jxpowers

Please note : I am a beginner on bikes

Should i get it for the front or the back?
is this a good or bad idea? do people do this?
also what mm rotor are best?
Im currently looking at "Clarks Skeletal Hydraulic Disc Brake with 185mm Rotor" or "XLC Pro Hydraulic Disc Brake Kit" or "Avid Elixir R (X.7) Hydraulic Disc Brake "
my budget is 60-80 pound

Can anyone give me knowledge on this subject thanks in advance

Bill Kapaun

It's the kind of question that if you have to ask, you probably don't need one.

jxpowers

I agree i dont really need it, but something i would like to have, im planning on asking for it for Christmas

cplager

Front. A large majority of your stopping power is from the front wheel.

FastJake

+1

The best brake goes on the front. Now, what kind of bike do you have? There are probably better upgrades that could be done (IMO) besides a front disc brake, unless you frequently use your MTB in muddy conditions. Realize you'll need a disc hub on your wheel to run the brake, and you must also have disc tabs on your fork.

LarDasse74

The front is the better choice. There are a few reasons for this:

The front brake is responsible for most of your braking, and it is capable of stopping the bike much faster that the rear brake. Also, if your frame and fork are not equipped with disk mounts, you either need to modify or replace the frame or fork... well a replacement disk compatible fork can be ~$50, but usually a replacement frame is more expensive and a much more difficult job. Also, if you don't have disk compatible wheels, a front wheel with a disk mount is cheaper than a rear wheel. But all the other reasons do not make up for the fact that your front brake is more important, should be used more, and is more effective at stopping the bike.

Although, a properly set up V-brake with good pads and new cables is perfectly adequate for almost all riding.

cobba

Should i get it for the front or the back?
Front
is this a good or bad idea? do people do this?
Good and Yes
also what mm rotor are best?
Depends on what sort of riding you do and what size rotor your fork is rated to handle.

If you currently have v-brakes you could get a mechanical disc brake, you'd be able to use your current brake lever but you'd need to get a new brake cable.
£45 will get you a Avid BB7 which is a good disc brake, you might be able to find one cheaper somewhere else.

A disc brake on the front with a v-brake on the rear is often called a mullet set-up.

Does your fork/frame have disc mounts?
Are your hubs disc compatible?

mikemartin

Front brake for sure, most of your braking should be with the front.

Read this information from Sheldon Brown. https://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

As cobba said, if you don't have the right fork and hub mount, your looking at cost higher than your budget.

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?page_id=8174

This post ways some of the pros and cons. He's grasping at straws in my opinion on a few of them but you get the idea.

Also I heard of some people recommending Brake Boosters, i have never tried them but apparently they increase performance a bit. https://www.performancebike.com/revi...e-Booster.html

jxpowers

Ok thank you all for your help

ok so im currently stuck on deciding on these two

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=47542
or
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=67749

Which ones are better?

I have the RST Gila T-6 suspension ( crap i know ), these will fit disk brakes but what size rotor shall i get?

And i'll need now is a front wheel and the cheapest i found was £30?

jimc101

Why do you need disc brakes? we all managed fine with out them BITD.

You haven't given any indication of your riding type, i.e. on road / off road etc, this will help in determining what rotor size is relevant for your needs

For the options you have given, neither are great, especially when for a few pounds more you can get a Shimano Deore M596 https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=67246 (although this doesn't come with a rotor)

The forks you have indicate that the bike is a budget one, doing any upgrades to a budget bike can soon become cost in-effective, as just the cost of a wheel and brake will soon be half the cost of a much better complete bike.

cobba

Budget bikes usually have integrated brake lever and shifter.
If this is the case and the OP bought a hydraulic brake then a new shifter would also be needed.

mconlonx

Front, because of what everyone else already advised.

-however-

What brake do you find yourself using more...?

If your don't use your front brake under the mistaken impression that if you grab a handful, you're going over the bars, then rear. Rear disc will lock your rear wheel up a lot quicker if you don't modulate the brake well, and you can probably already lock the rear with rim brakes. Rear braking ability is limited to the traction the tire has on the road -- once it brakes loose, you are not getting optimal braking, so if you can already lock up the rear with your rim brake setup, a disc in the rear is way overkill.

