Hydraulic disc brakes

[averhamdave]

I've never owned a bike with hydraulic disc brakes and have a couple of questions of those of you who do.

Are cheap hydraulic brakes better than good cable discs or even good rim brakes?

Is it usually possible to unbolt your cable operated calliper and bolt on your hydraulic calliper onto the same mounts?

The bike I'm thinking about does not have disc brakes on the rear. Is there a "fitting kit" that facilitates fitting hydraulic discs to the back? In fact is there such a thing for the front as well?

I'm looking ahead to my next off road project and want the brakes to be up to the job but to be fair I've never had a problem with good, correctly adjusted rim brakes so far.

 

[Blew it]

I can only answer your first question from personal experience. The cable operated Avid BB7 will match the performance of any hydraulic brake. I judge this comparison in the simplest way. On dry Tarmac, the BB7 will put the rider over the handlebars or lock the back wheel solid.....what more could you ask of them!. I also own a number of machines fitted with hydraulic disc systems with which to compare.

The degree of retardation can be fine-tuned to the riders weight. In my own case, 74 kg dripping wet, 160 mm rotors will perform as described above. A heavier rider may need 185 mm, or even 210 mm rotors to achieve a similar performance.

Any riders not satisfied with the performance of Promax, Zoom and many other entry-level disc calipers, can upgrade to self aligning BB7 calipers for an immediated 50% increase in braking power. The last pair I sourced from HongKong cost £57 delivered. There is no need to change the existing rotors, as long as they are running true.

 

[Clockwise]

This might help so you know what you are dealing with, it's a routine thing to bleed them now and then, that softer feel on a regular cable brake would be a few turns of the barrel adjuster.

[video=youtube;DsqlEYJeLQU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsqlEYJeLQU[/video]

I personally avoid them as I find them much harder to inspect/maintain as any damage to the brake cable can potentially make them leak/fail. I have a brake cable in my bag sometimes, cost £1 and with just some pliers will replace my front brake if in a real fix.

As for if they are interchangable then you will need different levers(?) and maybe some modified frame clips as the ones that allow only the cable without outer on some bikes topbar won't fit the entire cable, the disc should be the same so long as they are the same radius discs.

This might be useful if you really must.

Clarks Exo Skeletal Hydraulic Disc Brake | Chain Reaction Cycles

 

[Deleted member 4366]

As far as my experience goes, nothing compares with hydraulic disc brakes. They fit on the same mounts as cable ones. Get some, and you'll never look back. I've never had to do any adjustment on them, not even ever had to replace pads, but I guess that I eventually will. On each bike I've had with rim brakes, I find myself needing to adjust them every week, and pads don't seem to last five minutes. Cable disk brakes also soon go out of adjustment because they only have a single moving pad, which also spoils their efficiency.

 

[RichB]

I've struggled with cable disc brakes. In my opinion I refer a pair of decent, quality rim brakes over cable disc brakes.
Hydraulics are a completely different matter, self adjusting and you can't go wrong with them really, just as d8veh says above.

 

[RobF]

Good quality hydraulics do have a lot going for them.

The Maguras on my Rose appreciate a squirt of cleaner now and again, but have been maintenance free apart from that.

Easier to keep the wheels clean with discs because you don't have brake dust smeared against the rims.

 

[patpatbut]

As far as my experience goes, nothing compares with hydraulic disc brakes. They fit on the same mounts as cable ones. Get some, and you'll never look back. I've never had to do any adjustment on them, not even ever had to replace pads, but I guess that I eventually will. On each bike I've had with rim brakes, I find myself needing to adjust them every week, and pads don't seem to last five minutes. Cable disk brakes also soon go out of adjustment because they only have a single moving pad, which also spoils their efficiency.

Any recommendation for getting a decent Hydraulic brake?

 

[103Alex1]

I've got M765 Shimano XT hydraulic brakes on my Trek which I guess are now very good value as they've been superseded several times. Shifters are integrated though so might be tricky to swap over on some bikes. They work very well. My rim brakes are hydraulic too so probably less of a difference than regular brakes but still given a choice I'd pick discs now. No adjusting on hydraulic disc brakes needed and they work slightly better if the wheel goes a bit out of true. Pads for a fiver barely worn after over 900 miles and some prolonged high speed on-road downhill braking action.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi Just bought a set off shimano brakes to upgrade customers bike £99 delivered including new discs
1 x Shimano Deore M596 Disc Brake Set & RT66 Rotors @ GBP 99.95 = GBP 99.95
Deore M596 Disc Brake Set (For BOM Products)
Shimano Disc Brake Brackets Rear 160mm IS
Shimano SM-RT66 6-Bolt Rotor 160mm
Shimano SM-RT66 6-Bolt Rotor 160mm

=====
TOTAL GBP: 99.95

Merlin Cycles Ltd, A4 Buckshaw Link, Ordnance Road, Buckshaw Village, Chorley PR7 7EL
Tel: +44 (0)1772 432431
E-mail: customerservice@merlincycles.com
Web: Online Bike Shop - Merlin Cycles

Shimano Deore M596 Disc Brake Set & RT66 Rotors | Merlin Cycles


Frank

 

[Kudoscycles]

We use the Tektro Auriga's on every bike with hydraulics, they work well and good value,never had a leaker!...the equivalent cable/disc works just as well provided you keep them in adjustment,the hydraulics pretty much look after themselves.
I tried a bike with Magura hydraulics at Eurobike,they worked very well and looked wonderful but they are expensive....for rim hydraulics Magura were the best.
KudosDave

 

[alemanyorks]

I think it all depends on the terrain you ride whether you really need hydraulic disks, I have a lot of hills that let you pick up speed very fast & with the extra weight I wouldn't be without it (just have one on the front, normal V on the back)
Using a Shimano M596 which I prefer to Hayes Stroker Trail (on mountain bike) as they use mineral oil not the corrosive dot4-5 stuff when bleeding. I've had to rebuild the Hayes fronts once in 3 years with new seals etc, don't know yet how the Shimano's will fare.

How we test hydraulic disc brakes - BikeRadar.

 

[Streethawk]

The level of fine control with hydraulic discs is something you can never get with cables. You can hold the brakes at the point where you can just feel the tyres braking traction fairly easily. Cable discs are more prone to grabbing. At the limit of hard braking you will skid more with any type of cable actuated brake.

 

[Hackney Andy]

I replaced the hopeless cable operated front disc brake on my wisper with a Clarkes Skeletal hydraulic one...it cost £39 plus £25 fitting (it had to be bled etc). It was a little better, but just completely failed after a day. I then bought a Shimano Deore M596 for £40. I found it very easy to fit myself (they are pre-bled) in 20 minutes and are simply superb!!!

 

[the_killjoy]

I assume you used the original Wisper rotor, what did you do about the brake cutoff switch?

 

[averhamdave]

I assume you used the original Wisper rotor, what did you do about the brake cutoff switch?

I plan to just use the rear cut off switch. I think one is enough.

 

[Streethawk]

For hyraulics with a cut-off, look at the Magura MT2 which is what is fitted to mine, and many of the high end european bike, They have a cut-off and work... well better than anything i've ever tried, Hopes, Hayes, Shimano, Avid (SRAM), the MT2 beats them all, and it has a proper sized lever, not one of these fashionably tiny 1-2 finger things a lot of the others use. That alone may be why it's better...