L-twoo hydraulic calipers with 180mm rotors at the front?

[Serge_K]

Hello. Running L-twoo er9, looking to get 180mm rotor at the front, looking for the right adaptor.
I've been using a 180mm disc at the rear since day 1, works very well, adaptor was cheap on bikeinn: caliper, the 140mm adaptor provided by l-twoo, then the 140 to 180mm adaptor.
Anybody knows what to use at the front? is there an adaptor that would take the front caliper and make it fit a flat mount fork, w 180mm discs? I don't want to buy Peak Torque's adaptor because it's too expensive.
I'm hoping for a cheap solution.
I've just realized that the caliper is not flat mount, does anyone know what the native format is, before putting on adaptors? isn't there something to take that caliper, and turn it into flat mount, to run a 180mm disc?

[jonathanf2]

Hello. Running L-twoo er9, looking to get 180mm rotor at the front, looking for the right adaptor.
I've been using a 180mm disc at the rear since day 1, works very well, adaptor was cheap on bikeinn: caliper, the 140mm adaptor provided by l-twoo, then the 140 to 180mm adaptor.
Anybody knows what to use at the front? is there an adaptor that would take the front caliper and make it fit a flat mount fork, w 180mm discs? I don't want to buy Peak Torque's adaptor because it's too expensive.
I'm hoping for a cheap solution.
I've just realized that the caliper is not flat mount, does anyone know what the native format is, before putting on adaptors? isn't there something to take that caliper, and turn it into flat mount, to run a 180mm disc?

Are you using 180mm for gravel? I almost feel like that's overkill for road!

According to the 80 Design Store description:
Brake compatibility: It's compatible for 70mm post mount, not 74mm, not flat mount.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805736144268.html?

So I'm guessing you'll need to find some sort of 70mm post mount to flat mount adapter.

[frnchy]

Are you using 180mm for gravel? I almost feel like that's overkill for road!

According to the 80 Design Store description:
Brake compatibility: It's compatible for 70mm post mount, not 74mm, not flat mount.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805736144268.html?

So I'm guessing you'll need to find some sort of 70mm post mount to flat mount adapter.

I'm pretty sure that's because the calipers use their weird proprietary spacing that's then taken down to the usual flatmount dimensions with the funky-looking plate that goes between the caliper and the frame.

Of the three 180 mm adapters I know of, only the Peak Torque one makes use of the preexisting 140/160 front adapter plate, so I'm pretty sure that's the only option that would work with LTwoo calipers. One of the other two - https://analogcycles.com/products/discord-180mm-flat-mount-disc-brake-fork-adapter - comes with 2 plates, one of which functions as a stock 140/160 mm adapter (and comes with the amazingly helpful instructions "Two piece design. You'll see why that has to the be case when you get it." - great job guys  ). The last adapter I know of - https://www.uberbikecomponents.com/view-product/Uberbike-Flatmount-Adapter-180mm-Front- mounts directly to the caliper and fork leg, so it won't work with the weird LTwoo spacing. Also it's fugly in its own right...

[Serge_K]

Balls

I'm over 80kg. Alpine descent, 90-95kg object at 80+kmh going into a hairpin: the weight penalty being trivial, I'd take 200mm rotors if i could. All the more now that bikes are so aero, you can't slow down from draggy tyres, wide bars, loose clothing and so on. All the energy goes into the rotors.
And if you happen to be stuck behind a car, then you're almost sure to get the rotors to haul, because you're forced to brake much more.

Maybe the cheaper solution is to find some hydraulic caliper + the right adaptor to flat mount fork.

Edit: for those with flat mount forks, and either a true flat mount caliper (like shimano road) or post mount calipers, these adaptors exist (also on aliexpress for less money).
This i think makes the peak torque adaptor redundant for shimano road, in that it does the same thing but costs several times more?

[jonathanf2]

How about 4 piston MTB calipers:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805889053783.html

Paired with post-to-flat mount adapters:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805758329805.html

You'll get more pad-on-disc contact and more braking force. You might not need to go 180mm front. Only issue is that you might have clearance issues with the rear chain stay. If you do opt for 180mm front disc, you'll need to mix adapters. On one of the gravel FB forums I peruse, 180mm front disc is pretty common with some of the larger cyclists and bike packers.

