Mountain Biking - Thinking of upgrading the brakes

So I have this Target-grade bike (Schwinn S-60); I got it used and cheap about a year ago and I use it mostly for XC rides. After a year of abuse, I have two main complaints:

- The front fork is blown.
- The mechanical disc brakes are good when the caliper is not moving around; however on bumpy trails the caliper moves off-center constantly and starts grinding against the pads. No adjustments have been able to solve this problem so far.

I am thinking of replacing the front fork with an entry level RST or used RockShox Dart fork that I see so commonly on entry level brand name bikes. The brakes however I am not so sure on. I need a replacement that won't suffer from the problem described above, and I would appreciate any recommendations that you might have regarding the brakes. Thanks in advance.

-Fikret

Are you against V-brakes? I ask because after using discs for a year, I went back to v-brakes and haven't regretted it yet. You would likely be able to get set up with a good set of v-brakes for less than a good set of discs, and in my experience v-brakes are lower maintenance.

I have Avid single digit 7's, which for front and rear came to less than 100 dollars.

just get a new bike. the amount of money and time that'll go into putting in those new parts won't do you to good since what you still have, is a targetbike. despite how badly you upgrade it, it will still just be a crappy bike thats bound to fail on you; most likely injuring you. go and invest in a decent mountain bike at your local bike shop and see what a real bike feels like. not only will you get a bike that will last longer and ride better, but you'll most likely get free tuneups at that shop for the life of the bike.

I was going to say the same thing as alumrock12, but figured that was a dead horse that has been beaten for as long as this forum has been alive.

Here we go again.

just get a new bike. the amount of money and time that'll go into putting in those new parts won't do you to good since what you still have, is a targetbike. despite how badly you upgrade it, it will still just be a crappy bike thats bound to fail on you; most likely injuring you. go and invest in a decent mountain bike at your local bike shop and see what a real bike feels like. not only will you get a bike that will last longer and ride better, but you'll most likely get free tuneups at that shop for the life of the bike.

I see where you are coming from; but I don't think the bike will fail catastrophically. Mountain biking is something that I do about once a week to get away from road-biking a little so I don't do it very often, and I maintain my bikes pretty well on a regular basis. I can't justify spending $400-$500 on an entry-level bike that won't be much better than what I have; actually today I switched bikes with my buddies who has an entry level Gary Fisher hardtail and while that bike felt a little more solid, it wasn't much better than what I have.

Shopping around , it looks like I can get a fork and replacement disc brakes for under $150 (I do my own work on my bikes) so I would like to go that route.

Fubar5, disc brakes have served me well and I especially like the stopping power that I get with them in the wet so I would like to stick with disc brakes.

With these said, any more advise on replacement mechanical disc brakes would be appreciated. Thanks!

Here we go again.

If I could just get recommendations and not "sell your bike and get a new one" type of responses, we wouldn't have to have a "here we go again" moment :)

fa63 (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?u=58431) vbmenu_register("postmenu_4146703", true);
Senior Member

Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Atlanta, GA

ew. i have everything against atlanta now. too many florida fans there. ucla lost. :[ everywhere i look... poor afflalo :(

Shimano Deore discs seem to pretty good. I haven't taken them out on the trail personally though. I have just installed them and taken them out around the parking lot.

fa63 (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?u=58431) vbmenu_register("postmenu_4146703", true);
Senior Member

Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Atlanta, GA

ew. i have everything against atlanta now. too many florida fans there. ucla lost. :[ everywhere i look... poor afflalo :(

Actually, I was doing grad school at GA Tech in Atlanta, and moved back down to FL last month. But no worries, I am not a Gator fan (I went to University of South Florida for my undergrad) :)

TAKE THAT PRICE OF **** BACK! my target bike damn near killed me! this just happen 2 weeks ago and i am without a bike! i am never buying from wal-mart or k-mart or target again! THERE ****! AND WILL BREAK!


the damn back wheel came off on my S-40 ! lucky i jumped off running....

TAKE THAT PRICE OF **** BACK! my target bike damn near killed me! this just happen 2 weeks ago and i am without a bike! i am never buying from wal-mart or k-mart or target again! THERE ****! AND WILL BREAK!


the damn back wheel came off on my S-40 ! lucky i jumped off running....


I think your userid should be dumbass.

TAKE THAT PRICE OF **** BACK! my target bike damn near killed me! this just happen 2 weeks ago and i am without a bike! i am never buying from wal-mart or k-mart or target again! THERE ****! AND WILL BREAK!


the damn back wheel came off on my S-40 ! lucky i jumped off running....

Haleluia PRAISE the lord!

TAKE THAT PRICE OF **** BACK! my target bike damn near killed me! this just happen 2 weeks ago and i am without a bike! i am never buying from wal-mart or k-mart or target again! THERE ****! AND WILL BREAK!


the damn back wheel came off on my S-40 ! lucky i jumped off running....

I am sorry but the only way the back wheel is coming off of the bike is if you don't know how to properly tighten a quick release skewer... If you bought an S-Works Epic, your wheel would still come off if you don't put it on right... So don't blame the bike; mine hasn't come off after multiple jumps; however the front shock did start leaking but then again it is a Mozzo or something like that.

Avid BB7's are a nice mechanical disc upgrade...check'm out

Actually...I've seen bikes on ebay like the Kona Blast for $150'ish. Something in that realm would be better all the way around than a Target Schwinn and you wouldn't need to put $150-$200 in brakes and fork to make it rideable.