Chandne

I do wrench sometimes but sometimes I get too busy so I have the shop do it. I suspect I will let them bleed the brakes when the time comes. So far, I have had to do nothing....no bleeds, no rotor adjustments, or anything at all on either bike. I also rarely have to do anything on the mtn bikes I have...all hydro discs brakes. There have been no air bubbles or anything weird except the initial squeal which was easy to fix by super-fine sanding for a touch, and burning the pads in 90% isopropyl alcohol.

So overall, I have had no maintenance to do. On the rim brakes, I had to tighten the main bolt and also adjust the left-right pad-to-rim spacing 2-3 times. So not much there either. Disc brake maintenance is not as issue for me. I think the only time it could be problematic is (I had this happen with one set of XTs 4-5 years ago) where the piston does not retract properly and cause the pads to rub on the disc. Turn out a seal was bad so there are more moving parts to go south, but it was a defective seal in that case. They are a nice-to-have thing here. I have friends looking at new bikes (non racers) and the majority will only consider discs now. We all ride in the mountains, of course.

matt92037

I will speak to this.

How often do you change rotors and pads and replace brake fluid? Change rotors? Virtually never. Having ridden disks on MTB's since 2003 and road disks for 2 years, never had to change disks unless I wanted to electively change the size of the rotor. How often do I replace brake fluid? On shimano brakes, never. The only time I was forced to is when moving brakes to a different frame and I had to go to a longer brake line. My main MTB has had the same set of XTR brakes since 2012 and I have never changed the fluid, never had to bleed either. My road disks also have required no maintenance other than changing pads.

Brake pads: They are kind of expensive. Organic pads last less long than semi-metallic. No clue how many miles I get out of a set on either my road or MTB but I feel like I have been changing the organic pads a lot lately. My rides all have long climbs followed by long decents. I am going back to semi-metallic on all my bikes. Changing out a set of pads can be done in about 3 minutes and can also be done by somebody with zero mechanical aptitude.

Wrenching: Dealing with Shimano hydros could not be easier. Watching a Youtube video should give anybody with a few basic tools the confidence needed to maintain shimano disks if the need arises. The use of mineral oil vs. DOT fluid seals the deal for me. I will never own a set of brakes that take DOT fluid ever again.

I have zero interest in the disc vs non-disc debate but I will say the upkeep for disks has been a non-issue for me the last 14 years.

Watch a youtube video on how to bleed shimano disks. the procedure is pretty much the same for road or mtb discs.

bonz50

could you explain this a bit further??

PoorBob

I got about 1500 out of my rear pads.. Fronts still have a ways to go and I am up to 2000 on them. No issues at all to date with the set up, just need to remember to inspect the pads a little more often. When the rears started to wear down it didn't take long for them to go.

Campag4life

Thanks for your feedback Chandne.
Cheers.

Campag4life

Excellent comments Matt and I notice this is your first post and you made it an informative one. Welcome to the forum and thanks for your contribution.

Your comments about organic versus semi-metallic disk pads is remindful of same discussion on performance car forums.

Can you talk a bit about your thinking relative to mineral versus DOT fluid..which brand brakes are off your list accordingly? Can same model brakes use either fluid...perhaps a seal compatibility issue? Of course the hygroscopic nature of brake fluid and opportunity for corrosion as with cars and motorcycles is a concern...bicycle hydro disk brakes tending to be more sealed and less permeable by environment.

Can you expand a bit why you are in favor of mineral oil for your bicycle disk hydro brakes?
Thanks

RJM

I was thinking about this thread last night on a mountain bike ride and I was giving particular attention to the quality of braking I had. I've noticed that my older mtb that uses XT brakes and my newer mtb that uses Sram Guide brakes have all required no maintenance save for pad replacement, which is seriously easy to do. I was surprised I've had no issues out of the guides because I've always heard horror stories with Sram/Avid disc brakes. They just work well.


However, my mechanical disc brakes on my cross bike have. Seriously, I dislike mechanical disc brakes. It just seems like I have the most trouble out of them, they are more finicky, and they seem to require more adjustment. Thankfully we finally have solid hydro road discs going on now and if I were to choose a new road bike or another cross bike, it's going to have hydraulic brakes.

WhyFi

Yup. I bought a Shimano hydro upgrade kit (levers, calipers and all of the necessary hoses, olives, etc) and the install was very easy. That's been my only experience thus far, but it was so straightforward that I have to wonder about people that claim hydros are a hassle to install or maintain.

Maelochs

About how much did all that cost. In case I want to swap my Spyres for Shimano discs?

joejack951

So we agree that your original statement was a gross exaggeration of the reality of selling a Jamis used? As for 'better resale', that's a vague term and would take quite a few data point to confirm either way. To start, 'better' as based on what? Percentage of initial cost, total value retained, some other bizarre metric, etc.? Very off topic and boring so we'll just leave it at used Jamis's sell for a decent amount, not $0.02 on the dollar as you claimed.

You can have your name brand carbon frames. You'll lose more money on a decent one in one year than I paid for mine

WhyFi

It was $242 (I got it during a promo for an additional $50 off) - it was still available as of a week or two ago, but I'm not seeing the listing at Competitive right now, so it may have sold out. It was for the RS505 levers (105-level) and (Ultegra-level, iirc) post-mount calipers - it seemed to be a Shimano-packaged kit, so you might be able to find it elsewhere.

ZippyThePinhead

The title of the thread is "Experiences with the new crop of disc brake equipped road bikes." I rode a 2016 Giant Defy 1 Disc, and I commented on my experience. May I ask, who appointed you as the thread cop on BF?

WhyFi

Ah yes - your extensive experience with an admittedly poorly-maintained rental. Thank you for the contribution.