[Serge_K]

How about 4 piston MTB calipers:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805889053783.html

Paired with post-to-flat mount adapters:
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805758329805.html

You'll get more pad-on-disc contact and more braking force. You might not need to go 180mm front. Only issue is that you might have clearance issues with the rear chain stay. If you do opt for 180mm front disc, you'll need to mix adapters. On one of the gravel FB forums I peruse, 180mm front disc is pretty common with some of the larger cyclists and bike packers.

Thanks, that does look like this would work! adaptor for flat mount forks, 180mm, for post mount brakes! 4 piston & larger pads, you'd expect them to brake at least as well as road setups, and should legitimately brake better!
I'm already running 180mm at the back, the adaptor is widely available so i made the upgrade when i built my bike. works fine, i can vouch for it.

[Ludo]

The z race calipers wouldn’t allow you to go to 180 with correct adaptor? Seems popular upgrade given than they are offered together with Ltwoo Hydraulic groupset on aliexpress. Save quite a bit of weight too

[jonathanf2]

Thanks, that does look like this would work! adaptor for flat mount forks, 180mm, for post mount brakes! 4 piston & larger pads, you'd expect them to brake at least as well as road setups, and should legitimately brake better!
I'm already running 180mm at the back, the adaptor is widely available so i made the upgrade when i built my bike. works fine, i can vouch for it.

I was actually thinking of using these 4 piston calipers for my gravel bike, but I've opted to keep all my bikes using the L05A Shimano pads just to avoid having to buy separate components.

Anyways, if you get those 4 piston ZRace calipers, report back how they work on a road setup.

[Ludo]

I have these on my mtb and I am
Pretty happy with them, but not a lot of big hill to go down to in Houston…

[lantz]

Thanks, that does look like this would work! adaptor for flat mount forks, 180mm, for post mount brakes! 4 piston & larger pads, you'd expect them to brake at least as well as road setups, and should legitimately brake better!
I'm already running 180mm at the back, the adaptor is widely available so i made the upgrade when i built my bike. works fine, i can vouch for it.

I think I'm going to go this route.

The adapter that you Jonathan shared seems to *only* be rear? I should be able to get a 180mm adapter and put it on front and a 160mm adapter and put it on back to accommodate those 4-piston post mount mtb calipers, yeah?

[Serge_K]

I think I'm going to go this route.

The adapter that you Jonathan shared seems to *only* be rear? I should be able to get a 180mm adapter and put it on front and a 160mm adapter and put it on back to accommodate those 4-piston post mount mtb calipers, yeah?

I think I found a 180mm adapter a la Peak Torque. I'm about to order a bunch.

[lantz]

I think I found a 180mm adapter a la Peak Torque. I'm about to order a bunch.

Oi, do share! I had the adapter listed above with a set of 4-piston post mounts in my cart and canceled them because the spcycle store told me they only offer the 180mm flat-to-post adapter for rear.

[Serge_K]

Oi, do share! I had the adapter listed above with a set of 4-piston post mounts in my cart and canceled them because the spcycle store told me they only offer the 180mm flat-to-post adapter for rear.

It's this i'm eyeing. https://www.lewisbike.com/lewis-fm-f-adapter.html
The issue is that i dont understand how it works. I've just emailed them to explain to me. So many holes, i dont see which ones have threads, not sure what threads where. I do know my fork is flat mount with 70mm between the holes in the fork, but beyond that...

[lantz]

It's this i'm eyeing. https://www.lewisbike.com/lewis-fm-f-adapter.html
The issue is that i dont understand how it works. I've just emailed them to explain to me. So many holes, i dont see which ones have threads, not sure what threads where. I do know my fork is flat mount with 70mm between the holes in the fork, but beyond that...

I've been curious about this because there are a fuck ton of options out there like this - suppose that as long as they sit well as a +20mm spacer between the L-Twoo adapter and the frame, it's all gravy?

[Serge_K]

I think it's going to work.
Current setup on fork is ltwoo 160mm (using ltwoo hardware from the box).
the adaptor says 160 to 180mm.
Using longer screws, the adaptor goes between the fork and the existing setup as pictured above.
None of the holes in the adaptor are threaded, so it's really just a spacer, someone courageous enough might just put shims really...

So, the current setup is threaded into the fork at 70mm interval. I'll add the adaptor, using longer screws. And voila. In theory.
On the picture here, the 34mm spaced holes will not be used. I guess that's to screw on a shimano FM caliper, at which point i think you have a 160mm setup, not 180. Anyway, i dont run shimano.

That sounds simple, but it took me over a year to find that stuff at a reasonable price (12 usd + shipping). It should cost 4 bucks, but hey ho.