Brake advice, please help

[0omo0]

my current bike has disk breaks - though they are cable breaks - the cable keeps slipping and the pads are not self levelling so they need frequently adjusting.

I want to change to Hydraulic breaks and asked the bike shop near my office to quote me for supplying/fitting, the brakes they recommended are Clarks M2 MTB Disk brakes, from looking these are they are well reviewed but extremely cheap considering the price of alternatives. has anyone used these? or does anyone have any others they would recommend? i want my breaks to be good, reliable with plenty of stopping power etc. though i am sure most things would be an improvement over the stock ones i currently use.

Regards

Mark

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I fixed a bike that had them last week. Both levers came back to the bars, though the pad had worn away completely on one side due to faulty setup.

Personally, I'd avoid Clarks and get Shimano, Juicy, Tektro, Magura or Avid. The cheapest Shimano ones are only about £35 a pair:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHIMANO-BR-BL-M315-Hydraulic-Disc-Brake-Set-Front-and-Rear-Black/263099402385?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=2&asc=49129&meid=635245f9cad442f5914cf9a73ea08dd8&pid=100005&rk=5&rkt=6&sd=252920641450&itm=263099402385&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Anybody with any common sense can fit them in about 15 minutes for the pair. You don't need a bike shop, but if you do use one, don't pay more than £80 for the whole job unless you have money to waste.

The only thing you need to be careful of is the hose length. measure the length of your cables. Longer hoses are normally OK, but can look untidy if you have too much spare hose. Hoses shorter than your cable won't work unless you can see that you have some spare cable length to lose. Be aware that different sellers sell the same brakes with different hose lengths.

 

[Benjahmin]

I have those, they're good. Use resin pads and you'll wonder why you didn't do it years ago.
Put the caliper in place with mounting bolts just finger tight. Squeeze the lever and hold whilst tightening the bolts. Hey presto centred caliper. If you need to shorten a hose, keep it upright as you cut and you shouldn't need to bleed.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If you need to shorten a hose, keep it upright as you cut and you shouldn't need to bleed.

That's right, I've cut down several without needing to bleed, but it's better if you can buy them with the right hose length.

 

[davell]

What’s the best way to change from cable to hydraulic if the cables are internally routed through the frame? Can the hoses take the same route as it looks much tidier.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[mike killay]

I have those, they're good. Use resin pads and you'll wonder why you didn't do it years ago.
Put the caliper in place with mounting bolts just finger tight. Squeeze the lever and hold whilst tightening the bolts. Hey presto centred caliper. If you need to shorten a hose, keep it upright as you cut and you shouldn't need to bleed.

Why are you talking about callipers when the ebay thing refers to disc brakes?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

What’s the best way to change from cable to hydraulic if the cables are internally routed through the frame? Can the hoses take the same route as it looks much tidier.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yes, but you have to remove the hose and by the time you've threaded it through, you will have lost a lot of the oil, so they'll need re-filling and, most likely, bleeding too.

 

[Trevormonty]

Shimano bleed kits are cheap and easy to use. Look at youtube videos on how to use them.

 

[Baboonking]

I have these (clarks m2). They always brake well but they annoy me a lot. The disks always touch a bit somewhere, despite following all the youtube adjustment tutorials I can't stop them touching, I think I sometimes bend the disks when taking the rear wheel off and on and can't get them perfectly straight again.. unlike cable disks I can't just loosen them a bit. I'm considering buying new pads and discs just to solve the problem but if it doesn't work I'll upgrade to something better.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I have these (clarks m2). They always brake well but they annoy me a lot. The disks always touch a bit somewhere, despite following all the youtube adjustment tutorials I can't stop them touching, I think I sometimes bend the disks when taking the rear wheel off and on and can't get them perfectly straight again.. unlike cable disks I can't just loosen them a bit. I'm considering buying new pads and discs just to solve the problem but if it doesn't work I'll upgrade to something better.

Use washers on your axle if you run out of adjustment in the slots.

 

[Wheel-E]

Why are you talking about callipers when the ebay thing refers to disc brakes?

I'm sure he's talking about the callipers of his disc brakes.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Caliper is a mechanism. Imagine anything that operates like squeezing between your thumb and forefinger. The part of the brake that works like that is the caliper.