Commuting - Disc Brakes

Is it a waste to replace my stock brakes on the edgewood with disc brakes and if i could get the pros and cons that go with disc brakes? Thanks Yall

Disc brakes don't wear on your rims so you wheels tend to last longer but disc brake pads are much more expensive than for rim brakes.

Disc brakes don't wear on your rims so you wheels tend to last longer but disc brake pads are much more expensive than for rim brakes.

I could be wrong, but I think that disc pads last longer than regular brake pads.

Nasty off-road, my disc brakes don't seem much effected by contamination, including minor blow-out of hydra fluid from the bottom valve of my fork. Adjusted properly, they have stunning stopping power.

Does the frame for the Edgewood have a place to mount disc brakes on the rear? I see it on the fork, but I couldn't tell about the rear.

In any event, I wouldn't say it's a waste of money, but it's not necessarily needed, depending upon your usual riding conditions.

Pros:
Disc brakes have more braking power (though well adjusted V-brakes are more than adequate for commuting purposes)
Disc brakes are less susceptible to decreased performance in inclimate whether (but apparently oil on the brake pads will completely ruin them)
Disc brakes are cool :)

Cons:
Hydraulic disc brakes are more difficult for a novice to maintain (but mechanical disc brakes are pretty easy)
Disc brakes require special hubs (so you have to replace your wheels too to make the switch)
There are more parts that can potentially need replacement (calipers, rotors, pads)
Disc brakes are more expensive (which really covers the previous two points)

Having disc brakes was one of my top priorities when I was shopping for a winter bike, because it rains every day in the winter here, but considering the list above, I probably wouldn't make the switch on an existing bike that I was otherwise happy with.

I dig the disc brakes on my commuter. Avid BB7 road version on a cross bike.

However, it will be an expensive switch:

Hubs, so a wheel rebuild...meaning spokes too. And the brakes themselves. It's the sort of thing that's cheaper up front as part of the bike at purchase...like so many bike parts are.

For sloppy weather commuting there's nothing at all finer than discs.

If the frame, forks and hubs are all disc ready then fine, it won't get stupidly expensive. However if any of these items are not disc ready then dump the idea of the switch and upgrade to a disc bike. It'll be cheaper in the end.

Are you having trouble with your current brakes? If so, try high quality brake pads first (high end Shimanos are a good choice.) Still, not good enough, then look at the disc brake but as mentioned this is expensive and you might just want to look at getting a new bike with disc brakes already on it.

I went with discs just on my front wheel. I switched just before last winter and it was a good thing. Brakes were predictable regardless of sun/rain/ice/slush/snow.
I'm still on my original pads at 1 year (about 3500 miles). They are getting pretty thin, I'll probably change them very soon.
They did get gunked up from the road salt and such, but they clean up very easily and even when they were full of salt and dirt they still worked. Much less adjustment and screwing with them than the rim brakes.
I used BB7s. Check on eBay for replacement pads; Avid wanted $18, I picked up 3 sets on eBay for $22 shipped.

I like my disc brakes. I will say, not especially loving the hydraulic aspect, though the responsiveness is great. Just a pain to work with--putting a $15 north road bar on cost me almost $70 because the lines had to be changed--$25 a pop! If I ever tour with that bike I'll switch to mechanicals.

Very smooth operation, and I can lean on them a long way (I'm chicken about downhills). Zero fiddling on the pads. A teensy bit noisier than nicely adjusted rim brakes. Almost totally immune to rain and rain-related road gack, and I know I'm going to love that more an more as winter advances here in soggy Vancouver.

All that said, I was fine with rim brakes for years. Discs are very cool, but I think unless you're in a field that demands them (Xtreme!!! downhill!!), they're more of a nice-to-have.

I recommend Avid mechanicals. I've used BB's, BB4's and BB7's. Easy to set up and adjust. Good stopping power. If you ride much in rain/snow/muck/grime/dirt you'll appreciate disc brakes. IMO hydraulics are a bit on the overkill side unless you're heavily loaded. The maintenance and set-up is more demanding. They do feel and stop great, though...

I only ride discs. In addition to the pros above;they don't make your rims as dirty,they don't care if your rim gets knocked out of true,and they don't have to be disconnected/reconnected when you pull the wheel(and you don't have to worry about forgetting to reconnect them). It can sometimes take a little MacGuyvering to mount fenders and racks,but it's not a huge problem. After switching to discs,I would never go back to rim brakes.

