Are Disc Brakes Worth the $$$

Warwick2x

On the flat they are un-necessary. In the hills they are great. I wore out some V pads one day in the filth. Made a mess of the wheel, and the pads in just 4 hours. Discs dont have the same wear issues, plus they brake harder.

smitha

My current bike came with Magura disc brakes which had great stopping power but constantly squeeled and required adjustment. I upgraded theses to Shimano XT 4 pots and have never looked back. They never need adjusting, they never squeel and they have great modulation. They are the best thing I have bought for my bike, always reliable when you push your bike to the limit on tight fast tracks and when hammering down decents.

triguy98

I use Vs with no regrets. If i lived out west or somewhere it loooong bomber downhills, it would be different. Even in the techincal parks here, the Vs are jsut fine, even in the wet or mud.

__________________
'05 GF Cake DLX SRAM X-9, 'Zocchi MX Comp, Avid BB7
Trek Equinox 7: 105, all stock, all fast
'99 GT XCR5000: LX/XT, Avid SDs, Judy XC
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Life is short, ride hard. BONZAI!!!!

darkhelmet

I run Vs, but like the OP, I'm thinking of going disc on my late model Rockhopper. I just wanted to say, I'm impressed with the number of posts supporting mechanical discs over hydraulic discs and Vs. I've been told to go the hydraulic route, but that costs more. I just want to say thanks to the other posts on this thread 'cause they're helping me make up my mind.

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A.J. Adams

We have 4 bikes in our family, and we ride on a regular basis. Right now, only my bike (a Mongoose XR500) has a disk brake. It is definatly worth it. The disk, even on our non-extreme general trail useage bikes, the disk has been much less maintenance and beter performance. Right now, the other three bikes are being replaced with full suspension front disk bikes, and my Mongoose is in the shop where they are coming up with an estimate for putting on a rear disk.

bobbyOCR

Yes, disc brakes are one of the best things to come off a motor bike since suspension, but you need a good set. I have a friend who got a dodgy malvern star rock trail with tektro I-O. THEY ARE THE WORST BRAKES AND ROTORS DO NOT BUY he brings it to me to fix every week. he tried fixing himself, got oil on the pads and rotors, and now his bike is out of commission. Aside from that, once the rotors are bent, even a little, an annoying scratching constantly comes from them, because of rubbing. I have a set of hayes mx-3s, excellent stopping, no problems, hard to bend the rotors. Disc brakes are only good if you buy a good set, there is a point at which they surpass v-brakes.

ahodson4519

My old ride had V Brakes. Bad Idea. I bought a Giant Yukon after I staked my old one when my brake pads just sliped on the rim when it rained when I was flying down the side of a hill. I then actually flew when I went over the edge and spent the next 4 months in hospital. Took another 3 years till I could ride a bike again. That track still scares me went it rains though.

triguy98

So you were going to fast downhill in the wet? And its the brakes fault? Even with discs, ya gotta be careful when its wet. Discs are not a license to ride dangerously. Know your limits, and youre bikes, and you wont get hurt. I've ridden in the rain plenty of times, and as long as you are careful with how you brake youre not gonna get hurt.

__________________
'05 GF Cake DLX SRAM X-9, 'Zocchi MX Comp, Avid BB7
Trek Equinox 7: 105, all stock, all fast
'99 GT XCR5000: LX/XT, Avid SDs, Judy XC
------------------------------------------------------
Life is short, ride hard. BONZAI!!!!

dvddobson

disc are better in every way. cable disc dont have the power of hydraulic. if yao say they are finnicky then you probably dont know haw to change a tire.... having the right tools is a plus.. i have been riding since 75.. bmx road and mtb i had the giant brand..mph..on my giant they were ok but i put avid juicy 5's on my khs fr 2000 they are easy to install great power and modulation.. hayes on my 06 stinky...if you want to go fast in all conditions you have to be able to make the turns.

theloops

disks are awesome, but sometimes they can be dumb like when the brake pads are wearing out and stuff it gets kinda anoying! but they are worth it.

mudhugger

I ride trails at least once a week. The hills are too far away, I want to push myself. I look for mud, and end up in it over my neck. For every five minutes of cycling I spend ten minutes of wiping mud from each side of my wheels and v-brakes.

I 'm soooooo looking forward to my new bike with discs plopping through the letterbox.

OldNickToo

My feeling is that this applies to the whole bike :-< As you say, dodgy. Bike shop kmart stuff.

John90210

Yello I'm new to this forum.

Phhh disk brakes... what a waste of money.





Disk brakes are excellent, if you ride anywhere muddy they're a must have.

On a dry day with no mud it wouldn't matter whether you have disk brakes or not. There isn't a huge difference in their power between V-brakes, mechanical disks and hydraulics although hydraulic disk brakes will certainly make braking easier in any condition.

Mechanical disks have the same power as hydraulics you just need to set them up correctly and have strong enough hands and fingers to give them a good yank.

Another bonus of disks is that if you have a bike with painted rims they will not have the paint worn down over time.

OldNickToo

WOT!?? You never pulled on the rim brakes and heard that horrid metal-on-metal grind? Boy! You must be either obsessed or rich! <G>.