i think they work better in the wet...granted not terrific, but i think overall they are much better than v-brakes.
disc brake rant..
remember when discs first came out?? we were told that they would have improved stopping power, which is a matter of debate for some people. my personal experience has been that under dry conditions they do stop better but not that much better. now... we have seen some pretty wet conditions here in nj lately and honestly i am very dissapointed in all of the disc brakes i have seen. WEREN'T THEY SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER IN THE WET?????? AND NOT BE AFFECTED BY THE "ELEMENTS" AS MUCH AS "V" BRAKES?? does anyone else remember this?? anyway.. just thought i put it out there as a question to ya'll..
phat
phat
1 - 20 of 32 Posts
Phat,
that would depend on the brakes you're talking about.
I found that Hayes were less than optimal and predictable in the wet. Add to that a tendency to eat brake pads like they were made out of cheese when it's wet... Quite the pain in the a$$ to get rub-free also, and I've had my share of fun bleeding them.
Magura on the other hand provide awesome power/modulation and the only thing that afects them in the wet is probably lever action, where the pivot seems to become sloppy after a while (not that it affects performance, just feel). Also, I've been running the same set of pads since the beginning of the season and they still look good. That is through a few extremely muddy races, a couple having actually been done in the rain. I will probably use Magura (I'm talking Martas) on my race singlespeed as well. They'll pay for themselves in brake pads in no time.
I will not go back to Vs however. Although you can get good power out of them, in the wet they are definitely not up to the task. Go through a creek and try to brake afterwards... Also they don't handle out-of-true wheels, mud clogs up more easily, the rim wears out, and so on...
The truth is, riding in the wet/mud only keeps its charm for so long. Regardless of the type of brakes you have.
Cheers,
Maurice
that would depend on the brakes you're talking about.
I found that Hayes were less than optimal and predictable in the wet. Add to that a tendency to eat brake pads like they were made out of cheese when it's wet... Quite the pain in the a$$ to get rub-free also, and I've had my share of fun bleeding them.
Magura on the other hand provide awesome power/modulation and the only thing that afects them in the wet is probably lever action, where the pivot seems to become sloppy after a while (not that it affects performance, just feel). Also, I've been running the same set of pads since the beginning of the season and they still look good. That is through a few extremely muddy races, a couple having actually been done in the rain. I will probably use Magura (I'm talking Martas) on my race singlespeed as well. They'll pay for themselves in brake pads in no time.
I will not go back to Vs however. Although you can get good power out of them, in the wet they are definitely not up to the task. Go through a creek and try to brake afterwards... Also they don't handle out-of-true wheels, mud clogs up more easily, the rim wears out, and so on...
The truth is, riding in the wet/mud only keeps its charm for so long. Regardless of the type of brakes you have.
Cheers,
Maurice
I didn't think you road when it was wet?? 
Sunday on the road and Monday at Skyline were the first times I've run discs in the rain. Before that, I was running a ceramic rim with kool stop pads on avid brakes up front and regular pads and rim in the rear. I'd say I was neither impressed or disappointed with my new Juicy7s performance in the rain. They took slightly more pressure, but stopped just as well as my ceramic setup. They are, however, light years better than my non cermic rim.
I'll never forget the sound of my old V-Brakes scraping on the muddy wet rim when stopping. (Insert fingernails on a chalkboard sound here) That alone is worth the disk brake switch.
Performance wise, I think my Juicy 7's perform better in the wet stuff then my Avid V's did. Not tremendously better, but I never thought about switching back.
Performance wise, I think my Juicy 7's perform better in the wet stuff then my Avid V's did. Not tremendously better, but I never thought about switching back.
whiner
Stop whining & go for a ride!!! Disk brakes look cooler any way.:thumbsup:phatbiker said:remember when discs first came out?? we were told that they would have improved stopping power, which is a matter of debate for some people. my personal experience has been that under dry conditions they do stop better but not that much better. now... we have seen some pretty wet conditions here in nj lately and honestly i am very dissapointed in all of the disc brakes i have seen. WEREN'T THEY SUPPOSED TO BE BETTER IN THE WET?????? AND NOT BE AFFECTED BY THE "ELEMENTS" AS MUCH AS "V" BRAKES?? does anyone else remember this?? anyway.. just thought i put it out there as a question to ya'll..
phat
For me the stopping ability is much better. I rode my old bike Saturday in the slop and it was like not having brakes at all. The disc brakes are good for stopping.
However, since the day I bought the bike the disc brakes rub, making all sorts of noise depending on who the hell knows what. After I went over the handlebars last time out on the new bike, the rubbing is more pronounced than ever. This is in the rear disc. I'm hesitant to bring it back to the shop because I just dumped $2 grand into a bike that I don't want to spend endless amounts of money maintaining. Eventually I'll try to figure out what the problem is. But for now, it is what it is.
Kirt - what's your riding look like this coming weekend?