I highly recommend you make the switch to Avid BB7 mechanicals. I'll also plug Mavic Speed City's disc-compatible 700x20c wheels. Wheels need to be specifically built for disc-brakes due to the tremendous load put on the non-drive side that's not normally there. I also highly recommend getting a frame that can handle a 135 mm rear hub spacing. My aluminum frame survived the upgrade from 130 to 135 mm but I don't know if they all will.

Pros are:
Cleaner wheels and tires
Stable, predictable breaking
Nearly unlimited downhill braking fun without worrying about overheating
Not melting tires to your rims
Cleaner wheels and tires
The coolness factor
and last but not least:
Cleaner wheels and tires

Cons would be
Learning how to adjust them yourself
That gawd-awful noise they make when it's really wet out
The weight penalty
The compatibility issue (have a plan-B because there are very few bike shops around that carry road-disc wheels in case you have to put a wheel in for service).

Aside from feeding them oil after midnight, whatever you do - be careful when you put your wheels in. I trashed the brake pad spring on my rear on Friday being all in a hurry to change a flat and ended up driving to the bike shop. The mechanic took pity on me and sold me a spring off of his own bike since I was commuting and the shop had everything but Avid springs in that day.

I have Deore M-475 Mech Discs on my bike....Wonderful!!! I will never go back to rim Brakes

I could be wrong, but I think that disc pads last longer than regular brake pads.

I agree, they seem to last longer than rim pads. I've noticed my disc pads wear faster in the inner radius, effectively cutting their already long life in half. From the outer radius area, where the grab tabs are (and the only part you can see without removing pads), I'll have 2mm pad left (like new), and on the inside only 1mm.


I went with discs just on my front wheel. I switched just before last winter and it was a good thing. Brakes were predictable regardless of sun/rain/ice/slush/snow.
I'm still on my original pads at 1 year (about 3500 miles). Much less adjustment and screwing with them than the rim brakes.
I used BB7s. Check on eBay for replacement pads; Avid wanted $18, I picked up 3 sets on eBay for $22 shipped.

I've used Avid BB7 disc on rear only and on front only for extended periods. They both added sure stopping power even in pouring rain, although there is a moment of rotor-drying-off rotation required to get them to bite. I know conventional wisdom says most braking is in front, but the rear only disc seemed to brake just as well as the front only. I actually like the rear only better - it doesn't compromise wheel strength like fronts, or require heavy disc capable fork. Looks better too.

I've got over 5,000 miles on a set of disc pads twice now. Original Avid pads. Using Kool Stops now (i think).

I wonder, are these the pads you bought? Do you like them?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140261801165

There's a relevant disk vs. V-brake conversation going on here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=460457

I've noticed my disc pads wear faster in the inner radius, effectively cutting their already long life in half. From the outer radius area, where the grab tabs are (and the only part you can see without removing pads), I'll have 2mm pad left (like new), and on the inside only 1mm.


Depending on the brake model,some pads are the same for both inner and outer. If your inner pads are wearing quicker,you might be able to swap the pads around for even wear.

Thanks yall for the input .. i looked and i will only be able to put them up front .. is it still worth it up front and not in the back? the only reason why i want to is for better stopping power because im a 230 lbs with 20 lbs worth of crap on my bike. it takes a little longer for me to stop.

Thanks yall for the input .. i looked and i will only be able to put them up front .. is it still worth it up front and not in the back? the only reason why i want to is for better stopping power because im a 230 lbs with 20 lbs worth of crap on my bike. it takes a little longer for me to stop.

Adding inline brake handles might help regardless of what brakes you go with. I can get a lot more stopping power vs the hoods or drops. Plus it's a little more controllable being upright and really digging in. Even on my road discs.

Yes,it's worth just having a disc on the front. 70% of your stopping power is in the front brake.

Is it a waste to replace my stock brakes on the edgewood with disc brakes and if i could get the pros and cons that go with disc brakes? Thanks Yall

Unless you are actually having an issue with your rim brakes - swapping in discs is a waste of $$$ and your time.

If you are having an issue with your rim brakes than the answer depends on what your problem is. The answer may still be don't bother with discs. For example salmon Koolstop brake pads improve almost any rim brake running stock pads quite a lot.

