A solution to NOT drill your track forks and have a normal front brake nonetheless

http://www.ison-distribution.com/ison/english/product.php?part=FKITRBA
Couldn't you buy something like these and run a cantilever on the front?

I think a few people are missing the point here.
There are plenty of things he could use, but he's trying to make something a little more elegant.

He has access to all the equipment needed to manufacture something himself so why not?
The fact that there are other options out there already is no reason to not try a different approach.

I'm all for inventing AND bodging personally. :]

if you have you ever encountered a starnut in real life...

I'm a City and Guilds qualified car mechanic, a Cytech qualified bicycle mechanic, an ex-professional fabricator for the film industry, and I'm doing a masters degree in vehicle design; I'm perfectly aware of what a starnut does. They bend, the threads strip, they wiggle about and get stuck at odd angles etc. What I'm saying is, they won't last long under any kind of reasonable force or if you're removing and replacing the brake often, and replacing them will be a shit job that you have to do regularly. Hence me suggesting a screw anchor.

I'm a City and Guilds qualified car mechanic, a Cytech qualified bicycle mechanic, an ex-professional fabricator for the film industry, and I'm doing a masters degree in vehicle design; I'm perfectly aware of what a starnut does. They bend, the threads strip, they wiggle about and get stuck at odd angles etc. What I'm saying is, they won't last long under any kind of reasonable force or if you're removing and replacing the brake often, and replacing them will be a shit job that you have to do regularly. Hence me suggesting a screw anchor.

Yeah, well, you know. That's just like, your opinion, man.

Mad idea but if you're running a threadless headset you could use a longer bolt through the top cap screwing into a tall plug at the bottom. The stem would retain the headset load whilst the rest was being faffed with and a two inch tall bottom plug would probably spread the load out reasonably over the crown and the lower steerer tube.

Can draw you a picture if you like.

I think a few people are missing the point here.
There are plenty of things he could use, but he's trying to make something a little more elegant.

He has access to all the equipment needed to manufacture something himself so why not?
The fact that there are other options out there already is no reason to not try a different approach.

I'm all for inventing AND bodging personally. :]

exactamondo

Ha - Well said

I think we can now move on from the starnut debate/argument/slangmatch.

It is ultimately his decision as it would seem that he's going to be the only one who uses it.

Ok, how do you remove the flex from a material which can only have a thickness of 2mm?

I'm a City and Guilds qualified car mechanic, a Cytech qualified bicycle mechanic, an ex-professional fabricator for the film industry, and I'm doing a masters degree in vehicle design

You have just failed in the argument. I everyone's minds you are now a self important twat who cares for nothing more that some shiny paper.

Nothing against you personally but you just started on your journey to a lost argument. Never quote your achievements.

aren't most steerer tubes rather butted?

Ok, how do you remove the flex from a material which can only have a thickness of 2mm?

Your thinking is too one-dimensional, sonny.

aren't most steerer tubes rather butted?

That's something I'd like to find out more about. They are definitely butted in a way, my own forks for example are (like every 1inch fork of course) 22.2mm inside at the top, and 19 at the bottom.
As I am not at home at the moment I can't measure if thats a soft transition up to a certain point, or if there's a step involved.

You have just failed in the argument. I everyone's minds you are now a self important twat who cares for nothing more that some shiny paper.

Nothing against you personally but you just started on your journey to a lost argument. Never quote your achievements.

No, real-world qualifications are much more than 'shiny paper'. I worked fucking hard for them, and do you know what, it does kinda mean that I have a lot of experience in mechanical things (enough to think that a screw anchor would be preferable to a starnut, at least). I'm not trying to say that a)I know more than anyone else or b)anyone who doesn't have relevant qualifications doesn't have relevant knowledge.

What 'argument' anyway? Are you arguing about whether or not I know what a starnut is, or whether or not it's preferable to a screw anchor? Either way, I've proved my point, so nothing against you personally, but piss off.

That's something I'd like to find out more about. They are definitely butted in a way, my own forks for example are (like every 1inch fork of course) 22.2mm inside at the top, and 19 at the bottom.
As I am not at home at the moment I can't measure if thats a soft transition up to a certain point, or if there's a step involved.

The last couple of steerer tubes I've inspected that closely have had a reasonably smooth transition, maybe 5mm or so. That said, they were both Claud Butler forks from the 50s - although they weren't the same model and had different crowns, they'd probably be pretty similar.

Either way, I suppose the stem could have two expanders to keep it snug no matter what the butting is like, then top it with your security device of choice.

Unfortunately though it was Mr Smyth who asked if you'd seen a star nut in real life. :]

^ Heh. I suppose I should edit it a bit.

^ Heh. I suppose I should edit it a bit.

What, this...

Oh piss off. I made a slip up in explaining why I wouldn't want a starnut, so you told me that I knew nothing about them. I prove otherwise, and then explain precisely why I would choose a screw anchor over a star nut, and then you say that I've lost the argument. That doesn't make any sense to me.

And no, real-world qualifications are much more than 'shiny paper'. I worked fucking hard for them, and do you know what, it does kinda mean that I have a lot of experience in mechanical things (enough to think that a screw anchor would be preferable to a starnut, at least). I'm not trying to say that a)I know more than anyone else or b)anyone who doesn't have relevant qualifications doesn't have relevant knowledge; you specifically said that I had no experience of star nuts in a very insulting way so I simply told you otherwise and went on to explain my idea of why a screw anchor is preferable in a bit more detail.

Why on earth were you so hostile in the first place? You could've just said 'you don't need to remove the star nut every time' and I would've said 'whoops yeah what I mean to say was...'. Instead you tried to personally insult me, and then you did it again when I explained my thoughts a bit better! Grow up FFS!

What 'argument' anyway? Are you arguing about whether or not I know what a starnut is, or whether or not it's preferable to a screw anchor? Either way, I've proved my point, so nothing against you personally, but once again, piss off.

;]

Gah! I got Q'd FT!

I was just pointing out that no matter what you say it's not going to change Jetski's views.

you will also have to remember that most steerer tubes are about x'' long, into which you will be sticking a quill stem. you're gonna need at roughly 3'' to 4'' inc wedge.
then coming up from the under side at least 1 1/2'' to 2'' max for the brake wedge/bung to get a decent / secure purchase.

I was just pointing out that no matter what you say it's not going to change Jetski's views.

You didn't mention Jetski, you didn't mention anything to do with clamp-on brakes, you didn't even mention mechanics in general; all you did was slag me off. I wasn't even talking to Jetski in the first place anyway, just throwing some ideas out there.

This is stupid. I'm not saying anything else about it.

I was just pointing out that no matter what you say it's not going to change Jetski's views.

Not true, this is what Mr Jetski said when I implied he didn't want feedback/views;

• I did like a lot of the feedback I got
  
• Several ideas of people here will actually go into the next design
  

ill make yah one!!!

any news? I'm interested by that piece of equipment...

just get a clamp on brake