However, since the day I bought the bike the disc brakes rub, making all sorts of noise depending on who the hell knows what. After I went over the handlebars last time out on the new bike, the rubbing is more pronounced than ever. This is in the rear disc. I'm hesitant to bring it back to the shop because I just dumped $2 grand into a bike that I don't want to spend endless amounts of money maintaining. Eventually I'll try to figure out what the problem is. But for now, it is what it is.
Kirt - what's your riding look like this coming weekend?
maurice.. very good points. maggie- your right. i don't ride in the rain!!Maurice said:Phat,
that would depend on the brakes you're talking about.
I found that Hayes were less than optimal and predictable in the wet. Add to that a tendency to eat brake pads like they were made out of cheese when it's wet... Quite the pain in the a$$ to get rub-free also, and I've had my share of fun bleeding them.
Magura on the other hand provide awesome power/modulation and the only thing that afects them in the wet is probably lever action, where the pivot seems to become sloppy after a while (not that it affects performance, just feel). Also, I've been running the same set of pads since the beginning of the season and they still look good. That is through a few extremely muddy races, a couple having actually been done in the rain. I will probably use Magura (I'm talking Martas) on my race singlespeed as well. They'll pay for themselves in brake pads in no time.
I will not go back to Vs however. Although you can get good power out of them, in the wet they are definitely not up to the task. Go through a creek and try to brake afterwards... Also they don't handle out-of-true wheels, mud clogs up more easily, the rim wears out, and so on...
The truth is, riding in the wet/mud only keeps its charm for so long. Regardless of the type of brakes you have.
Cheers,
Maurice
i was only wondering if anyone else was frustrated or had experienced less than impresive pad wear on the disc brakes they were running. i had the opportunity to witness the 12 hrs of allamuchy and noticed that 99% of the people that were running discc brakes and most of them had no brakes by the end of the race.. there were a few 29ers running rim brakes and they seam to have no issues.. oh well..
kirt- yes, they are much cooler and yes, i will get out and ride soon, I PROMISE.
NELSON
I got ceramic rims/v combo on one bike and it works pretty good until tempurature hits below zero. Then I got no brakes at all. I rode in a very heavy downpour once in Ringwood and V-brakes were fine. You just have to remember to dry them while riding before getting to a braking section and knowing the trail ahead of time helps.
On my new bike I got Magura Martas and they squeaked like hell until I found on Turner forum that your supposed to sand down the rotors. After that no more noise.
On my new bike I got Magura Martas and they squeaked like hell until I found on Turner forum that your supposed to sand down the rotors. After that no more noise.
From someone who brakes alot!
First of all, I held out forever, always riding V's with ceramic rims. I thought for a 120 lb rider, that was fine. Now that I have switched, I will never go back.
First of all, with v's you can wear through a pair of ceramic rims in one muddy race if you brake like pixy. That is a big $$ to replace on race wheels. Much cheaper to replace disc pads. I have not worn a rotar yet?? I would imagine a rotar is cheaper than rims and relacing.
Like Maurice, I use maguras also. I have seen Maurice ride, and he is pretty fast. He may not actually be using those brakes often. I really do !!! ... and they stop great in all conditions. Too well actually. If I would stop braking so much, maybe I would ride faster.
:madman:
pixy
First of all, I held out forever, always riding V's with ceramic rims. I thought for a 120 lb rider, that was fine. Now that I have switched, I will never go back.
First of all, with v's you can wear through a pair of ceramic rims in one muddy race if you brake like pixy. That is a big $$ to replace on race wheels. Much cheaper to replace disc pads. I have not worn a rotar yet?? I would imagine a rotar is cheaper than rims and relacing.
Like Maurice, I use maguras also. I have seen Maurice ride, and he is pretty fast. He may not actually be using those brakes often. I really do !!! ... and they stop great in all conditions. Too well actually. If I would stop braking so much, maybe I would ride faster.
:madman:
pixy
Are you using the Magura performance or endurance pads? I run the performance pads, and they don't seem to last all that long, and I ride mostly dry conditions. I think my next set will be the endurance pads.Maurice said:Magura ... Also, I've been running the same set of pads since the beginning of the season and they still look good. That is through a few extremely muddy races, a couple having actually been done in the rain.
To be honest I have no idea... It's the set that came with the brakes, it may be performance. They've been on my bike since some time in January and I ride quite a bit.justen said:Are you using the Magura performance or endurance pads? I run the performance pads, and they don't seem to last all that long, and I ride mostly dry conditions. I think my next set will be the endurance pads.
Through the puddles of Mount Snow and three times down those gnarly descents I thought they'd need replacing but no, still good... Round Valley is also good at putting them to the test, I know the place so well I'll brake real hard at the last moment (until you start hearing scary metal/metal noises), same thing.
