Salsa Cutthroat and Lauf bikes can run a 180mm rotor up front. Can any others?
**Not trolling**
But it begs the question why you would want to unless you were running a monster gravel esque build.
I run 160mm front and rear on 38mm tyres and at 100kg - no issue with stopping beyond the limitation of the tyres.
@letmetalktomark beat me to it. I run 160mm f/r and agree - I'd be kinda surprised why you'd need bigger on a gravel bike.
There must be a reason if the Cutthroat does it.
Perhaps I'd like to just not have to squeeze the levers so hard.
I'm just a chubster riding big and steeper hills at times (not necessarily more technical) and a 180 would suit me.
But it begs the question why you would want to unless you were running a monster gravel esque build.
Loaded riding, big hills, why not. Less lever pressure needed for the same brake effect. Generally, why wouldn't you go bigger unless it's real weight-weenie bike? FM160-180 is official now which is sort of predictable from the number of us who'd flipped the 160 mounts in CAD and seem how easily it would work and wanted to do it.
I use the Aztec flat mount adaptor to change to 180 on the front. I bought the rear adaptor as well, but that was poorly made and didn’t fit.
As you’d imagine, it does improve braking, especially when the bike is loaded with my fat arse and bikepacking gear.
Which gavel bikes can take a 180 rotor up front?
Hard to judge.
Okay, which gravel bikes have a fork rated for a 180mm rotor?
None of them are going to say that, but you won’t have a problem with a steel fork I’d have thought.
Mason ISO is 180mm front only I believe.
Bearclaw bikes have a 180 carbon gravel fork. Seems they also have a gorgeous ti gravel fork, but it's only 160mm
Are you going to hammer it?
Only if you have an x-ray machine.
Hard to judge.
Underrated
Underrated
Well, that’s a verdict, but not a sentence.
if the only difference is that you need less finger pressure to lock the front wheel, surely you could run an adapter on any fork and drop a 180mm rotor in there? theres no more force going through it than a 160mm rotor..
Goes without saying, but make sure the frame/fork can take the additional stresses to any big rotor additions.
