Mountain Biking - Do wheels with V-brakes spin more freely than discs?

I didn't consider this until recently when I had my daughter's Trek MT 220 and my son's Raleigh 20" turned upside down next to my Iron Horse Warrior Comp. When I spun their wheels, they spun freely and forever. When I spun my Iron Horse's wheels, the wheels spun briefly and stopped. It seems like the discs are impeding free spin. Is this a normal behavior with disc brakes?

thanks

Well, if the disc is rubbing then it will impede the free spin. But that is a set up problem and the caliper needs to be re-adjusted, or the disc itself is bent if it's touching the pads intermitanlty . It shouldn't be hard to tell if the disc is rubbing or not.

If the disc isn't rubbing, then maybe the hub is put together to tightly and the bearings are binding. I had a new wheel before that was like that and didn't spin smoothly at all. I loosened the bearings a bit and it spun smooth as butter.

edit: oh,and since I didn't really answer your question. No, a disk equipped wheel should spin as freely as a v-brake equipped wheel.

thanks for the info. As you can probably tell, this hasn't been a big concern, I just point the bike down the hill and go -- only inspect if something breaks ;-)

However, I will adjust this as noted b/c I want to see it spinning freely.

cheers

Mine spin as well, as does my wife's.

Al

Wheel would be heavier with disc rotors on it,but wouldn't make a difference.

Sounds like the disc is rubbing due to improper adjustment / installation