What wheel do you favor when braking? I've become a rear brake adept since after Mount Snow last year and since then have had a pretty even brake wear. Before that front pads would indeed go fast.
BTW I have a set of rotors that I'm about to see through them. They're on the rigid singlespeed so they don't see much hard braking action, I'm waiting for them to fail catastrophically
Maurice
Norm,normZurawski said:For me the stopping ability is much better. I rode my old bike Saturday in the slop and it was like not having brakes at all. The disc brakes are good for stopping.
However, since the day I bought the bike the disc brakes rub, making all sorts of noise depending on who the hell knows what. After I went over the handlebars last time out on the new bike, the rubbing is more pronounced than ever. This is in the rear disc. I'm hesitant to bring it back to the shop because I just dumped $2 grand into a bike that I don't want to spend endless amounts of money maintaining. Eventually I'll try to figure out what the problem is. But for now, it is what it is.
Kirt - what's your riding look like this coming weekend?
Your bike came with a lifetime of free brake adjustments. Bring it by the shop.. I obviously won't be there, but Tony will takecaare of it. Providing you didn't bend something in the crash, there should be no charge. Please call ahead for the operating hours, because some days we have had to reduce the hours.
Hopefully, I'll be back at the shop within a couple of weeks:thumbsup:
Gary
Check your pm.normZurawski said:.
Kirt - what's your riding look like this coming weekend?
Kirt
I gotta say, I find my discs are waaaaaaaaaay better than my v's, canti's, or hydraulic rims brakes ever were in the wet weather.
I recall riding the winter before last at Skyline in temps around 4 degrees. At one point we rode through some water, it froze immediately to my rim, and my rim brakes were utterly useless after that. I also recall riding that bike with V-brakes down a DH trail at Diablo (after riding the XC trails at the top), and not being able to stop AT ALL, even in the dry, because the slope was so steep (and I'm about 215 lbs). V's definitely have their limits.
Last spring I bought two new bikes, both with discs (Shimano Saint and Hayes 9), and I won't go back. This past winter, my discs got me through plenty of sub-freezing snow rides with no failure, and of course the discs are champs even on the slopes of Diablo.
The discs provide way more power with much less effort than the V's, too, so I can ride hard with less hand fatigue. I don't think they're overrated at all.
But some brands are definitely better than others. I've spent two days riding Juicy's on borrowed and rented bikes, and I'll take my Shimanos over those ANY day...
Last spring I bought two new bikes, both with discs (Shimano Saint and Hayes 9), and I won't go back. This past winter, my discs got me through plenty of sub-freezing snow rides with no failure, and of course the discs are champs even on the slopes of Diablo.
The discs provide way more power with much less effort than the V's, too, so I can ride hard with less hand fatigue. I don't think they're overrated at all.
But some brands are definitely better than others. I've spent two days riding Juicy's on borrowed and rented bikes, and I'll take my Shimanos over those ANY day...
discs
I can't even understand why there is a rant on discs. I have run discs for the last 6 years on all types of bikes and there is NO comparison to V's PERIOD!! Wet dry whatever it is...I watch every year as some dope on v's at the 24hr race runs out of pad after 2 laps when it gets wet...I never have to worry just keep riding and know that I will stop. Have always loved my Maguras but I am a huge fan on the Avid mechanical now for ease of adjustment etc...get discs :skep:
I can't even understand why there is a rant on discs. I have run discs for the last 6 years on all types of bikes and there is NO comparison to V's PERIOD!! Wet dry whatever it is...I watch every year as some dope on v's at the 24hr race runs out of pad after 2 laps when it gets wet...I never have to worry just keep riding and know that I will stop. Have always loved my Maguras but I am a huge fan on the Avid mechanical now for ease of adjustment etc...get discs :skep:
sorry that you don't understand the reasoning for my rant. i should clarify... i have had good luck with disc brakes. BUT with the unusually wet weather we have had i have noticed that under PROLONGED use disc brakes seam to be affected by the same elements that affect rim brakes. I use the 12 hrs of allamuchy as an example where disc brakes were pretty muhc useless. granted this is an extreme example but i guess i just expected more from discs.bozizle said:I can't even understand why there is a rant on discs. I have run discs for the last 6 years on all types of bikes and there is NO comparison to V's PERIOD!! Wet dry whatever it is...I watch every year as some dope on v's at the 24hr race runs out of pad after 2 laps when it gets wet...I never have to worry just keep riding and know that I will stop. Have always loved my Maguras but I am a huge fan on the Avid mechanical now for ease of adjustment etc...get discs :skep:
all of the above being said, under dry and moderately wet conditions i have had excellent experience with disc brakes.. my complaint revolves more around the longevitiy of pad wear under extremely muddy conditions although we can make an argument for not riding at all under these conditions..
oh well.. like i said.. it was just a rant.. glad i'm the only one questioning the reasoning behind all of this nonsense.. soo.. who's riding this weekend??
phat
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