I have some old "horseshoe" brakes on my folding bike probly about 20 years old, and am considering upgrading. I remember having these style brakes on my bikes as a kid and they were not that great. My question is, what brakes do you have or prefer? Ive never used disc brakes but have v brakes on my mountain bike and they work quite well. Is it worth putting on disc, or should I just mount the v brake? Either way ill be welding brackets.

I love the Avid Single Digits that came on my partner's Birdy. Light and effective, yeah!

Disk brakes will be better still, but possibly more than you need. They will also be heavier and more expensive. One big plus is that they don't wear out your rim, but that's 10,000 miles down the line unless you live in a hilly area. (If the latter, go with disk brakes.)

+1 for the Avids. I put them on my DT VIIIH. Any v-brake will probably need more cable pull then you might get with your old levers so you should probably plan on replacing the levers as well.

As you noted, the problem with either v-brakes or discs is that both require braze-ons which are not on your older frame.

Do you know what brakes are on the bike now? Some of the older ones can work pretty well. The length of the arms (730, 810 or whatever) makes a difference. Shorter brake arms work better, but you are stuck with whatever the bike came with. Older Weinmann, Dia Compe and Universel brakes can be pretty good with the right pads.

Switching to v-brake levers with the original brakes would probably give you better stopping power than the original levers since the v-brake levers will pull more cable. You might try that first since you would have to switch them anyway and it's cheaper that braze-ons and new paint!

Hills oh hills! 2 down to work and one up and vice versa for the home commute. Originally I wanted to use this as a for fun cruising bike, but its just way to much fun in comparison to the Kona. The weight I'm not very concerned about as the bike is already pretty beefy. As of right now the rear brakes no brake at all, I'm just riding the fronts however i would like to replace the brake set with just a rear disc methinks.

Is there a particular disc brake to use? Not so concerned about the paint either.. It could use a new coat.

Thanks for the replies! :)

Is there a particular disc brake to use? Not so concerned about the paint either.. It could use a new coat.

If you want discs I like Avid BB7s. You can get versions that work with either V-brake levers or standard road levers (these are different models, but at least available). I have a pair of them on a Nashbar cyclo-cross frame that I built up as the ultimate winter commuter. Better ajustments than the BB5s and still use standard wire cables.

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/BR403C05-Avid+Bb7+Mechanical+Disc+Brake+07.aspx