[EiffelMtl]

The secret to mechanicals is to use good quality compressionless cable housing rather than standard housing. It makes a HUGE difference and gives you a feel very close to hydraulics. With standard housing, I found I was still using two fingers rather than one. But personally, I've had a lot more issues with brake squeal with BB7s than I have with hydraulic brakes.

If I go with Mechanicals brake I will go with jagwire pro brake cable and housing

 

[MSU Alum]

Yokozuna Motoko MTB Disc Brake Blk - Post Mount

www.yokozunausa.com

I didn't saw that. I only saw TRP HY/Rd but it was for road

One brake caliper for $200? There goes your budget.

 

[Vespasianus]

This feels like some strange thread from 2010...

 

[93EXCivic]

Unless you are doing massive miles in places with no supplies or you want a dead simple bike that you aren't using on steep singletrack, I would go hydraulic. If I wasn't going hydraulic, I am going Paul Klampers and those are more expensive then most hydraulic.

 

[sgltrak]

For the cost of a new brake cable and housing you can go ahead and mount up that mountain version of the BB-7 on your fork and use the existing SD-7 lever while you decide how to proceed. I ran this exact mullet setup with matching SD7 levers and an Avid v-brake on the rear and a BB-7 on the front for a few months on a bike that did not have rear disc tabs. I still have BB-7 on a couple of bikes and they work fine for me at 160lbs for many of my rides, but lately I find myself grabbing the bikes with the hydraulic brakes more often.

 

[dietz31684]

Its 2023. There is the answer.

 

[woodsloop]

You can get 4-piston front and 2-piston rear Magura MT Trail Sport calipers/hose/levers for 115 Euros total at bike24. Add rotors, adapters, shipping, and you're probably at $200 USD.

 

[LewisQC]

Another good option in hydraulic brakes deore mt6100. Since your in Canada: Shimano Deore BL-M6100/BR-M6100

What frame/fork you are riding? Is it a new build? It’s kind of rare to have a frame that will be compatible with V-brakes and disc…

 

[Bikedog22]

If you posted what bike you're on, I missed it. I'd probably just get better pads and adjust them correctly, and change out the cables and housing. My main bike is a rigid singlespeed with Vs. They stop better than cable disc's but the rims are ceramic. Even in the wet. Funny thing is if I sold the levers and arms it would fund just about any top shelf disc setup

 

[JackOfDiamonds]

I like mechanical, but there's nothing good about BB7. The tektro aires is my favorite mountain caliper, Shimano 357 is good too. I'm sure Pauls are the best.

 

[Amt0571]

Considering a Shimano MT400 brakes costs 30€, there's no reason to go mechanical. They may be a mediocre hydraulic brake, but they're better than all mechanical brakes.

Cutting the hose and bleeding is explained in thousands of videos you can find on the Internet and it's not really that difficult.

The best cable operated brakes IMHO are TRPs Hy/Rd. I have them on a gravel bike and they're truly excellent. However, they have an hydraulic part and eventually you'll need to bleed them too. Finally, they don't make much sense on a flat bar bike, as there are lots of cheaper fully hydraulic alternatives.

 

[uzurpator]

I am using Avid V-Brake with Avid SD7 levers,I want to upgrade to disk brake.

<content warning>
I 'downgraded' from hydraulic brakes to purely mechanical on all of my bikes.
</content warning>

If you already have the SD7 levers, than there is no foul at going for BB7 brakes. Considering that you already have them. Just make sure to use the road caliper on the rear, as it is going to be much weaker, mechanically, when coupled to an MTB lever. If you want to, then splurge on a compressionless housing on the rear - like this: Pro Compressionless Brake Housing | Jagwire

Honestly the last thing you want to do is buy used disc brakes.

Hydraulic brakes are very reliable, but don't buy used because of implied unreliability. The duality of man.

 

[WrecklessREX]

Magura MT Trail Sport and be done with it

 

[OiLoikBoiks]

The secret to mechanicals is to use good quality compressionless cable housing rather than standard housing. It makes a HUGE difference and gives you a feel very close to hydraulics. With standard housing, I found I was still using two fingers rather than one. But personally, I've had a lot more issues with brake squeal with BB7s than I have with hydraulic brakes.

I've worked on a lot of bikes, mechanical and hydraulic, and in my experience even the best set up mechanicals are always worse than even the cheapest hydraulics. Why you'd bother spending all the time, effort and cost of getting cable discs working ok - when you can bolt on some MT200s for less than the price of most compressionless housing - is beyond me.

 

[Nat]

I didn’t know that they even still made mechanicals.

 

[chazpat]

I've worked on a lot of bikes, mechanical and hydraulic, and in my experience even the best set up mechanicals are always worse than even the cheapest hydraulics. Why you'd bother spending all the time, effort and cost of getting cable discs working ok - when you can bolt on some MT200s for less than the price of most compressionless housing - is beyond me.

Because they came on the bike and it's my 4th string mtb. I did buy it a dropper post the other day but most of the money is going into the other bikes.

 

[Sparticus]

I didn’t know that they even still made mechanicals.

Mechanical disc brakes seem to be most popular on cheap bikes where the rider is unable to detect a difference between high and low performance &/or high and low quality.

Not always. Just most often.
=sParty

 

[EiffelMtl]

<content warning>
I 'downgraded' from hydraulic brakes to purely mechanical on all of my bikes.
</content warning>

If you already have the SD7 levers, than there is no foul at going for BB7 brakes. Considering that you already have them. Just make sure to use the road caliper on the rear, as it is going to be much weaker, mechanically, when coupled to an MTB lever. If you want to, then splurge on a compressionless housing on the rear - like this: Pro Compressionless Brake Housing | Jagwire



Hydraulic brakes are very reliable, but don't buy used because of implied unreliability. The duality of man.

I want to understand why you say to me "Just make sure to use the road caliper on the rear, as it is going to be much weaker, mechanically, when coupled to an MTB lever".

I understand the fact that the road caliper is going to be weaker than the mtb ones, but why using it as rear brake. I am using the rear brake than the front one. When I do trail, these are often with a low height difference, and, being right-handed, I configure my brakes to use my right hand more than the left (I activate the rear brake with my right hand).

 

[MSU Alum]

I want to understand why you say to me "Just make sure to use the road caliper on the rear, as it is going to be much weaker, mechanically, when coupled to an MTB lever".

I understand the fact that the road caliper is going to be weaker than the mtb ones, but why using it as rear brake. I am using the rear brake than the front one. When I do trail, these are often with a low height difference, and, being right-handed, I configure my brakes to use my right hand more than the left (I activate the rear brake with my right hand).

Many people use the rear brake "more" than the front, but generally use the front "harder". You can feather the rear brake constantly to control speed and use the front brake - which will be more effective as weight shifts onto the front tire - to get more abrupt deceleration.

 

[LewisQC]

This. Also, hand strenght doesn’t influence how you setup your brakes… Most people in NA will have the front brake on the left hand. In the UK most rider will have their rear brake on the left hand (moto style). With a good brake, you only need one finger to brake anyway, so minimal force is necessary…