My brake doesn't fit?

Hello,

I've got a Holdsworth frame with matching forks. The brake mounting hole is roughly 7mm across. I've got a Shimano R450 Front Brake and the locking nut part of it is about 8mm across with a wider bit 10mm across at the end. The lock nut looks like it needs to go into the hole and rest on the wider part but it's too big. Is there any way of getting this brake to fit the forks?

Cheers.

buy a new bike.

And give me the Holdsworth.

Thanks - helpful

What you have is a recessed nut. What you need is a normal nut. The bolt on the brake will be too short however.

You either need a new brake or you may be able to put the nut on inside the steerer tube. Might work well might be shit but it's cheap to try.

Ok. How old is the frame? Does the brake have an allen key fitting?
If so, you can drill the rear hole on the fork to take the 8mm hex head, or you could strip the brake down an fit a longer bolt to accept a standard nut.

Thanks Ant yeah I tried putting the nut on inside but then the end of the tread was too far inside the tube for the nut to be able to make contact.

Fruitbat - The frame is early to mid 80's I believe. As you suggest the brake has an allen key fitting I wondered about drilling the hole bigger but wasn't too keen on that idea.

Stripping the brake to fit a longer bolt and using a regular nut seems like a better idea. Any ideas where I could source a longer bolt from?

Pretty much any decent hardware store i would imagine.

I'd have thought that mid 80s Holdsworths would take an allen key bolt. I don't think that it's a real problem to drill it out . Check Sheldon and ask your LBS.
I still prefer my original idea.

Unless you are planning to go back ant use the older style brakes at any point, there isn't any harm in drilling the forks (only the rear hole though!). It's a pretty simple operation.

Unless you are planning to go back ant use the older style brakes at any point, there isn't any harm in drilling the forks (only the rear hole though!). It's a pretty simple operation.

Agree, a drilling job doesn't get more simple than drilling an already existing hole a little bit bigger. Not as though you can misalign it is it :-)

+1 drill it, looks tidier 'incasso'

The best bet is drilling the rear brake hole on the forks (widenng it to 8mm), you need a slow-spinning, high torque drill - with a metal cutting drill bit. If you don't have this, then get a bike shop (with a reputable workshop) to do it. Drilling the fork means that there are a lot more modern brakes that you can use with your bike.
Don't drill if you think that there is a chance you might put an old/vintage style brake on it in the future!

hmm ok I guess drilling it should be simple enough - I've got a pretty good drill and a bunch of metal drill bits so hopefully will have an 8mm. I'll give it a go.

Thanks for all the advice.

• if I completely f*ck it up I'll give the forks to fruitbat ;)
  

Securing the forks in a vice would be a good idea. But when i did mine, i did it with the forks still on the bike, and my dad holding them and the bike in place - its really easy.

A friend of mine has a workshop - pretty sure he's got a pillar drill so might get him to do it on that.

that would work.

Assuming the rear brake bridge is drilled for a standard old-type brake fitting with nut, rather than the Allen key recessed nut, you will then have a mismatch between the front and rear fittings. This may not matter to you if you are using a front brake only, or if you don't mind that mismatch, or if you drill the rear as well, or... (fill in your own reason here), but you need to be aware of it.

A lot of modern rear brakes still use nut and bolt, and not recessed allen key fittings...

I only need a front brake so no probs

drill it out, its easy peasy, don't need to bother with a piller drill. you can't fuck it up unless you are a) no handed b) stupid