Campag4life

yeah but....if you ride your no name Chinabombs...keep in mind, many lose much more than resale.
Reason why you ask? Dead man tell no tale and even zombies admit this is a false economy. I know, you are still here. But question remains, for how long?

Maelochs

Well ... apparently hydros if I wait for a sale are a couple hundred cheaper than I thought. Always nice to have something to add to the "Future Upgrades" list.

WhyFi

I sold the 105 levers that I replaced for $100 within one day on craigslist - upgrade was under $100.

Grasschopper

Ok so since there are a bunch of disc people reading this thread...the pseudo retro grouch has a question: Are there mechanical disc calipers now that are better than the Avid BB7s I bought in 2012?

I don't have a lot of disc experience (clearly) but my Salsa Vaya has Avid BB7s and to be frank I hate them. Now my 2014 Salsa Mukluk has Avid hydro discs and they are just fine...no issues there at all. My BB7s will often squeak when I'm going slow and that pisses me off because all I hear is friction, friction, friction and I climb slow enough as it is. They also lack anything that I would call power. I read a couple of posts here just now about people on long descents and claiming they like how their discs have more power than rim brakes. When I come down the hill to my house I feel like I couldn't stop if I had to (probably an exaggeration) but if I adjust the pads closer the rubbing is worse than ever.

So basically what I'm after here is, where the BB7s just too early to the game and there are better mechanical calipers to be had?

Also of note is that I run SRAM Rival...looks like the upgrade would be $630 and land me with SRAM calipers...which my LBS complains about...a LOT. I could actually upgrade my GFs Specialized Ruby to hydros for less and move her TRP mechanicals to my Vaya. The same shop says that the TRP mechanicals are "way better" than the BB7s.

Thoughts?

Edit: man you guys are slow. So doing a bit of my own research shows me that the TRP Spyre brake is dual actuation as opposed to the single sided BB7...this is better. Next question....what about these TPR HY/RD brakes that are like a hydro/mechanical hybrid? https://www.trpbrakes.com/category.p...1198&catid=206 That would be a super simple upgrade...assuming it's an upgrade.

joejack951

Mark Twain once said, "Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live.” I guess your response is the modern version of that classic statement.

25,000 or so miles on the Pedal Force 'no-name' carbon frame with nary an issue. My LOOK KG386 got a split in the top tube when I fell on it, though.

Maelochs

That guy @joejack951 has HY-RD and loves them. I have Spyre-Cs and they are as good as Ultegra rims brakes .... I use that biker whenever it rains but so far I haven't felt a huge improvement (I'd go with orange Kool-Stops on Ultegras unless you ride a lot of mountains or live int he Pacific Northwest) but I have zero complaints---the dual-piston design addresses all the problems of old mech designs.

Talk to joejack951 about HY-RDs ... seem to be the best of both worlds as far as less mess on the brifters/bars and still all the hydro stopping power.

Grasschopper

Thanks. I've got no rim brake option on the Vaya so I'm just looking for better disc brake performance. Honestly I don't see the point to road discs but I also don't ride my proper road bike in the rain and I don't use my brakes when descending...all they do is slow you down and where's the fun in that? Seems to be the way the industry wants us to go though so I guess I need to get this stuff figured out. Going to ride my 2012 Defy until it falls apart though....so I'll be on rim brakes for a good long time on my proper road bike. But the GFs bike and my Vaya will have discs so I need to know more about them.

Masque

And we must honor their brave sacrifice by riding even more now, and using all the technology at our disposal!

Stop you safely in gravel/ice/mud/moss/unknown pavement conditions.

Stop me safely in gravel/ice/mud/moss/unknown pavement conditions. (I'm heavy!)

I was intimidated by hydraulic brake maintenance until I bought myself the $8 in tools necessary and just did it. I'd be happy to walk anyone in the Portland/Salem Oregon area through it now.

As for day-to-day maintenance, I sometimes put my bike into the car ("Heresy! Heretic! Ride everywhere!", I know.) and on occasion I take another rim brake bike with me; I've never had to do any adjustment on the discs on these trips, but the rim calipers often need to be aligned after the trip. No big deal, but I notice it.

I have had to straighten a rotor once, and align the disc caliper after, and this took about ten minutes, a piece of paper, an old piece of a tube, and a small wrench. I thought I was going to have to take it to the LBS when I diagnosed the problem, and came away again surprised at how simple it was.

Don't be afraid of discs.

Dave Mayer

One of the supposed benefits of discs is you save money by not having to replace rims so frequently.

So I need to replace my son-in-laws BB7 pads. Apparently they were contaminated with a tiny amount of oil. So I wander into my LBS and ask for replacements. $28 for a pair, apparently on sale. Are you kidding??? I can get good rim brake inserts on EBay for $3 a pair.

I can order replacement Mavic CXP 22 rims for $20 each! It takes me 60 minutes to relace new rims over worn out ones, by appropriately reusing existing spokes.

So replacing rims on rim-brake wheels is cheaper than replacing just disc brake pads.

And rims tracks are far easier to deal with if they get 'contaminated' or any such nonsense.

Discs: it is not just the boat-anchor weight penalty, they are too expensive to maintain.

joejack951

@Dave Mayer you mean your LBS wouldn't match the price of some generic item off Ebay? Shocking.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/322112446543

joejack951

@Grasschopper let me know if you want to chat SRAM levers and HY/RDs some time. Or you can ask @DrIsotope for his personal experience. I use mine with Campy levers but the deal is the same.

DrIsotope

How much improved is the stopping with the modified arms? I panic-stopped (to avoid slamming into the back of the car in front of me) so suddenly that I lifted my rear tire about 4" off the ground, and burped my tubeless front tire out of the bead. Definitely not having any lever travel issues anymore.