Disc brakes - Are they worth it?
Discussion
Looking around at the moment for a bike for my wife. She's not been on a bicycle for 20+ years and as a result we're looking at a cheap'ish option on ebay.
However, having been into Halfords this evening to work out which size she needs, it seems that all "modern" bikes have disc brakes front and rear.
I've never had a bike with disc brakes and the caliper type brakes on my 15yr old Diamond Back seem to do me nicely.
So are disc brakes really worth the extra? Or are they one of these things that the marketing people have convinced the public that they need, when really they dont?
However, having been into Halfords this evening to work out which size she needs, it seems that all "modern" bikes have disc brakes front and rear.
I've never had a bike with disc brakes and the caliper type brakes on my 15yr old Diamond Back seem to do me nicely.
So are disc brakes really worth the extra? Or are they one of these things that the marketing people have convinced the public that they need, when really they dont?
To be honest if you're just crusing about they're fit-and-forget reliable, a set of pads could last years. I certainly wouldn't go looking speciifically for a bike without them, I can't think of a single thing that V brakes do better, other than weigh less, but you're talking grams.
They can be a bit fiddly to bleed and akward to change pads, but unless you're riding DH, Freeride or Extream XC stuff on a weekly basis you don't have to touch them from one year to the next.
Oh I remember one downside to them, some of them don't like being stored for a long time anyway but up, I.E if you hang your bike from the front wheel in the shed or something you can get air pockets in the system and they need to be pumped a bit to work again.
They can be a bit fiddly to bleed and akward to change pads, but unless you're riding DH, Freeride or Extream XC stuff on a weekly basis you don't have to touch them from one year to the next.
Oh I remember one downside to them, some of them don't like being stored for a long time anyway but up, I.E if you hang your bike from the front wheel in the shed or something you can get air pockets in the system and they need to be pumped a bit to work again.
Parrot of Doom said:
LRdriver II said:
wire pull discs are crap, hydraulics best.
That simply isn't true - I used Avid BB7s for a year and found them absolutely excellent. Not as much 'feel' as my current hydraulics, but considering the price differential...Discs only useful if traversing mud though as it prevents destroying alloy rims.... 'V's are just fine for anything else.
As ever with these things realistically it depends.
In this case it depends on what your wife wishes to do with the bike.
V brakes have been going for donkeys years, there is nothing inherantly wrong with them depending on purpose.
I've had to keep one of my old bikes due to the fact that the baby seat wont fit on my new one due to the full suss mechanism. Is it worth me upgrading the brakes on a bike I'll only be riding on tow-paths when with my family? No, its not. Most of my downhill days were done on that bike with v-brakes, and they saw me through it, I'm sure they'll be fine for that.
My current d/h bike only has mech discs, not hydraulic, and they are fine for me. Maybe at some point I may look to upgrading them to hydraulic, but as it stands at the moment I can see no reason to, as they are as sharp a I could want (far better than any V-brakes I ever had), and have never had any issues with them.
Unless your wife is so fassion concious she just "must" have the latest and best
but it doesn't sound that way to me. If you can, get your wife to ride a mates with disc brakes - she may not even like the feel of them.
In this case it depends on what your wife wishes to do with the bike.
V brakes have been going for donkeys years, there is nothing inherantly wrong with them depending on purpose.
I've had to keep one of my old bikes due to the fact that the baby seat wont fit on my new one due to the full suss mechanism. Is it worth me upgrading the brakes on a bike I'll only be riding on tow-paths when with my family? No, its not. Most of my downhill days were done on that bike with v-brakes, and they saw me through it, I'm sure they'll be fine for that.
My current d/h bike only has mech discs, not hydraulic, and they are fine for me. Maybe at some point I may look to upgrading them to hydraulic, but as it stands at the moment I can see no reason to, as they are as sharp a I could want (far better than any V-brakes I ever had), and have never had any issues with them.
Unless your wife is so fassion concious she just "must" have the latest and best
but it doesn't sound that way to me. If you can, get your wife to ride a mates with disc brakes - she may not even like the feel of them.Edited by Fetchez la vache on Friday 6th March 09:06
Parrot of Doom said:
LRdriver II said:
wire pull discs are crap, hydraulics best.
That simply isn't true - I used Avid BB7s for a year and found them absolutely excellent. Not as much 'feel' as my current hydraulics, but considering the price differential...pdV6 said:
Parrot of Doom said:
LRdriver II said:
wire pull discs are crap, hydraulics best.
That simply isn't true - I used Avid BB7s for a year and found them absolutely excellent. Not as much 'feel' as my current hydraulics, but considering the price differential...Well,ok.. maybe I did generalze a tad much.. but, I find you have to stay on top of the maintanance with wire disc brakes. The normal wear and tear and road detritus and crap that gets sucked into the lubed cables, means you need to stay on top of them. Otherwise yes, like both V brakes and hydraulics, there is a wide variety of standards.
gbbird said:
I am not an extreme rider by any means, but i do find hydraulic disc brakes much easier to live with on a day to day basis than rim brakes. Much easier to take the wheeils on and off, and, with moderate use, don't need much maintenance at all.
Same here, plus the 'feel' is so much better along with the power. Never been able to do a 'stoppie' on V-brakes but with discs (Avid juicy 5) it's good fun whilst also being good practice for the feel. 
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