Hydraulic or Mechanical?
 

I have one bike in mind that I plan on getting, I recently found out that the Sport version of the bike has hydraulic disk brakes as opposed to mechanical. There is an $85 difference between the two. Which on should I go for? In other words, what are the benefits of hydraulic over mechanical? Or the other way around?


Diamondback Overdrive Bike 2015 > Complete Bikes > Mountain Bikes | Jenson USA Mechanical


Diamondback Overdrive Sport Bike 2015 > Complete Bikes > Mountain Bikes | Jenson USA Hydraulic

I could also go for two other bikes I have in mind, one is mechanical and the other is hydraulic. Any advice is appreciated.

Alternates:
GT Bikes Karakoram Comp Bike 2014 > Complete Bikes > Mountain Bikes | Jenson USA (Hydraulic)

Giant Revel 29er Bike 2015 > G > Giant Bicycles | Jenson USA (Mechanical)

By the way, my budget is under $600, I really don't have any more to spend and I think I can get a decent bike for that much. Thank you for any help...

I pulled this comment from another poster on another forum, but it sums up the difference between mechanical and hydraulic disk brakes.

Hope this information helps.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Mechanicals:
Advantage:
- Easy to adjust
- Fair price
Disadvantage:
- Dirt can clog up the cable
- If dirt did clog up, it won't brake as smooth

Hydraulics:
Advantage:
- Powerful braking
- Use fluid cable
Disadvantage:
- Difficult to adjust
- If not fix properly (bleeding), braking power greatly reduce and would be very dangerous.
- Expensive
- Need regular maintanance

I initially had mechanical disc brakes on my main bike, the thing that made me switch to hydraulic was going through 3 brake cables in 10 months.

The more I think about it, the more there must've been some burr or something on the brake calliper that was fraying the cable. I also found I needed to do a lot of adjustment of the mechanical brakes whereas the hydraulic brakes are mostly self-centering. That said, a mechanical brake is easily adjusted, a hydraulic brake needs a bleeding kit.

I love, love, love my hydraulic disc brakes! Such powerful smooth braking, I felt it was one of those "wow moments" when moving up to a modern bike.

As for mechanical disc brakes, well frankly they left me disappointed. Let me disclaimer that however, I was shopping an entry level bike (that is <$900), such as yourself. These tend to come with the cheapest Tektro or Hayes disk brakes. At the bottom end, the mechanical discs could barely hold in there, I had to squeeze hard and they just did not feel like they were grabbing like a good set of old fashion brakes, even squeeking as they struggled. I told the LBS that something must have been wrong with my test ride, but "no" they responded, "that's the way they are, you need to get used to them ... although they should improve slightly as they get bedded in." Although I have read that the top end mechanicals, can rival bottom end hydraulics.

The hydraulics on the other hand ... powerful stopping, nice modulation, and effortless lever feel. Even though my bike came with the "poorly reviewed Hayes", just like the "poorly reviewed Tektro's" ... I honestly wondered what could possibly be so much better with those great Shimano or Avid discs that come with more expensive bikes (never having tried better ones).

As for adjusting, yes brake rub on hydraulics can be a pain. The pads float less than 1mm from the disk, so I find sometimes if I remove my wheel, or wipe out hard, the brakes can develop a slight "zing, zing, zing" metallic rubbing sound. I have become quite good at loosening the two caliber bolts and recentering the caliper, and using an adjustable wrench to gently straighten the disk. Takes me a whole 10 minutes to elimate any brake rub once in a blue moon on mine, or my wife's bike. Absolutely worth the great brake feeling the other 99.9% of the time!

I never needed to "bleed to adjust" in two years of riding discs.

IMHO, no brainier to pay $85 more for a bike to get hydraulic discs! Try em both out, and decide for yourself.

Hydraulic or Mechanical?
 

You also get wider fork stanchions (30mm vs 28.6). Those will make for a stiffer front end, and the fork is probably somewhat better too.

And there is nine-speed on the spendier bike. Nine-speed and the shifters are separate components from the brake levers, which I prefer because then you can replace them independently.

I know you are on a budget and need to consider other expenses like a helmet and so on. If you can swing the extra cost of the sport model you get a better fork, hydro brakes, nine speed, and a few other component upgrades. In the long run you'd probably be happy you spent the extra for the nicer bike.

