Mountain Biking - hydraulic disc VS mech disc

I'm new to mountain biking and am looking at purchasing my first mountain bike. I've heard that disc brakes are well worth putting out a little extra cash, but what are the differences between hydraulic discs and mech discs? Which would you recommend? What kind of maintenance is needed for discs?

Use the search. This topic has been beaten to death here and you should be able to find all the info you need from previous discussions.

if you are buying your first bike you don't need hydros, i woudl look at better mech discs, somthin made by avid, specifically teh bb7, tectro and similar crappy disc brakes are better then cheap v brakes, but they are still cheap brakes, and i guess thats better than nothin if thats all you can afford, but somthin to think about

IMO hydro discs are way better then mech, they feel really nice and offer amazing power and control, yes you can lock the wheel with a set of bb5s, but my i can control a more powerful brake way better, and i on long sketchy areas the extra power is nice especially as you get tired, but they [hydros] are not necassary for a starter bike by any stretch of the imagination, if you've got $1500 to drop on a bike no reason not to get hydros, otherwise whatever

another important point is that there have been some crappy hyrdos out lately that just suck, when i talk about hydros being better I'm reffering to juicys or somthin like that (magura good hayes ect) not promax or those crappy cheapo shimano ones that had defects a year ago (good shimano brakes are good but they had some bad low end ones so please people don't give me "shimano brakes do'nt suck")

I was going to use some Magura Hydros on my new (coming soon!) build untill I felt a set of BB7s with Speed Dial 7 levers and good cables. The feel isn't the same as hydros per se but it is very good and very very smooth. I decided that I would rather have the easy of maintenance so I sold the Louise set for what I paid and picked up a brand new set of BB7s SD7 levers and Alligator Super Fortress cables and I still had a little money left over from the sale. YMMV

I have and continue to use both types through the years.

The issue here is not evaluating mechs and hydros against each other to see which is better. The question here is which one would suit your application better especially as a beginner.

This early on, you really want to keep things simple and enjoy your rides. I would say get the best mech you can afford, the are good ones out there but my choice would be Avid BB7, it'll be hard to find something else better than that.

Yes, they are well worth putting in the extra cash. Ends up cheaper if the bike you want already has them rather than buying them separate as an add on.

Maintenance? For a good set, hardly any and not an issue at all... but for a cheap set, all sorts of annoying little hassles untold.

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if you are buying your first bike you don't need hydros, they [hydros] are not necassary for a starter bike by any stretch of the imagination

Depends what you are going to use it for.

If cash is not an issue, I'de go for the dro's. Learn a little meching and you be fine, which is needed anyway.

Depends what you are going to use it for.

yeah cause getting "i'm just getting into mtn biking and i'm buying my first bike" means he might be getting a downhill/freeride bike, especially when he's considering rim brakes, not to mentions bb7s have a lot of power

yeah cause getting "i'm just getting into mtn biking and i'm buying my first bike" means he might be getting a downhill/freeride bike, especially when he's considering rim brakes, not to mentions bb7s have a lot of power

Just pointing out that some people are more adventurous. I'm just properly getting into mountain biking in the sense that it is my first bike which didn't come from walmart. I've only had it a few months and have launched it down double black diamond downhill runs.

I'd get Juicy 3s or an LX hydraulic for a new rider. Have the shop set them up and bleed them [if needed] before taking the bike home. I have BB7s, and while they are a fine brake, they are not set-and-forget. The advantage of the Juicy 3 is a complete lack of adjustment - bolt 'em up and you're done. With the BB7, you have to contend with manual adjustment due to pad wear, cable stretch and sub-optimal cable housing routing. True, none of those things are all that hard to do, but it's still more fiddly than a basic hydro. YMMV.

How about Juicy 5's?