Hello there.

I have been following this forum for a little while but have yet to say hi, so there it is!

Last year i bought myself a Planet x kaffenback and built it as a commuter/touring sort of bike. It has been great on both accounts and could not ask for a better bike.

I am now looking to do a bit more off road type stuff and am also kicking myself for not getting the Disc option frame/fork, but the canti one. I guess the two questions are:

What would I need to change/do to make my frame and forks compatible for disc brakes ?

What changes would you suggest to make my Kaff (pictured below) a bit more off road friendly !?

Is it a Mk1 or Mk2 swap-out frame?

It looks from your picture like you have the mk2 frame with swapouts and disc mounts.

Adding a disc caliper to the frame then is easy – it will just bolt straight on. You will need new forks though – with a disc caliper mount.

You will need to change the wheels though (or at the very least the hubs in your current ones, which prob. wont be very cost effective) to disc-compatible ones – so the hubs have the mounting bolt holes for the discs.

It could end up costing quite a bit!

I’d investigate mini-v’s first – they are infinitely better than canti brakes in my experience, and will work with your existing set up. They should only cost £30 for both front and rear.

What ^ he said.

I also concur with cp, i have the same frame (in black though) and also went for the canti braked forks, i already had 3 sets of wheels to use with it and so new wheels was an unnecessary expense.
Originaly i set mine up with canti’s but i wasn’t entirely happy with the set up so swapped to mini v’s (£20 the set from PX). The difference is like night and day, better power and modulation.
I’m sure discs will be another step up, but for now they can wait, and i’d be happy using the mini v’s off road as well.

Thanks for all the replies. Really great to be able to get so much knowledge from somewhere.

Although it would be an expensive option I think in the long run I would like to step up to discs so wil look into it and build up a set up hunting out bargains when i spot them !

What wheelset & tyres would people suggest for this sort of set up ? was thinking about these:

http://www.wtb.com/products/tires/hybrid/crosswolf/

I’m in the process of converting my Kaffenback from cantis to discs.

Got a pair of Avid BB5 calipers from CRC a while back for a tenner a piece. Need to specify road calipers if you are using road shifter/brakes.

I bought my Kaff with the disc and canti fork, so that bit’s done. So you’ll need a disc fork like this….Kaff Forks £39.99. If you have the later Kaff frame it should have a disc mount rear left dropout, so will be waiting for you.

Then you’ll need some disc wheels. Hybrid ones will be fine like these

I’ve bought some Novatech hubs and Mavic A119 rims and am building my own wheels – first time, but lots of encouragement and advice from here and HERE

CP

Sir I congratulate you that is the fuglyest Kaff I have ever seen 😯

that’s the OP’s – I was helping him post his image!

Mine (s/h but newly built today!) is far nicer 🙂

I like the OP’s bike, looks proper retro but with a modern twist.

With regards to the OP’s question about disc wheels, well isuppose it depends on main usage, i intend to put discs on in the future i’m just not in a rush, when i do the main use will be road riding and i’ll probably go for Mavic open pro’s on Shimano XT hubs or Hopes if the budget stretches that far. Ireckon they would be fine for all road riding, light touring and the odd bit of cross.