Please elaborate on the normal adjustments needed and particularly the specifics of the regular maintenance required for hydraulic brakes. I'm not really sure what you're referring to even having read the friendly manual.


How often are you thinking a hydraulic system would need to be bled? AFAIK bleeding isn't normally necessary on the mineral oil based systems (unless you've opened it up for some reason) and fluid changes would be very infrequent on any DOT fluid based systems (two year intervals or more).

I love disc brakes mainly because they do not ruin rims. That said IMO hydraulic brakes are an over kill. More complication, and depending on where you are, you may have to ride with brakes on just one wheel, till you can get to a shop that has repacement parts. And not all bike shops have the parts. This is especially true if you are a cross country cyclist.

[QUOTE=steve_cay;17824485]an entry level bike (that is <$900), such as yourself. These tend to come with the cheapest Tektro or Hayes disk brakes


Should I go for the bike that has tektro brakes (Diamondback Overdrive Sport) or promax (GT Karakoram Comp)? There is a $50 difference between the two.

I would not use the brakes as a deciding point. Both Tektro and Promax make acceptably good budget brakes, as well as crapola brakes you might find on a $150 BSO.

Buy the bike that fits better.

I am probably switching to cable disc brakes on my MTB. My hydraulic were good but are more involved to service, esp. with my shade-tree style practices. Also I want to install my Salsa Woodchipper off-road drop bars on my MTB and have many more choices of lever if I use cable brakes. My experience with my wife's (Tektro) and son's (Avid) cable discs has been very positive.

I am happy with my Hayes, and my wife is happy with her Tektros ... both entry level. Our expectations are quite reasonable (not being spoiled with better ones), and we were both very impressed with these hydraulic disc brakes compared to rim brakes. The reviews on these however are generally not very positive. But these are budget brakes, I have seen them advertised for well under $75 (front/back/levers/calipers/discs/pads)! Good ones cost well over $100 (Shimano seems good bang for the buck). Great ones go over $400. I would hope there is a difference for the premium, but if your expectations (and budget) are modest, the cheap ones will still impress.

I did not need "maintenance on them" either, other than occasional DIY adjustment.

I have not tried the better ones, but read some key differences are: power (good ones can be easily locked with one finger), modulation, adjustable levers, and heat dissipation (will not overheat going down long steep mountains riding the brakes).

Shimano hydraulics even in the low end which the DB has are great. Everybody blabs about how hard hydraulics are to service just don't have shimanos. Shimanos are dirt simple to bleed and can go years without needing it.

There's more than just the difference of mech vs hydro between those bikes. The hydro bike also has a higher end drivetrain,lower gearing,and a fork with a lockout. You didn't say what you were planning on doing with the bike. If you're ever going to ride it in the street,you'll want the fork with the lockout.

Lockout fork is a must for road riding IMHO.

the bolt spacing is standardized

You can buy a different brake if the bike you like was made affordable By specifying a cheaper one in the original build list.


I own a Hydraulic Rim Brake Bike and a Mechanical disc braked one..

Pretty inexpensive (low end) hydraulic disc brakes
 

The fact that you can buy a entire set of the brakes identical to the ones on this bike for $50 is not a good sign. Shimano Hydraulic Disc Brake BL-M355-L | BicycleBuys.com I had a recumbent trike with Shimano mechanical disc brakes and they worked perfectly but I had a much better trike with Hope hydraulic disc brakes which worked way better, with few problems for many thousands of miles over a decade. A replacement brake lever for the Hope brakes cost more than twice what the entire Shimano set costs. Makes me wonder how long the set would perform satisfactorally.

For a good while. They just cut out all the fancier bits the higher end versions get to make a price point. New $600 or less bikes don't ship with great brakes but I'd take shimano hydraulics over anything else.

Even Magura?

Never used them and I haven't seen them on any $600 or less bikes either. I've heard good things about them though.

A German Made Brake rarely appears on a Bike assembled in a Taiwan factory.



If you are shopping for a modest Price , then You get what putting up that kind of Money Buys.

What exactly does one "put up with" on "that kind of money"? Do you mean initial purchase price and later repair and warranty response?

Warranty on components placed on a Bike are typically 12 Months , and that is the Component parts Manufacturers agreement.

not the brand , that has the name on the frame , but it is still best to go thru the dealer that sold you the Bike.


In short YGWYPF. a 2000 dollar bike wil have different component parts picks than one selling at 25% of that cost.