Disc or v brakes

rtd131

Hey guys, I need some help. I currently have an '06 schwinn mesa and i'm decidineg wether or not i need discs. Performance bike says it'll cost about $300 bucks to upgrade (rims, brakes, instalation,ect...). Are they worth the price? Also, is hydraulic better than mechanical. Avid or Hayes (or even tektro?!).
Thanks for your help

alfeng

You won't need new rims, but you'll probably need new hubs ...

You can probably do the brake installation ... but, if Performance Bike will do the job for $300, I guess that sounds fair enough considering your wheels need to be relaced OR replaced.

BTW. Your V-brakes are probably fine for most riding. Mechanical brakes are fine, IMO, for "regular" riding ...

Is the potential change for ROAD or TRAIL riding?

Are you planning on riding through wet/muddy/snowy conditions?

What are OTHERS in your area using for the type of riding you're planning on doing?

rtd131

Thanks for your help! I bike to school, but i do a lot of winter and x-country riding. I can't get to my bike shop today, but around how much would it cost if i got new hubs instead of new rims. Would it be just as expensive as a new wheelset? and also, is installing discs easy? Thanks again for your help

alfeng

FWIW. For the time being, before you pony up for disc brakes, you may want to look into installing some SINTERED brake pads (they are an ORANGE color) ... basically, like having an "ink" eraser in your brake holders instead of an eraser for pencils ... sintered pads were originally (?) intended for wet/all weather braking ...

A drawback to sintered pads (there also used to pads that were only HALF sintered & half regular) is that they will wear through the rim's braking surface faster ... I suppose that some people might wear through a rim in one year, and someone else may never enduce that much wear.

Some disc calipers are easier to install than others ... I think as many people install their own as have the shop do it. I think that, other than cabling (or hydraulic lines), you only (?) need to worry about whether or not you need to add washers to get the caliper centered over the disc ... not all hubs will locate the disc in the same offset from the center of the hub as others.

If you switch to discs, it is recommended (though not mentioned often enough) to mount the quick release so that it is on the RIGHT side (opposite the disc) to limit the likelihood of burning your hand if you've got a "hot" disc should you need to remove the wheel ...

BTW. It's probably cheaper to buy a set of disc wheels off of eBay (new OR used) than to have new hubs relaced on your current wheels UNLESS you can do it yourself ... regardless, a disc hub can use ANY rim ... I just did a "test" lacing (i.e., I miscalculated the spoke length & need to relace it with different spokes) of a 27" rim on a Hugi disc front hub ... and, I've previously laced a set of 700c rims on a set of Shimano disc hubs as well as (of course) 26" rims ...

garage sale GT

Installing cable operated discs is a bolt-on. Don't go nuts on the torque especially if you have a suspension fork cast from a light alloy.

They stay out of the snow and gritty slush better, so they stop better and last longer, and you're wearing out an easily replaced disc, not a rim. However, I found v-brakes do work in the snow. I personally would ride on them until they get too gouged up, then consider an upgrade.

Lacing a new hub into a wheel would be pricey unless you can do it yourself, and you'll need new spokes too.

Tektro and Nashbar house brand work fine. Don't know about the better ones.

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