Caliper Brakes: Nut vs Hex key

Richard Bates said:

Apart from the length of the bolt, is there any difference between
calipers that fix with nuts and those that fit with hexnut?

I'm pilfering parts from my sister's old bike and want to replace my
single pivot hex's with some dual pivot nutties. Apart from the slight
protrusion of bolt beyond what is needed, is there any safety reason
why I cannot swap these parts?

Hex key brakes save carrying a spanner about, but there's no safety reason
why they can't be swapped for nutted ones as long as they can be done up
tight.

Might not be room for, or possible to get at, the conventional nut when used
on certain carbon forks with narrow deep recesses. I don't think you'll be
able to use recessed (hex key) nuts with "nutted" brakes, unless perhaps
using a rear brake as a front, or there's enough thread for them to b cut
down. A recessed nut can't be fully tightened if the bolt is too long.

~PB

I wrote:
........

Quoted message said:

Might not be room for, or possible to get at, the conventional nut
when used on certain carbon forks with narrow deep recesses.

By "recess" there, I don't mean the hole for the recessed nut, but the area
surrounding it.

~PB

Pete Biggs said:

Richard Bates said:

I'm pilfering parts from my sister's old bike and want to replace my
single pivot hex's with some dual pivot nutties. Apart from the slight

Quoted message said:

Hex key brakes save carrying a spanner about, but there's no safety reason
why they can't be swapped for nutted ones as long as they can be done up
tight.

.... And they work like a dream. Exage 300 is so much nicer than NoName.
Springs are less stiff too so hopefully the middle finger on my right
hand (front brake) will stop hurting.

In article <[email hidden]>, Richard Bates
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Apart from the length of the bolt, is there any difference between
calipers that fix with nuts and those that fit with hexnut?

I'm pilfering parts from my sister's old bike and want to replace my
single pivot hex's with some dual pivot nutties. Apart from the slight
protrusion of bolt beyond what is needed, is there any safety reason why
I cannot swap these parts?

You should probably use a bush in the larger fixing hole to stop the
fixing bolt moving. If you don't mind having odd calipers just use the
recessed rear caliper on your forks (should be the right length bolt,
and your existing allen-key nut should fit) and you'll see a marked
improvement in braking - the back brake doesn't do much anyway.