Having used disc brakes since before Y2K, being a bike geek and engineer I was stoked to use them and expected them to be way better than rim brakes. After years of using both discs and v-brakes I've come to the conclusion that except for a few applications [winter commuting for example] I'd rather have a decent set of v-brakes with good pads on them than a disc. V-brakes have as much stopping power in most situations, are easier to setup and maintain, cost less to run per/km and can be setup to not squeal easily.

Disc brakes won't wear out your rims - true, but the pads cost so much and wear out so fast in wet gritty conditions that you'll end up spending more $$$ on your discs than you would for v-brake pads and replacing a rim every year or two.

The one time situation discs make a lot of sense to me is winter commuting or commuting through a lot of mud/dirt. If that's what you do perhaps making the switch is worth it.

Don't get me wrong disc brakes work and if I got a bike with them on it I'd just ride it - 3 of my bikes have discs and 5 have v-brakes. But, I wouldn't spend the $$$ or time to replace a set of v-brakes on a bike with a disc since the v-brakes in many respects are the same or better.

Depending on the brake model,some pads are the same for both inner and outer. If your inner pads are wearing quicker,you might be able to swap the pads around for even wear.

I'm referring to uneven pad wear ON THE SAME PAD, not inboard pad wear vs outboard pad wear.

Mine wear faster on the inside, or inner radius, the edge closer to the hub, than the outside, outer radius, or edge closer to the rim (the edge with the grab tab).

I've observed this wear pattern on 2 different bikes, different calipers, front and rear wheels.

Well, you've got rim brakes I see. I've had V brakes that match the braking ease of my disc brakes. But there's no doubt that this is the exception rather than the rule. Generally my disc brakes all have more stopping power and less lever effort needed all at the same time. Also the disc brakes are overall far easier to modulate unlike the sometimes odd pulsating issues with any rim brake if it's not spotlessly clean. And I would not have any issues with recomending the extra money for hydraulic over mechanical. The hydraulic brakes work a lot nicer. Also you can get the dual piston ones so you don't need to worry about constantly adjusting the non moving inner pad like you need to with mechanical disc calipers.

Bottom line, if you need lots of braking power that works and modulates well you will LOVE going disc.

There's some really nice cheap to buy options as well. Some of the less desireable 160mm setups are typically going for around $50 per end.

It's too bad you can't fit a disc to the rear as well. I've found that when riding in messy weather it's the rear brake that catches and picks up all the mud and turns the sludge at the pads into a nasty grinding compound. A rear disc totally avoids that issue.

Don't believe all the talk about how hydraulic setups are more maintanence. T'ain't true at all. I've been running my hydraulic brakes through a few of my very sloppy winters now and all that has been required is about twice over the worst of winter is to slip out the wheels, take out the pads and then hose the calipers down with a few shots of brake cleaner to wash out the sludge. Then I blow them dry with a GENTLE shot of compressed air (or go do something else for 15 minutes) and then replace the pads and wheel and you're good for many more muddy miles without issue. The pads themselves (I'm running Shimano brakes on both of the sloppy weather bikes that have discs) last around three years for me or around 3000 kms near as I can tell. That's around the same or a little better than what I've gotten out of my Koolstop Salmon pads used on rim brakes. And when you factor in the fact that you're not literally grinding away the sidewalls of the rims anymore so your wheels will last pretty much forever that's all got to be factored into the equation.

Unless you have a real need its a waste of money. Seriously unless you literally cannot stop or it takes an incredible amount of time to stop do not worry about it. You are better off losing weight and riding your bike to death.

Disc brakes won't wear out your rims - true, but the pads cost so much and wear out so fast in wet gritty conditions that you'll end up spending more $$$ on your discs than you would for v-brake pads and replacing a rim every year or two.


Again,my experience doesn't show this out. My disc pads have lasted far longer under the same conditions than V brake pads,and I did use a set of salmons. I don't know where you buy your pads,but I was spending about $12/set for Kool Stop rim pads and $11-20/set for discs,and the disc pads lasted more than twice as long. Something else to keep in mind;disc rotors are stainless steel and last much longer than aluminum rims. They can be bought for $30-50,and are easily swapped with only a T25;most even come with new bolts that all ready have thread locker on them. Replacing a rim involves rebuilding the entire wheel;which requires you either have special tools/knowledge or pay a shop to do it,and in addition to the rim you also need to buy new spokes and nipples.

+1 for discs. I have more bikes with discs than without, and I always take the disc bikes out if it looks like it'll rain or if it rained the night before. If I only could have one bike, it'll have discs.