Mountain Biking - cost to swtich to disc brakes...

hey i was just wondering what the cost would be if i got disc brakes installed on my front wheel, im cool with having v brakes on my back wheels, im probably gonna get hydralic v's soon, but out of curiousity how much you think it would cost to change front wheel to discs, what exactly would i have to buy to do this??

New front wheel
$80-250

Disc brake
$80-250

Maybe a lever
$20-50

Cable/housing
$8

Installation
$10

Oh if you have a Hardrock XC, I'm not sure how much I would trust that fork with a disc brake, its a pretty flexy fork as is. I honestly don't think I would put the money into a Hardrock XC... you're forever stuck with 7spd stuff as is, so its kinda putting money into something you will probably want to get rid of before long anyways.

You also have to ask yourself....

Do you really need it?

Thats the biggest question. I know most people with disc are better off with V's. Many of them simply don't need all that power. If you doing Xc with little or no steep decents at all, your wasting your money.

$5000 in poker is wasting money. Upgrading to disc brakes on a bike is not wasting money

It could be a waste to put discs on your hardrock xc. Really, I use V's and if I'm pulling off endos in mud, I know that avid single digit 5's are good. Escpecially when it's a 43 lb bike and I'm only a 115 lb rider. Trust me, if you were actually to use discs and use themt o the max, i doubt your bike itslef would take it.

Let's say you're going real fast, about to hit a rock garden. Smack goes the front lever, expecting a nice stop because your going at perfectly flat flat land. You don't go over the bars. Your fork snaps in the middle of the endo, your bike falls down, you fall and we all fall down. Good job point dexter.

In other words, get a better bike if you want discs. Xc's weren't supposed to take discs.

The price in CDN dolalrs would probably be about...60.31 for hayes mechs at bikeroom. 20-50 for levers. Front wheel, a lot.

Not worth it to spend so much on your bike. I used to want to upgrade my bike because I was a fool, but now I understand that it's really not worth it to upgrade any higher. In fact, I'm taking off my avid single digit 5's and putting them on my new bike, if it is v-brake enabled and there is no discs to start off with anyways. New bike as Im going to get one.

ya...probably wont get discs, im not goin hardcore or anythin, i jsut dont really like the stock brakes on the bike...they are the greatest..

if i were to get new v brakes, what would u guys recomend, hyraulic is probably what ill get, but any suggestions are good...thx

Xc's weren't supposed to take discs.
says who??? my fisher tassajara came with hydro disc brakes (7" front, 6" back) and it's a xc bike. and there are also a ton of other xc bikes that come with disc brakes. just look at all the different manuacturers' websites to see. hayes and magura also make xc specific disc brakes.

In other words, get a better bike if you want discs. Xc's weren't supposed to take discs.

Umm, wrong. XC bikes can have disc brakes.

I meant HARDROCK Xc's.

But I'd say avid single digit 7's. They'd be pretty good. You don't need hydraulic, I think. Seriously, what kind of riding and in what conditions are you in. Then again, tell us what exaclt you're gonna do on the hardrock. I still say v's hydraulics or not are good enuff.

Same as with hardrock xc

Would you really put that much money into a hardrock xc? Oh wait I'm sorry. I meant that Hardrock xc's aren't good with discs. Heh sorry. Sure they can take discs, butman, I would think that would be a waste.

You've never really tried disc brakes have you. Disc brakes are a big improvement over v's

I don't see why he can't put thaqt money into Disc brakes and then move the stuff over when he gets a new bike or better yet wear out the disc brakes then get a new bike.

And KonaRider said it best. You've not spent any real time on disc brakes.

It cost me 200 total to have my front wheel relaced w/a disc hub, buy the actual disc components, and installation.


I'd do it.

I have used both V and Disc Brakes. I find the Discs more convinient and better in performance. Discs are not affected by change in conditions, eg mud, water. I say go for the Discs you can move them to your new bike if you change bikes.

One thing to note is that may be your current fork will not accomodate this type of brakes. See, the disc goes on to the hub while other brake mechanism goes on to the fork.

ya...i know how they work, but if theres a possibility of my fork snapping or cracking cause of the stress that the discs would put on them, i think ill just get new v brakes, when i buy a new bike in a couple years, ill get discs, i just want to get rid of these tektro brakes, they are that great.

as far as condition of riding that goes anywhere from riding to work on the street to riding lite trails for now, but i am hoping that ill get to spend some time out in bc and ride some of those mountain-side trails..that would be sweet..

on a side note, rite now im sick as a dog, i dont even have the energy to ride my bike like down my street...heh

edit: im pretty sure my front fork has a place for the caliper for disc brakes, just for the record...

if your fork has disc brake tabs it should be fine for handling discs... you shouldn't have to worry about your fork snapping.

by the way, where in t.o. do you ride?

