dminor 

I guess I'm guilty of drawing the inference of it being an XC race question too, because I didn't think there'd even be a vee/disc question from the OP if we were talking gravity events.

I agree that I don't think anyone said discs were the only way to go. I do agree that a lot of XC racers are still running vees - - either from a money standpoint or illogical prejudices or misconceptions. I honestly don't know why anyone who could afford either would choose to run vees any more.

ZeCanon

I was thinking the same thing... I doubt anyone would try to argue that v's are suitable for gravity events.

paul emick

I'm currently building a hardtail for some casual cross country racing, and have chosen V-brakes for one reason: simplicity. I'm sure discs are easy enough to deal with, I guess I'm just old school that way.

I'll let my skill level dictate when I need to upgrade.

I'm also a closet weight weenie, and heard that I could save 23.48 grams over a disc setup.

paul emick

Obviously simplicity is subjective.

I'm just confident that my abilities, and not my components, will be my limiting factor.

Perhaps V-brakes have been stigmatized to the point that using them is an apparent indicator that one's abilities have not met an equilibrium with the capabilities of their brakes.....in other words, if I didn't suck, I'd have discs. Since I don't have discs, I must suck.

paul emick

I understand what you were saying. I was just attempting to add that, in my opinion, some people choose discs not because they need them, but based on their insecurities about other people's perceptions of Vs at this point.

I edited my previous post to clarify my train of thought.

blue_neon

Also, V-Brakes can be very well fine tuned...as you really have room to see the pad > rim contact, you can get those brakes perfectly centered. Thats what i always loved about my Avid SD7's i had a while back, you could really get the brake adjusted how you wanted. Sure you can also do that with disks, but its a tad more fiddly. Most V-Brakes are lighter then most Disks as well so you will save weight as well. I've ridden some very steep and rocky terrain with V-Brakes and managed.

However, having said that, from experience, V-Brakes seem to require more adjustment and "fine tuning" then disks, and as soon as you slightly buckle your wheel you will probably have to adjust them all over again or pay the price of friction. Disks have the advantage of being more "set and forget" and yes...simple.

If you've chosen V-Brakes though, that is cool, and I highly recommend getting some Avid's with Avid levers

paul emick

Avids with XT dual controls came in today!

paul emick

Please note where I said some people. I believe it's safe to say that some people follow the leading edge of technology strictly out of perceptions of status, rather than out of necessity. That is how I formed my opinion. I determined this based on years of observing people in all aspects of society striving for the next big thing when the previous big thing is still perfectly viable.

As an analogy, the suburban soccer mom who upgrades from the H3 to the H2, when the H3 was pushed nowhere near its limits.

Make sense? Can you imagine some people discarding perfectly good V brakes because they just couldn't be seen on the trail with outdated technology? Do you understand now?

Vanity and materialism pervade all aspects of modern culture.

Am I saying that there are no advantages to discs? Absolutely not. What I am saying is that some people would find Vs more than adequate for the riding they do.

Sorry my previous posts were so abstruse.

dminor 

One might argue that either of these Chevy Blazers and Suburbans are pushed to their limits bumping out of the driveway.

I personally went to discs after too many white-knuckle descents and corner approaches on vee brakes that did not slow me down well enough.

paul emick

Why does it matter? We're forced to justify OPINIONS now?

I determined that, given a cross section of humanity making a specific decision, (in this case, to upgrade from V to disc brakes), that a finite number of human emotions would factor into the choice. Knowing that vanity and insecurity are valid human emotions that may or may not factor into making decisions, I just assumed that in a broad sample of mountain bikers, it would be a safe bet that at least some of them made the choice to upgrade based on skewed logic. It would also be safe to say that some people (dminor) upgraded because their V brakes were insufficient.

Nitpicking people's opinions seems pretty silly, doesn't it?

paul emick

goodnight, all!

blue_neon

So why is that a big deal?

For the record i KNOW many people who just have disks because they look cool.

M_S

I think the "having it because it looks cool" thing does apply. I see lots of people riding around campus generally on the cheapest mountain bikes with discs that are available. They are using mountain bikes, yeah, but basically as campus cruising bikes. I've talked to many people who buy a mountain bike because it's "cool and tough" but have no intention of ever taking it off road. I've steered many people who have come to me for bike advice away from mountain bikes (though several insist they must have "grippy" knobby tires for pavement use )and I could see steering them away from discs for similar reasons.

That said, this is a racing subforum in a forum for enthusiasts, so that sort of logic doesn't realy apply. For casua/light trail riding, discs aren't necessary at all and going to vees might be a good place to save some money.

easyperson

thanks for all the posts, I figured I'd better clarify what I'm really after

I currently don't race but when I go away to school next year I hope to. I'm in the market for a new bike and am trying to figure out if i should spend less and get a decent set of V's or more and get a cheapo set of discs. Is it worth it to spend more on a bike now and then not have to get new hubs/wheels when I upgrade, or should I spend less and then just get better V's when I want?

dminor 

You'll be sorely disappointed by the performance of 'cheapo' discs; BUT --

1. They won't be too much different from vees (unless they are particularly good vees)
2. As you noted, you'll be ahead of the game when you go to upgrade to good discs, because you will already have a disc-compatible wheelset.

I'd vote to go the disc route and upgrade when you either can afford to or can't afford not to.

colombo357

At $115 for a pair of BB7s, FR-5 levers, and Shimano LX cables/housings, I wouldn't waste my time with cheapo discs or v-brakes.

ZeCanon

agreed, go with a set of mechanical discs from Avid. Many actually like them better than hydraulic brake sets.

apclassic9

Colombo & Ze make an excellent point. Additionally, while you're tooling about your campus sidewalks, you will be able to stop better in wet conditions than you will with V's, thus making your college campus a safer place for humanity.

Cypress

I'll be putting XTR V's on my Lefty.

ZeCanon

silly, silly man...

dematrix

not sure if this will be an approved post but im gonna say it

my freind has been rideing with v's at the back and discs at the front for YEARS and haveing ridden a bike recently with hydro discs he loved the stopping power... so he is looking for a pair of hydro v's because of the simplisity to adjust v brakes

DickyJ

Don't magura rim brakes count?

Did I just fall into a Fagerlin pit?

Oh dear...

DickyJ

No, but they're probably what he meant.

DickyJ

true, maybe he should save some cash on the maguras and get some better V's or do like everyone else and jump on the bb7 bandwagon?
Or even better, since he loved actual hydro discs.... perhaps..? maybe..?

Yeah, not sure how he 'rode & loved hydro discs' and managed to decide that hydro rim brakes were the answer...

edzo

what the hell are you talking about ? I have raced with V-brakes
expert Norba MTB, and found plenty of times when I could not
get the braking power I needed due to glop on the rims. one
or two rotations to clear the rim and get braking power back is
too many. discs are almost 99.99 of the time there and ready.

out east here we actually race in deep mud and deep water and
ice conditions


for me I run disc on all new bikes, and my older bikes without disc mounts
I keep v-brakes on them.