Front disc will be significantly more powerful than whatever you got going on right now, especially if you're considering a 185 rotor -- 160 might be a more sane upgrade -- so just remember that you won't be grabbing a handful, more like one or two finger's worth of brake in pretty much any situation.

FastJake

You still haven't mentioned what kind of bike you have, and what kind of riding you do with it. If you don't ride in the wet/mud then putting a disc brake up front will make no difference at all and be a waste of money on what sounds like it could be a lower-end bike. If you have your heart set on a disc brake I doubt we will change your mind, but there are probably more useful upgrades that could be done.

jxpowers

thanks for pointing that out, just shows how much i know about bikes, i dont even need them since i only commute on roads, however i do want to improve my bike ,

i dont know what other upgrades can be done to my bike i really want to make it lighter

jimc101

You still haven't said what sort of bike you have, so till you do this, no specific advice can really be given.

For general advice on how to make a bike lighter, you will really struggle to make any meaningful weight reduction of the budget you have given.

Give more info on what you currently have, and you may get some useful suggestions.

jxpowers

i dont know anything about my bike, since i got given it, it was bought like a few years back its an GT aggressor 2.0 hardtail MTB, the ones i found online are not my bikes they all have different things on them

jxpowers

i want to get a whole new frame but i know f all

saddlesores

what kind of tires do you have? how 'bout a set of 26*1.5 slicks to replace the
knobby tractor tires that probably came with the bike. that ought to lighten the
load quite a bit.

jimc101

A GT Aggressor 2.0 with RST Gila forks indicates that it's a late 2000's bike, guessing from about 2007-2010 range in the UK at that time, they were mainly sold by Halford, and were good low end bikes.

Being realistic, if you want to make it lighter, the quickest way would be to just buy a lighter bike, but that isn't in your given budget.

With the budget given (£60-80) and given that you are using it to commute; would look at replacing the fork with a rigid one, keep your original brakes, and get some slick tires; doing this will make the bike a lot lighter at minimal cost. For anything else, wheels would be next, but to get a meaningful weight loss on them would mean a big increase in costs.

fietsbob

Buy a bike with disc brakes , they come with 2.
you have to have the frame and fork made to fit the Caliper, as it is..

You cannot retrofit discs on non disc frames ..

and the Best cost-benefit on bikes is whole bike purchase. ,

as the component parts, each, will cost Much More.


wont buy you a wheel to start the plan, you need a disc mount ready Hub in the wheel

Hub + Caliper&lever + Disc + on Disc ready frame.
[NB: Mechanicals cost less, than hydraulics]

LesterOfPuppets

Disc brakes will only make the bike heavier. You could probably drop a pound of wheel weight with a tire swap, but depends on what tires you currently have on.

Can you post a pic of bike? They're pretty well documented on the internet so I could probably determine year and orig. parts spec pretty easily.

FastJake

Sometimes the best things to upgrade are the "little" things that make a big difference. For example, if your bike has a crappy saddle, pedals, or grips, replacing those will make the bike a lot more enjoyable to ride. Tires are another big one. If you put narrower slicks on you could probably lose some weight and make the bike faster and quieter on the roads.

A rigid fork could be great upgrade if you don't go offroading. Besides those things I wouldn't stick too much money into the bike, but rather save up for a better one.

LesterOfPuppets

+1. I'd meant to say something like this in my last post. Best advice yet. Keep the Agressor in good shape and enjoy it. Take your disc brake upgrade fund and put it in the bank. Keep saving and trying out bikes in bike shops. If you see something you decide you really need to upgrade to from the GT then buy it. Cost of disc brakes on a complete bike is like $30 per wheel instead of $80 per wheel.

FMB42

I also think you should spend more time riding and learning how to work on your bike "as it is" before you make any big changes or upgrades. Once you've gained more experience, you can then buy a newer bike that's equipped with what you need (this will, most likely, save you time and money overall). Btw, a set of properly installed and adjusted Kool Stop brand brake pads will probably give all the braking power you need at this point. The links below have a lot of good maintenance and repair information that help you get started:




https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...com-shortcuts?

and:




https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help

jxpowers

click on the photo for larger image

so heres my bike and its components, if anyone can give me the model of my derailleur that would be nice, thats if they even continue to sell it

and i will consider getting a rigid fork

i dont go off-roading

my budget isnt 60-80 pound, thats just how much i am willing to spend on a disk brake, but im not getting it anymore