You've never really tried disc brakes have you. Disc brakes are a big improvement over v's

Not if the V's are setup right.

if your fork has disc brake tabs it should be fine for handling discs... you shouldn't have to worry about your fork snapping.

by the way, where in t.o. do you ride?

I'm pretty confident that the discs on an very low end RST fork will exaggerate the extraordinary amount of play thats already in the fork, and probably wear out the bushings even faster.

I've just changed my squeally XT front V-brake to an Avid Arch Rival and I am seriously impressed. Even covered in wet mud going down steep hills it managed to slow me down just fine :).

Personally I'd avoid hydraulic rim brakes. A friend used to run Magura's and they eat rims! Don't get me wrong, they are superb stoppers, but they are so powerful that with a bit of mud chucked in, you need really tough rims to withstand them.

I was just looking at one website, (Cambria) and saw a WheelSET (as in both) disc hubs for $139, and there were several hydraulic disc brakes in the $99 range.

That is ALL you would need as a hydraulic disc comes with the hose,lever, caliper and rotor.

Now, if you went with an Avid Mechanical, you could use your old lever and a standard brake cable/housing is probably about $10 total. Avid mechanicals are about $69.00.

So, the hydraulics (on sale) are a better buy (only $20 more for hydraulic performance) than the mechanicals.

L8R

I just finnished a weekend at Mammoth with V's and they performed perfectly. I didn't ride Kamikazee, but I took some pretty sick trails. I thought about ubgrading to disk also, but my V's work great still. Think I'll stick with them for a while.

By-the-way, Di anybody make it up to the championship races in Mammoth this year? It was blast!

Not if the V's are setup right.


Yep! Same thing with discs. Discs should have better stopping power in weathered conditions, but my v's are good enough. You can't go anything past locking your wheel. Discs are an improvement, but I don't think that he wants to spend that much when he can lock his wheel with v's for a lower price in the conditions he will ride in.

I've tried discs! Specialized hardrock sport disc, kona scrap, kona stuff. Of course they work, especially since the bike is sub 40 lb. I use avid single digit 5's and they definetly are good enough.

But you have not spent any long lengths of time on disc brakes you only test rode them significant time starts at over a couple of miles.

Fine, you're right. They do have much more power. That's the obvious part. But does he need 100% of that power? I highly doubt it! He even said me might get some hydraulic v's. It really depeneds what he's going to do. And since he's doing light xc, I think, then he don't need those extremely manly discs. Good v's will stop just as well as discs will in certain conditions, becuase ,again, you can't go any better than locking up the wheel.

When on a mtb, powerful brakes are a very good thing and you don't have to worry about tow in, wearing through the rim walls, clogging up in the mud and snow, having braking power in ANY condition. Also changing a flat has become easier since disk brakes have become the norm because no vees to disengage when taking off the wheel and no vee's to re-engage when putting wheel back on.

Oh right. Forgot about that tire issue.

I hate to be a noob but here goes. Could someone explain how/why different v brakes would perform differently (and I’m not talking about the wal-mart special vs. actual brakes). Besides the brake pads, I don’t see how a better brake will actually work better. Of course I know there is a difference in stopping power etc., but I cant figure out why.

A little off-topic but there are no such things as hydraulic V-brakes. They are just simply called hydraulic rim brakes. And V-brakes are a special form of cantilever brakes.

Wow, some really mis-leading info here. You can get much stronger than locking up the wheel.....thats the sign of a weak brake. When a brake can have you going say..... .2m/h, but still rolling....thats a good brake. If it locks up at any speed, thats not a good thing. Discs are a nice thing to have. They dont ruin rims, mud clearance, less noise, more power, more modulation, and easier wheel removal. If you want one of the best sets of v's....check out price point for the Avid arch-rival vee's. They dont get much better than that, especially for the price. Skidding is just proof of a brake that doesnt have enough power. Im not certain, but I believe it takes more power to brake while moving slow than it does to completely lock it up. But im just guessing, I havent taken physics yet :D

ya...locking is the sign of ****ty brakes, not weak ones...im too lazy to explain physics now(sickness) but look at a car...abs means that the wheels dont lock, they slow down to the point where they arent stopped, but really close...these brakes dont lock up...disc brakes dont do that either, locking the rims on your bike gonna send you flying over your bars anyways, and that how you nearly faceplant the tree in the field near your house....lol...at anyrate, it will probably be next season b4 i change anythin on my bike...dont have the spending money right now, but all this discusion is cool, keep goin, all the opinions are good.

