I have recently been given a Formula Oro K18, unfortunatley it failed to come with the 180mm rear is mount, would it be ok to use a Shimano 180mm mount instead?
I thought front mounts usually were a size lower if you put them on the rear. My 160 Avid mount becomes a 140 when you put it on the rear. Really confused me when I was looking for a 140 rear online and couldn't find a single one.
there are differences with mounts, avid and hayes will work with each other's brackets, but shimano and those aren't interchangeable,as for formula I dunno, but mine looks different again to all of those above, so may be interchangeable with shim. or avid/hayes.
The thing is the position of the piston and geometry of the caliper, avid pistons are off towards one end of the bracket and shimano are central, formula are central but the slot for the disc appears to be at a different angle to the shimano, the bracket looks dead weird when fitted to the fork/frame and I had to double check it wasn't upside down! The caliper is in a whole different position to the shimano, so I doubt it will work.
You're only gonna lose £3/4 to find out though, unless you already have one, then give it a go!
The mounts will almost definitly not work, I had a similar problem with my new formula the one brakes, I managed to get the correct mount from uk bike store, http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk they didn't have them listed on the website but after emailing them they told me they have them in stock and a day later it turned up cost me £10, they seem to be the best place for formula spares, I should be on commision or something......
Well i put it on and it seems to have worked, however, my front brake which is using the correct mount squeels like a pig and also has a serious lack of power, on top of this the lever seems to take longer than the rear brake to return once released. The rear brake also squeels like buggery.
Well I got in touch with UKBikeStore and they sent out another adaptor asap, it has arrived but it is the wrong mount, front 180mm or rear 160mm, will have to drop them another e-mail. However they are quick to reply so i am not too bothered about the mistake.