Mountain Biking - My new 8" rotor

bike pic... http://realisticillusions.fluxworks.net/kona/DSCF1957.JPG
8" rear rotor... http://realisticillusions.fluxworks.net/kona/DSCF1959.JPG
new cages and bottles... http://realisticillusions.fluxworks.net/kona/DSCF1960.JPG

Ok, quick question, I thought more braking power came from the front wheel. Why put a larger rotor on the rear? My guess is you don't want front locking up as easily as rear (with same brake applied pressure)?

True, why is the larger rotor on the back. If it's on the front it will lock up with similar power but you have more modulation. If I were you I'd swap it.

I thought you bought one for the front. I'm guessing this is the second rotor to balance things out?

actually he bought the wrong adapter... his adapter is for the rear, so that's where he put the rotor... also, his fork isn't 20mm TA, so he didn't want to have to worry about all that braking torque causing problems.

what cryo said....also, b/c I'm so heavy I can actually lean back and get the braking power out of the back wheel that I want...I'm looking at the shiver, but the one site I found with it is out of stock so I'm just going to wait and see what comes down the line, I might put a 8" rotor on the front anyways just to balance the look out.

actually he bought the wrong adapter... his adapter is for the rear, so that's where he put the rotor... also, his fork isn't 20mm TA, so he didn't want to have to worry about all that braking torque causing problems.


Personal thought, Which rim do you wear out more with rim brakes--Front or rear? I always wear the rear out quicker than the front, So I thought the rear would require a bigger disc. WRONG. Since I changed to 8" f&R I have found the brakes unbalanced. I am always locking up the rear. In hindsight I should have put a 7" or possibly 6" on the rear to give better brake balance.

Incidentally. 20mm axle works. Don't know if there is a problem with QR on big rotors but did not want to find out. The 20mm axle means that I have confidence that the wheel and forks are not going to squirm about under hard braking.

EDIT
just realised you are on a hoss, so probably more weight on the back, You will probably need 8" rotors F&R

I rode it today, I can stop rather well with just the back brake, it doesn't fade near as bad as it did before, and it stops stronger w/o locking up the wheel oddly enough....go figure, I'm quite satisfied with it. I'm going to put a 8" on the front to balance the look of the bike out...the 6" on the front just looks really odd.

I'm glad everyone is cool with their brakes but can I just make a point about trail etiquette? I downloaded a cool forest XC/downhill video done by a group of English riders recently. It was cool but they were back wheel skidding all the time :(. Needless to say I deleted the video.

When you're on the trail, learn to use both your brakes together to control your speed. I can brake from high speed to a stop on soft forest mulch with no skidding, even down very steep hills and drop offs just by learning to bias the braking front and back properly. Tearing up trails is not cool, it's for small kids who don't know any better.

Sorry, rant over :).

Actually there are some occasions where it is OK to lock up the rear. A good example of this is at my last DH race. There was a section which had two off camber tight switch backs in a row. You had to hit this with speed and then lock your rear wheel to slide the back around. Now don't say I have no technique, even the elite men were doing this, except for one guy with a trials background wh was doing 180 bunnyhops on a full DH rig.

Actually there are some occasions where it is OK to lock up the rear. A good example of this is at my last DH race. There was a section which had two off camber tight switch backs in a row. You had to hit this with speed and then lock your rear wheel to slide the back around. Now don't say I have no technique, even the elite men were doing this, except for one guy with a trials background wh was doing 180 bunnyhops on a full DH rig.

Marshy?

why in the world would you want that rotor on that XC bike?

Marshy?

Exactly it was freakish to watch, I didn't see his race run, I was waiting for mine, but in practice he did it a couple of times.

why in the world would you want that rotor on that XC bike?
He weighs 450 lbs and 6" rotors fade like mad. That's a lot of weight to haul down from 25mph for a standard HFX-9 disc brake and 6" rotor.

I think cryogenic made it pretty clear, trust me...I have no intentions of doing anything to my bike that I don't see a need for. When I noticed the brakes fading, I looked into a way to resolve it.