Mountain Biking - Disc or V brakes

Well what do you use and what would you prefer to use.

Disc brakes over V-Brakes. I use Hayes HFX-9 Hydro Disc brakes. I would prefer to use what I got. They're great brakes.

Disc brakes, I use Shimano Deore Mechanical. I really don't feel comfy with using fluid in my bike yet...makes the bike a slight bit too car-like for my tastes.

I haven't palyed with other disc makes to find out what I would like better so no comment on that one ;)

For the type and style of riding I do, I see no problem with my V-brakes, therefore I'll continue to use them.

If your going to do downhill/freeride I suggest Avid Mechs or Hayes Hydros.

my downhillish type bike has hydro discs, i wouldn't have it any other way on that bike

my cross country bike has V's which are just fine. i'm happy with them. only time i feel like i run out of stopping power is on really steep downhills but i also about endo when it's that steep too and probably shouldn't be on the bike to begin with

nah, no DH/FR for me, I'm mostly just a trail/street rider.

i think disc is the way to go but if you want V-brakes get Avid single diget 7, or Avid arch rivals they are by far the best V-brakes out there, anything more would be disc or hydro rim.

if your thinking disc dont do cable, even though they are good for a while eventually they will brake down and you'll have to get new ones, so i say, go strait to hydro disc. like FoX Rider said Hayes hfx 9's are great brakes and are not that expensive for really reliable and powerful hydro discs

I'm a believer in Avid Mechanicals for XC use. Heck if my commuter bike was compatible I'd throw them on it too. As far as what fhod is saying I've had them on my bike over 18 months now and I don't know what the heck he's talking about. In fact of all the disc bikes I've worked on I've NEVER seen a mechanical disc brake go bad unless it was
Improperly set up (most common)
New cable stretch (simple adjustment)
A cheapo Promax setup
Operator error / contamination

Aside from reason b all the problems above apply to ALL disc brakes mechanical OR hydraulic.

Personally I'd rather run a cable system like the Avid's as it's much easier to effect a repair out in the middle of nowhere with a spare cable. You can add in the fact that if you bust a lever out in the sticks you can always buy some cheap V-brake lever from the local mom and pop shop to get you by.

Has anyone tried the new IRD dual-piston mechs? They look pretty neat and claim far better modulation and power than other mechs.

I think the ads for those brakes are crazy. They deffinatly won't make Hydro's obsolete.They may be better then most Mechs though.

I think the ads for those brakes are crazy. They deffinatly won't make Hydro's obsolete.They may be better then most Mechs though.

I haven't seen their ads. I didn't know they were trying to compare themselves to hydros in which case, I believe they'd probably lose. I've only seen their website where they claim to be better than other mechs. I'm currently riding Vs and have been satisified with them. They serve my XC needs fine. If I do convert, I'll probably strongly consider mechs for the same reasons Raiyn mentioned.

Yeah there ads are like: "If they don't make Hydro's obsolete, they will make there DOT fluids run cold" I read that and laughed. Although I've never tried them. I don't believe they can even be compaired to hydros.

Interesting. I've yet to see a set of those so I too am curious to see if Avid might actually have some real competition in the Mechanical market for a change.

That would be good for business. Competition always works out best for us :D

well first of all i myself have never had discs of any kind on my bike, but i do have 2 friends who have had avid mechs, and one of them had them on 2 of his bikes, and all three sets crapped out on them. i mean it could be because of the reasons you listed or maybe because of our type of riding, mostly DH, freeride, and some tecnical trails, maybe even poor maintenence on their part.

i also have a friend that has had hfx 9s for a couple of years now and the only problems he's had is a couple of bleedings and a lever that broke or somthing, i cant remember why. i just wanted to say, from riding their bikes, i just like the feel of hydro's better so i could have been a little biased. well whichever the case, i just posted what i have myself seen with my own eyes.

Good V-brakes. I ride mostly urban and light-to-intermediate bike trails. Some moderate downhills, but nothing real extended (no "heat the rims to pop a tire"). My V's are fine, but I ride in generally dry conditions. Grabbing a fistful locks the rims at 10-12 mph (except in wet or mud of course). Most folks I see complaining about V's under dry conditions have low-end V's, seriously worn pads or rims, or misadjusted brakes.

I run Hayes HFX mag disc brakes f/r and I ride aggressive XC. I probably could make due with a set of good V's but I like the feel of the discs much better. Plus I occasionally ride up palomar and it's a looooong ride down.(approximately 10 miles upthe south grade and then an uninterrupted 14mile descent down the east grade.

I switched to avid mechanical disc on the front and will never go back to v-brake, it's a whole different ballgame. The brakes hold up without fading (or tearing up the rim) for long steep descents. Installation was easy and maintenance after about 800 xc miles has been none, not even a brake pad adjustment, although I'll need to move them in soon.

If you're a big guy, the choice is clear switch to the discs.

Big guys require more breaking power due to higher weights. This is especially relevant if you're riding hilly single track.

Big guys also tend to knock their wheels out of true more than those little flys zipping around. Well, if the wheel goes out of true, you have to back off on the breaks in order to get the wheels to spin freely. Disc breaks work fine if you wheel starts to wobble a little bit.


Oh, BTW if you ride in mud at all, get the disc breaks. Caliper/V-Breaks accumlate mud and leaves. Eventually, you get a mud nest living around your break that impedes the wheel from moving. With the break bosses open, the mud slides through and doesn't accumulate. The disc breaks are also unaffected by wet, sloppy conditions where rim breaks lose all their stopping power.

Disc breaks don't wear your rim out over time. Disc breaks are easy to adjust using an allen wrench and a credit card. Rim breaks require expensive 4th and 5th hand tools to tune effectively

If you have the money for Avid Mechanical discs, they're are clearly superior to v-breaks.

None better than:

http://www.hopetech.com/images/new/mono_4_caliper_&_disc.gif
http://www.hopetech.com/images/new/Miini_lever.gif

Except maybe these, huh ?

I run an avid mech on front, and an XT linear on the back. I now have all the braking power I need. I think the Avid modulates better than the XT. I ride this bike on the trails, general XC style single and double track, with very steep climbs and descents.

If you do go with a mechanical disk, I would advise avoiding the HMX1, unless they have improved since last year. I switched to the avid from the hayes, and have noticed a huge difference in the braking power.