btw, i live in scarborough, havent got the chance to go to any big trails yet...i wanna go up to blue mountain or something one day...hope i can handle my hardtail on that...if anyone knows any trails around the city, or close to scarborough tell me, id love to go ride them with ppl who live close to me...

You people are obviously mistaking braking power/effort with modulation. The two do effect braking effectiveness but they are not one and the same.

does it occur to anyone that the question of the original post was answered in the 1st reply? =]

does it occur to anyone that the question of the original post was answered in the 1st reply? =]Never does

does it occur to anyone that the question of the original post was answered in the 1st reply? =]

Its a bulletin board. It happens all the time.

Yea, I meant that once you make the wheel stop, your brakes and the ground can only do this. Methods are not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about sheer raw braking stopping power. Yes I know you can do that, 2 mph and still rollling, that's GOOD. But that's not what I was talking about.

... less noise...
you should hear my magura julies when i drag the rear on descents... they scream like a banshee.

so do my hayes hydros when wet.

btw, i live in scarborough, havent got the chance to go to any big trails yet...i wanna go up to blue mountain or something one day...hope i can handle my hardtail on that...if anyone knows any trails around the city, or close to scarborough tell me, id love to go ride them with ppl who live close to me...
if you're not too far from the don valley, there's a really nice trail system in there. from bayview & pottery all the way up to laird & eglinton.

if you want more trails, check mtbr.com's trail database. they've got a bunch of the trails and riding spots in toronto and surrounding area listed in there.

about riding blue on a hardtail, there's some guy who posts to dropmachine.com who went up there last weekend on his rigid... so it's do-able. just be prepared to be really sore afterwards, haha.

ya i heard about that don valley trail, havent gone to check it out yet tho...have you ever been? lol being sore sounds like he had a fun day tho...wish i had a car..

ya i heard about that don valley trail, havent gone to check it out yet tho...have you ever been? lol being sore sounds like he had a fun day tho...wish i had a car..
yeah. last year i rode the don quite a bit... this year though, i haven't been so lucky. i've gone about 2 times this year... once, earlier in the season and the other time just this past saturday (i was going to post a ride report, but i got lazy, heh). i would have liked to go more this year, but most of my riding time this season has been learning how to dirtjump. i've also spent a lot of time just sitting around unable to ride because i was waiting for parts - either to upgrade (first ride through the don this year was with my hayes hydros and i didn't feel safe riding the don with them afterwards so i was waiting to get hyrdos) or to get fixed (tacoed my front wheel and had to buy a new wheelset and also later broke the arch on my fork and had to get a new-used one).

i'm hoping to get a couple more runs through the don this year before it gets cold, so if you're down, we could probably hook up one weekend and go (i don't got a car either, so i gotta ride down to the trails too - and i live up by dufferin & wilson, heh. i wish i had a car too).

ya man, i lve at kennedy and lawrence..im thinking itd be a solid like 40 mins to get there at first but itd probably be worth it...id defininately be down with going one weekend, probably not this one comin up cause i gotta work + my bros b-day..but the one after that im probably doing **** all and id be free like saturday after noon and all sunday i think

im gonna go look at the road maps see how far it is from my house to there...lol

edit: hmm surprisingly mapquest says its only about 9 miles...thats not really that far...gave me car directions tho, scared me when it said " merge onto the DVP" lol...thats cool tho, i would now most definately be up for making the trip...

hmmm one more thing, you think id be good riding my hardrock xc stock in the valley...i never been so i dont know wtf is down there...

i'm gonna be moving out by you by the end of this week. i got an apartment by victoria pk. & lawrence. i'm pretty much booked for this weekend too cause of the move.

anyhow, the don's got a bit of everything... you want xc, no problem. you want a bit of freeride, no problem either. they used to have a bunch of stunts down in there, but the city called for them to be removed... you'll still find some skinnies, log rides and the odd teeter-totter here and there though. your hardrock should be fine...