Trek Disc Brake conversion

[Ebrake]

I was wondering if my 2003 trek 4500 had provisions for disc brakes in the rear. I have searched and read about IS mounts and such, but nothing really specific to my appication. There are two holes about 50mm apart on the rear triangle that look like they could accomidate a rear caliper. Any information would be great, I am looking to upgrade to mechanical disc brakes.

[Brizn]

There are two holes about 50mm apart on the rear triangle that look like they could accomidate a rear caliper. ch-ching! Yup.. those are the disc brake mounts! Check to see if you have a disc hub on your rear wheel... around the center of the hub, there will be 6 females to which you would mount the disc rotor. If you don't see those holes.. you'll likely need to buy a disc hub or wheel.

[micky]

You will need to go to a trek (or a gary fisher) dealer and order a disc brake mount/adaptor. When I had to order one (several years ago) it cost about $15 at hudson trail outfitters in rockville. I dont know what other shops are dealers in the area so you may have to do a search or go to the trek bikes website.

[Ebrake]

Thanks for the info, I am pretty sure I am going to need new wheels, so I'll probally go tubeless as well. Once that bracket is added, I can use any brake setup or does it have to be hayes?

[g_barr]

I'm a Magura advocate but Hayes has good information (http://www.hayesdiscbrake.com/hayesu_product1.shtml) regarding positive ID of your break mounts (although it sounds like you have the IS mount on the rear). On the Introduction page, scroll down to "Mountain Bike Disc Brake Industry Standards" and compare the PDF diagrams with your fork and frame.

If you still have questions, Bike Doctor (http://www.bikedoctorwaldorf.com/) is your Trek dealer in Waldorf. The mtbr faq (http://www.mtbr.com/techtalks/brakes/brakesfaq.shtml) has some decent information as well.

Unless you have the a proprietary Trek mount in the rear or already bought the brakes, the only adapter you should need is for a 51mm (IS) caliper to fit a 74mm post-mount fork (or vice versa). If you're buying new brakes though, match the calipers to the mounts you have. Discs need to be properly aligned to work/wear well so avoiding adaptors is a good thing IMHO.

You don't need new wheels unless your old ones are damaged or you're concerned about weight (from lacing disc hubs into your caliper rims). The 2003 4500 probably came with standard hubs - check like Brizn suggested. The Hayes "U" link also shows what disc hubs should look like.

[jon_baler]

PM user "tkavan01", if he doesn't chime in. He did something similar (or exactly?) on his older trek. He was able to fabricate something rather buying everything from Trek and saved some $$$.

[Ebrake]

Well, I went to Bike Doctor of waldorf and Trek can get me the part. But while there, I saw the trek 6000, which had the disc brakes and a nice component list... So I am going to sleep on doing the conversion for now and maybe sell the 4500 and do a small upgrade to the 6000 or 6500. The guys at Bike Doctor where very enthusiastic to help me and offer suggestions. Great shop to deal with. Thanks to all who posted, great info.

BTW, for those interested in doing the modification themseleves, the part # is: 210648 and it costs $14.99.

[xmynameisdan]

Nevermind, didn't read all of the posts. :D