[Cleared2land]

You also never hear from folks who have no problems with their brakes.

An ancient marketing proverb:
A happy biker will tell two people that he's pleased,
but
an unhappy biker will tell ten others of his unhappiness.

 

[Harold]

I have been on hydraulics for 22 years trouble-free. Never once a leak of any type what so ever. Trouble-free dependability.

Too many years on mechanicals to say they are simpler. Cables and adjustments. Nope.

I've been on hydros of one type or another on my mtbs for 19 now.

 

[Wabatuckian]

I've been on hydros of one type or another on my mtbs for 19 now.

When did they start putting hydraulics on bikes? I don't recall seeing any in the early to mid-'90s.

 

[uzurpator]

When did they start putting hydraulics on bikes? I don't recall seeing any in the early to mid-'90s.

Late 90s, but it was a halo product seen very rarely. I think it was 2002-ish when I first saw them 'in vivo'. The gates opened mid 2000s and by 2010 a set of hydraulics could cost as little as $50 for both wheels.

When they work, they work well. When they break, they're messy.

I actually agree with this sentiment. The issue is that hydraulics are as good as mfrs are willing to make them. Considering that we are moving towards bikes being disposable goods ( because fck the planet, I guess ), much of current bike parts are designed to fail and be non-servicable ( cough, Shimmy brakes, cough ). For this reason half of my brakes are mechanical. However, I own a set of 2004 hope mono 6/6ti on my enduro bike and as clapped out they are... they still work excellently. But those brakes would cost close to $1k in today's prices. I would not expect such performance from modern $50-ceramic pistonned brakes from China.

 

[uzurpator]

I have been on hydraulics for 22 years trouble-free. Never once a leak of any type what so ever. Trouble-free dependability.

Than you are a lucky man. I had Saints fail on me twice ( leaking pistons ), magura MT5s fail on me twice for the same reason. I also had a set of hayes stroker Aces which refused to be properely bled. Ever. Lastly, I had a set of Shimano Deore 615s lever freezing and, recently, hydraulic hybrid brakes ( Zoom HB-100, so bottom of the barrel, admittedly ) fail as well.

Mechanicals - one caliper of hayes MX-5s demagnet themselves which caused pads to rattle.

 

[Cleared2land]

Okay guys, my bad.
I started riding Hydraulic brakes (Shimano's) in 2010. My third grade math failed me. That's 12 years and NOT 22.

 

[Yootah]

Just personal preference.

I was an auto tech years ago. Hydraulic brakes were my least favorite job. When they work, they work well. When they break, they're messy.

From threads I'm reading here, it looks like they have issues on bikes. They seem to need bled a lot, which to me indicates there's an air leak someplace; they seal imperfectly, in other words.

If the caliper leaks, it'll get all over the disc. With cars, it'll burn off. While not ideal and still requiring (in theory) a change of pads, it's not a huge deal.

I accidentally got some oil on my rear brake rotor on my bike, and lost most of my braking in the rear. (I also had a howl when I did try to brake.) That led to a lot of work -- these brakes simply don't heat up enough to burn oil off. I don't want to put a bunch of oil right down near the rotor, separated from it by only a rubber seal.

Bikes are supposed to be simple, in my opinion. For me, unless I have a compelling reason to run hydraulics, I don't want them. I have a 160mm rear disc and 203mm front disk, and those provide some nice braking power. I can't imagine needing anything more than that on a cross-country bike.

If I ever start doing downhill, then it's quite possible I'll change my mind. For now, though, the maintenance and potential to leak fluid outweigh and benefits I might gain.

TLDR: Complex and leaky, and don't need 'em for what I do.

So for what it's worth, all my hydro brakes have been way less maintenance overall than a mechanical setup. I've never had a leak. Can be a little messy when they do need bled if you don't have your bleeding setup dialed, but that's once a year or even less whereas most mechanical setups need constant fiddling to keep the cable tension right as the pads wear. I'm the wrench guy for my boy's NICA team, and I do way more work adjusting tension and replacing cables on mechanical brakes than I do on hydro brakes. And I'd venture a guess that the hydro bikes outnumber the mechanical ones at least three to one.

