Was wondering how long it would take someone to come have a whinge. Very quick!

It seems you're a big fan of rim brakes! The Cantilever brakes on this Mongoose worked flawlessly. The pads also last forever which I love. As mentioned in the video. I've braised on bottle bosses on the forks and underneath the bottom tube for bikepacking equipment to attach to. The bike needed some paint and I wanted to practice welding. I needed a project to make that happen. Before painting I thought why not. I genuinely loved the feel of the rim brakes on this bike too. It was a tough decision to go ahead with this project but what put me over the line was the fact the bike cost me $25. If I decide I don't like it, I've seen plenty others on Marketplace. I can also put the rim brakes back on. Saying all this, Disc brakes have some major advantages and I have no concerns giving them a try. Also, the rims I've been using, they're nearly due to be replaced, not from cracking, from just been worn out from the brakes.

@@advanturest Thank you for your long response 😊 To all those interested, good pads for V-rims-brakes cannot (and should not) last long because in this case they will be very hard and abrasive hence the aluminum rims which are worn (other old steel rims were not at risk). Hence the importance of using, for example, BBB Tristop or Shimano pro and replacing them as soon as they are visibly damaged. And when it rains, I have to loosen the cable a little because the braking is a little more abrupt. Another advantage, sometimes the braking is still a little brutal and you just need to put a little organic oil (e.g. olive oil) with your finger on each side of the rim and this ensures smoother braking.

@@dpierre Very interesting. When I got this Mongoose I'd had a few old 90's bikes and all the brakes sucked. They were terrible. When I picked up the Mongoose the owner said it had been serviced. Not sure what that means exactly but the brakes worked really well and I just assumed the other bikes had old hard pads. hence the bad braking. I've been riding it for about 2 years now and the pads look due for replacement. I've been surprised at how long they have lasted. I've done quiet a few fully loaded trips too. I might have to purchase some of these pads you speak of and give them a try.

@dpierre chill out pdiddy!!