Corben

I just threw out a bunch of trash that was wasting away in the garage and now I have room for another bike. I have two roads and a good hybrid so I guess a mtn bike is in order.
Years ago I had a specicialzied rock hopper. Gave ie away or something. Didn't have any suspension. I work on my own bikes, true my own wheels and well...I can totally take apart a bike 99% and and put it back together.
So I'm looking over different mtn bikes and quite a few now offer disc breaks. I read theyre very effective but how often must they be adjusted and serviced? Is it something anyone who's handy with a wrench can work on?
Do you sometimes wish you never had them? And what about hydrolic ones? Are they even worse to work on or better?
I'll save the front suspension questions for another day.

osco53

Rim brakes on mountain bikes " True mountain bikes not the families mup/trail bikes ?
Move up a decade or two, get current.

Hydro/wet brakes are the way,
superior modulation,
ONE finger on the brake gives all the power you need and leaves more fingers wrapped around the
grip for better bike control.
I drop in new pads once a season and have never had a fluid leak.
The only maintenance is cleaning the rotors every four or five rides.

I just don't like the Idea of trusting little rubber pads rubbing on rims when I'm single tracking.
I want motorcycle style brakes that I can count on in ALL conditions.

Rim brakes,
Very poor modulation
Don't work so well when wet or muddy,
Eat right through your rims.
Fade bad on long down hills.

Once you go wet you will never go back...

If you ride in freezing temps stick to cable brakes,,the Avid BB7 is pretty much top dog there.
Takes a while for the pads to seat for true power, Initial adjustment last untill the pads are fully
seated but then you get powerfull trouble free brakes with decent modulation..

My Long wheel base Tour Easy Recumbent stopped adequately with rim brakes but since the rear did about
75% of the braking (the front is very lightly loaded on this bike),, I wanted more control/power.
On went a BB 7 with a teflon coated cable. Smooth controlled power was the benefit,
I can lock the rear wheel now with two fingers. never could with four fingers with the factory rim brakes.

I know I know locking is not wise, but modulation and control right before the lock up point is best.

Looigi

What do you think about the TRP Spyke/Spyre cable disc calipers?

Retro Grouch 

We've got Avid mechanical discs on our Kett-train trikes. I never think about them so I must be satisfied with them.

Canker

Shimano hydraulics are awesome from their low end to their high end. They rarely need to be bleed as in they can go years without it and are super easy to do when they do need it. Avids hydraulics on the other hand are crap from their low end to their high end so much so that Sram dropped the Avid name and just went with Sram on their newest guide brakes which are suppose to be a lot better. Now avids won't get you killed and work fine when they are bleed but they need bleed often like every 6 months in my experience and it is a huge PITA to do and they like to squeal. Avid mechanical brakes though are the best mechanical brakes you can get. I have no problems with my hydraulics in the winter btw. Anyway aim for Shimano if you can but in the low end a lot come with tektro which are well ok. I've only bleed tektro's once and while they aren't as hard as my avids were they aren't nearly as easy a shimano either. There are a bunch of other brands but I don't have experience with those and they are less common.

modelmartin

My discs never break. They do brake pretty well, though.

rydabent

Check the bike mechanics thread.

IMO disc brakes are the biggest advancement since index shifting.

AlmostTrick

I'm happy with my mechanical discs. Never tried hydraulic but I wouldn't be opposed to them.

No longer listening to my rims being ground down by road grit in the pads is really nice.

elcruxio

Firstly I would not even consider an MTB with rim brakes. Do they even make frames / forks with V-bosses anymore?

Secondly, the only reason why I would consider a mechanical disc brake for an MTB would be if I lived in arctic conditions. But I do live in the arctic so I currently have mech discs mounted
But once it gets warmer I switch to hydro discs since they are just so much better. Like having Volvo brakes on a bicycle.

Retro Grouch 

Does that mean that you like them?

fietsbob

not that index shifting other than lowering the personal involvement with the bike and making it more complicated is an advance ment

any more than making cars too complicated to repair yourself.


I got a Bike Friday with Avid BB7 disc brakes i just learned how to keep them working at their best ..

Though I am curious about some hydraulic - Mechanical hybrids like TRP Spyke

and Magura's Recent, new skinny tire Rim Hydraulic , already quite satisfied with their V brake post mounted HS33 hydraulic rim brakes.

intransit1217

My Trek 8.4 ds has hayes hydros. Other than some obnoxious howl when the discs are wet from weather. I. love. hydros.

My fatbike came with bb5 mech discs. Wasn't as impressed. Upgraded to bolt-on bb7 hydros. Love.

JanMM

Hydraulic BB7's?
Have used mechanical BB7's on three bikes and have been happy with them on those bikes. On the other hand, my one bike with V-brakes stops fine. I do think that I have spent considerably less time futzing around with disk brake adjustment, etc., compared to rim brakes.

fietsbob

Avid's Hydro line is Called 'Juicy'.

(adding punctuation to separate ideas )

Quote:

hydros. Love.

BlazingPedals

I put a Spyre on the front of my NoCom late last summer, and got another Spyre for the front of my Baron over the winter. Neither has more than a couple of rides on it so far, but from what I see so far, I really like them. They brake confidently, they're quiet, and since both pads move (like hydraulics) they aren't warping the rotor every time I brake hard. Initial adjustment was pretty easy, too.

intransit1217

DOH ! I stand corrected. I upgraded to Avid DB-3.

JanMM

Ah-ha! That makes sense. True love, huh?

Corben

OP: Thanks everyone. You all been most helpful.
Disc brakes it is.

Corben

Stop teasing me.

Jarrett2

I got tired of fighting with the disc brakes on my touring bike and went back to rim brakes.

modelmartin

So sorry. I am a wise-a$$ grammar nazi and that was an obvious target. Carry on!

kzin

I'm very unimpressed.
They squeal like crazy if not kept perfectly happy and don't stop a bit better in any riding I actually do.
I also probably have a mounting system defect.
I'd switch back to rim brakes if I didn't have disk-only rims.

Based on this thread I'll have to consider upgrading to hydraulic

Looigi

They're pretty highly regarded around here.

principia 650

the disc hydraulic brakes on my trek 6500 disc are great. i will never get another bike unless it has disc. it has shimano i can not speak for other brands.

BlazingPedals

Rim brakes are usually 'adequate,' but I've been on a few tours where I had to ride hills in the rain, and my rim brakes could NOT control my speed. No serious injuries, but there easily could have been. Coming up (down?) on a busy intersection and knowing you won't be able to stop in time is not a fun situation to be in.