Which is not to tell you that you have to switch to hydro right now or be lame. Good mechanical brakes work just fine and if that's your preference then more power to you.

 

[93EXCivic]

I have both hydros and mech disc brakes. I can't think of any situation where I actually prefer the mech brakes.

I prefer mech brakes on dropbars and if I was doing, world touring by bike I'd go mech. But for mountain biking, yeah hydro all the way.

 

[J.B. Weld]

When did they start putting hydraulics on cars? I prefer mechanical for simple reliability 🙃

 

[Wabatuckian]

I prefer mech brakes on dropbars and if I was doing, world touring by bike I'd go mech. But for mountain biking, yeah hydro all the way.

Why do you prefer mechanicals on dropbars?

 

[Wabatuckian]

When did they start putting hydraulics on cars? I prefer mechanical for simple reliability 🙃

They became popular in a 20-30 year span in the mid-20th Century. IIRC, Chrysler was first and Ford and GM dragged their heels.

One of the primary reasons they went to hydraulics was to allow for more versatile brake routing, which isn't as big a consideration on bicycles due to their lack of exhaust.

If you'll notice, cars still have to have mechanical emergency brakes as backups to the hydraulic systems, should they fail. There's redundancy built into the hydraulics with two wheels on one hydraulic circuit and two wheels on another, but the mechanical backup is still required.

I'm thinking about running a front hydraulic first on the bike, but I like both front and back brakes to feel the same. I'm sure that would upset my OCD at least as much as these single piston calipers do.

 

[J.B. Weld]

If you'll notice, cars still have to have mechanical emergency brakes as backups to the hydraulic systems, should they fail.

lol, I wouldn't want to count on that to slow me down, most have been rendered useless by people (like me) who forget to release them before driving off. "parking brake" is a more apt name.

Hydros on bikes work fantastic when they work but they do have some growing pains to go through. Still worth it on the mtb, maybe not on the roadie.

 

[93EXCivic]

Why do you prefer mechanicals on dropbars?

Smaller brake levers then hydros. Also I personally don't need the stopping power of hydros on a dropbar bike and the Paul Component Klampers are the world's easiest to step up and adjust brakes.

 

[Harold]

When did they start putting hydraulics on bikes? I don't recall seeing any in the early to mid-'90s.

hydraulic rim brakes hit in the early 1990s (can't find an exact date), and Magura still makes these. I actually rode a city bike in Belgium that had these a couple weeks ago. From what I can find, Sachs (now owned by SRAM) put out the first mass-produced hydraulic disc brake system in 1994. My first ones were 2002 Magura Julies, a fairly entry level brakeset for the time. They were a biatch to bleed, but thankfully they didn't need it the entire time I owned them (I think I replaced them after around 10-12yrs in service because of unresolvable sticky pistons).

Why do you prefer mechanicals on dropbars?

The mechanicals I have are on a drop bar bike. I have them on that bike because drop bar hydros are super expensive, even for a basic set, because of the shifter/brake lever integration that's more or less standard these days. But even the TRP drop bar hydros without the shifty bits in them are more expensive than their mtb counterparts.

I still prefer the lever feel of hydros by a huge margin. On the gravel that I ride (which sometimes includes some pretty big climbs/descents), I do want a bit more oomph to my brakes, too. It's more difficult to obtain that power with mechs and their lever feel. I've been tempted to try out the TRP HY/RD cable actuated hydraulic brake calipers on that bike so I don't need to mess with expensive hydro drop bar levers. When I've tried those brakes on other bikes, they've had a very definite improvement in lever feel.

I've had both styles of brakes have unrepairable mechanicals out on a ride, so I don't consider either to be a particular advantage for day-to-day riding. However for a global tourer/expedition bike, I'd go mechanical because you're less likely to be able to obtain the right hydro fluids and bleed kit parts in the middle of BFE and spare cables are next to weightless to carry with you.

On mech brakes, I've had the head of my cable pinch bolt break off. On my hydros, I had a hydro line get pulled out of the lever. Both were easy fixes when I had the resources of my garage. Neither was repairable in the field.

