Brake bosses on the rear of the forks

[mgronow]

I have noticed that SJS do forks with the brake boss on the rear of the fork, making the front wheel set up like the back wheel.

Presumably this is meant to reduce squeal and maybe snatching...is this the idea? Anyone know if it works?

regards
m.

[AndyB]

I haven't got it to hand, but I think this was mentioned in a review in a recent Cycle magazine. It might have been the Thorn with S&S for the travelling article. Basically it didn't seem to have any effect, if I remember rightly.

Saw a bloke on the train this morning with his forks reversed... It looked very strange.

[mgronow]

Its true it does look a bit odd, but since the back wheel never seems to squeal and the front squeals and worse (i nearly went over the handle bars yesterday as cold damp weather really makes the front brake snatch scarily), i'd happily live with the odd looks.

I fiddle endlessly on my commuter trying to get the XT V-brakes working nicely...to no avail...

still if the review say "nay" its back to fiddling..thanks for the reply

m.

[hamster]

The turning force of the wheel forces the canti arms onto the fork, so possibly making it more secure...but there again I've never come across the end bolt snapping anyway...

[AndyB]

Its true it does look a bit odd, but since the back wheel never seems to squeal and the front squeals and worse (i nearly went over the handle bars yesterday as cold damp weather really makes the front brake snatch scarily), i'd happily live with the odd looks.

Sorry - I didn't make myself clear - on the bike I saw the forks (not just the brakes) were reversed, i.e., they curved towards the frame, not away.

I have the opposite situation on my bike - back squeals really badly (but, of course, I never use it!), while the front is silent. It's a fickle and unpredicable thing brake squeal...

I also had the opposite problem on the roads last night - up near us we had freezing fog giving a damp road after a long dry spell - really greasy so no chance of going over the top.

[Si]

Sorry - I didn't make myself clear - on the bike I saw the forks (not just the brakes) were reversed, i.e., they curved towards the frame, not away.

Are you sure that it wasn't just a case of someone mistakenly putting the fork on the wrong way arounjd? You weren't near "word corrected to Halfords" when you saw this were you?

[AndyB]

Are you sure that it wasn't just a case of someone mistakenly putting the fork on the wrong way arounjd? You weren't near "word corrected to Halfords" when you saw this were you?

That's what I assumed, as it was a cheap and newish-looking bike, so I mentioned it to the owner, who said he knew, but gave no explanation... Who knows why he'd done it?

[julk]

I have noticed that SJS do forks with the brake boss on the rear of the fork, making the front wheel set up like the back wheel.

I have some of those with XTR Vs fitted, acting on Sun Rhyno rims.

I use my bike laden and unladen, find the braking excellent and have very little noise in use (after the initial bedding in of the Shimano blocks).

[ddddddd]

Presumably this is meant to reduce squeal and maybe snatching...is this the idea?

I assumed the idea was to make a more powerful brake. When you brake the wheel is pushing the brake blocks forward. Amongst other things, this will tend to twist the brake around the axis of the fork blade (or stay). With rearward facing bosses this twisting adds to the force of the blocks on the rim, rather than diminishing it.

[jimcrosskell]

They used to fit Suntour self energising cantilever brakes onto their tandems. Since these were never built for front wheel use Thorn effectively used two sets of rear brakes per bike with a neat little wiggit on the front to make it all work.
Allegedly, for all you lawyers out there!
Backwinds forever....

[reohn2]

We've got a Thorn tandem with the brake arrangement that the OPer describes,It works OK but the cable arrangement makes it fiddly to set up and I've found I'm forever adjusting it which becomes tedious,so recently I converted to flat bars and V brakes which is much better,though the jury is still out on the flat bars and I may go back to drops with 287V levers.
As for snatch and squeal the front brake with the canti's on and unusual cable affaire can snatch if damp, though never squeals.I haven't had the V's on long enough yet to be able to give a fair asessment.

[Halit Osis]

Are you sure that it wasn't just a case of someone mistakenly putting the fork on the wrong way arounjd? You weren't near "word corrected to Halfords" when you saw this were you?

Oi! we're not all that bad...