Mountain Biking - hydraulic disc vrs mechanical

I realise that there must be a thread somewhere with this information, but i can't find it. I was wondering if someone could tell me if its possible to swap mechanical disc brakes to hydraulic, i am looking to get a Kona Blast 2006. It comes with the following spec....

Frame: Kona 7005 Aluminium Butted All Mountain
Fork: Marzocchi MZ-3
Gears: Shimano Acera-X front and rear derailleurs
Shifters: Shimano SL-MC20
Chainset: Truvativ FiveD with 22 32 and 42 tooth chainrings
Brakes: Hayes MX-2 discs
Wheels: King Kong Disc front hub and Shimano disc rear with Alex- Ace18 rims
Tyres: Nokian NBT
Handle Bars: Kona Riser
Stem: Kona Control
Saddle: Kona Comfort
Seatpost: Kalloy

But i have my heart set on hydraulic brakes, is this just advertising going to my head. Is there much difference between performance, durability etc etc.

You can always swap out mech's for hydros. If you want em', then get em'.

But really, there is no point in having $400 worth of brakes on a bike with an Acera deraillers

Is there?

My point is, get a better bike if you want hydros. If this is all you can afford, then that's cool. Stick with the Mech's. Maybe ask to swap the Hayes out for BB7's

First, its your riding style. If swapping to hydros gives you the edge and cures a "bottleneck" in your riding style, then go for it.

However, I wonder if swapping to a set of Avids would be a better idea than upgrading to hydros. Avid mechanicals from what lots of people say will stop as good as most hydros, and you won't have to upgrade your brake levers. The money saved with a better mechanical set rather than hydros can be used to upgrade parts of the drivetrain for better shifting.

These might help

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=225762&highlight=hydraulic

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=217506&highlight=hydraulic

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=205144&highlight=hydro

I'd suggest just going with some avid mech's. I've never used hydro's so I can't say how big of a difference there is between hydro's and mech's, but from what I've heard not much. I think you will be more than happy with Avid mech's, and the money you save can go to other areas of your bike that may need upgrading. I will say though, if you're serious enough of a rider to be thinking of hydro's, you may want to consider upgrading your fork.

And these . . .
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=127383
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=117840
The search function is your friend :)

The search function is your friend :)

And everyone elses. How many Hydro v Mech and Hardtail v Dual sus threads are there on this forum.

Not having a go at the person that started this thread, it can take a while to get a hang of the right terms and stuff to use.

Avids will be just as good. I personaly cant tel lthe diff between Avid mechs and XTR hydros.

Avids will be just as good. I personaly cant tel lthe diff between Avid mechs and XTR hydros.
i can
avid mech > xtr hydro

I am building up a new hardtail and I had every intention of going with new 2007 Juicy 7's. However, after visiting the Avid website, I notice the BB7's are 100 grams lighter than the Juicy 7's. Not to mention they are $100 cheaper. So I get better moduation with the hydros? I still don't know what that means. My current bike has XTR v-brakes so I am entering new territory with discs.

Wait a minute, do the mechs. come with levers? Are they really 100g lighter or is that because they don't come with levers?

Modulation results in better performance and feel.

hydraulic brakes are nice. i have Hope and Juicy 5 and like them both http://www.observedtrials.net/vb/images/smilie/wiggle.gif

i love my Juicy 5

My rear hydro line wore a hole & almost caused me to wipe-out flyin DH about 2 yrs. ago.

The line had rubbed the rear swingarm so many times that it wore a hole in the line & the fluid emptied-out after two finger pumps.

'Nuf said...

Avid mechanicals from what lots of people say will stop as good as most hydros, and you won't have to upgrade your brake levers.

No offence - The 'wonder' stories of BB7 is like Chinese Wispers.

They are a great MECHANICAL brake, but DO NOT compare in anyway to the power that hydro's put out. I've ridden all of them, BB7's are great for adjustment, best mechs defintaley, but hell no they are not better then any decent hydro's (you can exclude Hayes Sole from that ;)).


The money saved with a better mechanical set rather than hydros can be used to upgrade parts of the drivetrain for better shifting.

Totally agree with that one though!

:)

I've never used hydro's so I can't say how big of a difference there is between hydro's and mech's, but from what I've heard not much..

Actually your wrong.

People dont just spend hundreds of extra dollars for the hydro's because of the w*nk factor.

I have ridden a bunch of different disk setups and my opinion is that sure bb7 are awesome mechanical disk, every hydro disk I have ridden just feels better...stop better also! If your on a buget they get the bb7 if your able to spurge a little go for hydros!

My concern with hydros is that the non-Shimano ones have a nice toxic waste dump waiting to happen (DOT brake fluid is not nice stuff.) However, I've never heard about anyone busting a hydro line, so I may just be worried about nothing.

My concern with hydros is that the non-Shimano ones have a nice toxic waste dump waiting to happen (DOT brake fluid is not nice stuff.) However, I've never heard about anyone busting a hydro line, so I may just be worried about nothing.

It happens, I had a buddy crash and blow a line. But there really isn't much fluid in the brake lines.