Replacing Cable Operated BrakesWith Hydraulic

[Sea Demon]

I have an old GT Avalanche (Disc 1.0) which I bought in around 2004 - I love the bike & want to upgrade the brakes to hydraulic if possible, the cable operated brakes are bit ste now compared to other bikes I've ridden with hydraulic brakes.

Anyone point me in the right direction of parts? Could I buy a complete kit to do this?

[gradeA]

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/clarks-m2-hydra...

Best you'll get for cost vs. quality really - at that level, not really worth spending more!

[lufbramatt]

You can't really get complete kits any more due to all the different standards in use. You have to spec the brakes (calipers and levers), front and rear discs, and caliper adapters/mounts separately.

The adapters you need depend on the mounts on frame+fork and what size discs you want to run. With a bike of that age it probably has IS caliper mounts (post or flat mount are more common these days) and 6-bolt discs.

I priced up a set of Shimano SLX disc brakes recently and I think Chain Reaction was coming out about £170, but Deore or Clarks would work perfectly well and be cheaper.

Edited by lufbramatt on Tuesday 10th April 16:17

[gazza285]

If it already has disc brakes, then he shouldn't need either discs or caliper mounts, as these will already be on the bike...

[lufbramatt]

Assuming the diameters match, I have 185mm rotors on one bike which isn’t a size used any more, and on another bike (from 2004) the calipers are IS direct mount so don’t use an adapter at all. Calipers that needed an adapter didn’t really come in until a couple of years later.

Edited by lufbramatt on Tuesday 10th April 19:29

[yellowjack]

Sea Demon said:

I have an old GT Avalanche (Disc 1.0) which I bought in around 2004 - I love the bike & want to upgrade the brakes to hydraulic if possible, the cable operated brakes are bit ste now compared to other bikes I've ridden with hydraulic brakes.

Anyone point me in the right direction of parts? Could I buy a complete kit to do this?

Not especially helpful as the specific brake set I bought isn't (as far as I can tell) available as a complete set anymore anyway. But I converted my 2008 GT Avalanche 3.0 from Tektro I/O mechanical discs to Shimano hydraulic brakes when the pad adjuster screw stripped it's thread on one of the calipers. It was a doddle to do the work, and even the cheapest Shimano hydro calipers are streets ahead of the Tektro crappy cable calipers that came off. You won't regret it.

I changed just the caliper and lever. Bought a pre-bled sealed set of front and rear brakes, M615 Deore stuff. It was a while ago, but the job was done for £70. Looking now, the M615 caliper only is £24.99 on CRC. I was fine using the adaptors and disc rotors that were already on the bike, but the kit I bought also came with an adapter to increase the front rotor to a 180 mm item.

Buy a set of barbs and olives though, and shorten the hoses. They may be pre-bled, but they're always going to be too long unless your bike was built for King Kong, and having an excess of spare hydraulic hose hanging about on the front end is a big no-no...

If I knew then what I know now, I'd have converted sooner. The Shimano brakes have been brilliant, over about 2,500 miles so far since the re-fit.

Worth having a look in store at Decathlon if you have one locally...

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/deore-hydraulic-disc-b...
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/deore-hydraulic-disc-b...
£100 for Shimano Deore (no rotors)

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/shimano-xt-hydraulic-d...
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/shimano-xt-m785-hydrau...
£150 for Shimano XT (no rotors and possibly no hoses either)

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/rear-hydraulic-disc-br...
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/front-hydraulic-disc-b...
£80 for a basic Shimano set-up (including rotors, hoses, and bolts, etc)

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/hydraulic-disc-brake-k...
£70 for a Decathlon/B'Twin (own brand) front AND rear set (with rotors, hoses, and fixing bolts)

I'm pretty sure I bought my hydro brakes from Ribble Cycles. Not "retail packaging", so bagged, not boxed. Their current offerings...

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/shimano-slx-m7000-b...
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/shimano-zee-m640-br...
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/shimano-deore-m6000...
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/shimano-xt-m8000-br...

...take care with Ribble - the XT price (£200) is for pre-bled fronts AND rears. The rest you order fronts and rears separately so prices will be double for a complete bike.

Don't muck about with cable discs on a MTB any longer than you need to. There'll be no looking back and no regrets once you've done the upgrade...