Mountain Biking - Avid disc brake rotors

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no3puttchad
08-01-04, 03:22 PM
I am ready to purchase to disc brakes, picked the Avid Mechanical. Just cant beat the price of $124 for front and rear. Is there any reason to go with a rotor size of more than 6" for basic XC use? I am certainly NOT a downhiller, but, I am 200+lbs. 8" seems overkill, but, what about a 7"? Also, once you pick a rotor size, are you locked into it, or could I switch to 6" rotor later without replacing the whole kit?

Maelstrom
08-01-04, 03:34 PM
1 - Can't beat that deal :)
2 - 6" is more than enough even at your weight. At 270ish I use 6" on my xc bike just fine.
3 - You don't replace the kit, you replace the adaptor...
poorboy
08-16-04, 09:55 PM
Hi,

I'm riding harder than XC, but I wouldn't say full-on DH either. I guess AM/FR is me... The bike is an '02 Haro X1 Extreme with some mods... decent suspension, wheels, cranks, shifting gear, and a few other odds and ends. Currently I'm running the factory equipped Quad QMD-4 Mechanical Disc, with 6" front and 5" rear. Since I've started riding more aggresively I've come to the conclusion that these are junk - they barely stop the bike from speed at the best of times.

Anyways, what I'm looking at is Avid Mechanicals, but again I'm wondering about sizes...

Is it recommended to downsize the rear rotor, or is bigger better everywhere?
For a 200 lb guy with a 30 lb bike, is 7" front, 6" rear appropriate?
How real is the big discs = broken wheels issue? Would 8" rotors cause a problem with Velocity CliffHangers?

Finally, the Avid mechs sure look like great value, but are hydraulics worth the upgrade?

Cheers,
/poorboy

P. B. Walker
08-17-04, 01:38 PM
I just purchased a Seven xc bike and outfitted it myself. I went with the Avid Mechanical Disc brakes... 7" in the front and 6" in the rear. I'm a big guy (~270) and I like to ride fast as much as possible. I basically take my time getting up to speed, but once I'm there I like to keep it going. When I need to stop, I need to stop now. But I only do xc... no jumping or agressive dowhhilling. While the 7" in the front might be a bit of overkill, I figure it's better to have a bit more than to not have what ya need when ya need it. And it's not like the bigger rotor cost more, nor was there a fitting issue involved.