 

[Wabatuckian]

lol, I wouldn't want to count on that to slow me down, most have been rendered useless by people (like me) who forget to release them before driving off. "parking brake" is a more apt name.

My wife.

She came home from work, 10 miles or so away.

"Josh, you need to look at my Blazer. It didn't have any power and squealed all the way home! It also smelled really bad."

Me, looking at Blazer: "Honey, you need to release the parking brake."

I love my blonde. I just think I might expect more from her than other people because her brother was my best friend and hotrodding buddy before he got too deep into drugs and sold his cars and tools.

 

[Harold]

lol, I wouldn't want to count on that to slow me down, most have been rendered useless by people (like me) who forget to release them before driving off. "parking brake" is a more apt name.

especially those damn electronic ones showing up on vehicles nowadays

I got into the habit of setting/releasing my parking brake every time I parked because I drove manual trans vehicles and have lived in hilly places where such a thing was actually necessary to prevent rollaways. I had a manual trans pickup that had a problem of water intrusion into the parking brake mechanism somewhere (cables, calipers, I'm not sure exactly where) and they'd freeze up in the wintertime, such that it didn't matter whether I pulled the lever or not, the rear brake would be clamped down just enough. I was usually able to catch it and deal with it, but every winter, I'd miss one (usually because I'd start driving on something a little slippery so I wouldn't notice that one wheel not wanting to spin). Once I hit dry pavement that wheel would start rotating, but the brake would drag and get super hot, smoking my brakes. Every single year I'd have an expensive brake job to look forward to. I loved that truck otherwise and I'd have continued to drive it for a long time if I had lived somewhere that I could address that problem myself. But no mechanics I took it to would actually address the problem. They'd replace the smoked parts and call it done, only for it to happen again the next winter. Their answer - don't use the parking brake. WTF? How is one supposed to safely park a manual transmission vehicle on a hill without it? facepalm

 

[fuzz_muffin]

especially those damn electronic ones showing up on vehicles nowadays

I got into the habit of setting/releasing my parking brake every time I parked because I drove manual trans vehicles and have lived in hilly places where such a thing was actually necessary to prevent rollaways. I had a manual trans pickup that had a problem of water intrusion into the parking brake mechanism somewhere (cables, calipers, I'm not sure exactly where) and they'd freeze up in the wintertime, such that it didn't matter whether I pulled the lever or not, the rear brake would be clamped down just enough. I was usually able to catch it and deal with it, but every winter, I'd miss one (usually because I'd start driving on something a little slippery so I wouldn't notice that one wheel not wanting to spin). Once I hit dry pavement that wheel would start rotating, but the brake would drag and get super hot, smoking my brakes. Every single year I'd have an expensive brake job to look forward to. I loved that truck otherwise and I'd have continued to drive it for a long time if I had lived somewhere that I could address that problem myself. But no mechanics I took it to would actually address the problem. They'd replace the smoked parts and call it done, only for it to happen again the next winter. Their answer - don't use the parking brake. WTF? How is one supposed to safely park a manual transmission vehicle on a hill without it? facepalm

I always park the car in gear, not sure what kind of hills we’re talking bout though.

 

[Wabatuckian]

I always park the car in gear, not sure what kind of hills we’re talking bout though.

I really, really miss my manual transmission Jeeps, and have been looking for a new one. Jeeps just rot out too fast in Indiana.

I always parked them in reverse. They weren't going anyplace.

 

[Harold]

I really, really miss my manual transmission Jeeps, and have been looking for a new one. Jeeps just rot out too fast in Indiana.

I always parked them in reverse. They weren't going anyplace.

lol, yeah, in Indiana, parking in gear isn't a problem most of the time. but my parents live there (I lived in that house when I learned to drive, and I drove a manual back then) and have a steep driveway and parking in gear with a manual just isn't safe. my driveway now is even steeper. I still use the parking brake for automatic transmission vehicles because it makes it a ton easier to get the transmission out of park later on. some streets I've parallel-parked on when I lived in Pittsburgh were even steeper.

 

[J.B. Weld]

Parking brake drift skids ftw