Nope.snowdenn said:is the difference between hydraulic and mechanical disc brakes greater than the difference between mechanical disc and v-brakes? put another way, is the switch from v-brakes to mechanical discs greater than the switch from mechanical disc brakes to hydros?.
hydro, mech, and v-brake comparison
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Most people around here are going to tell you as far as power that this:
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Is as powerful as this:
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I say use what you like and can afford. It's all about choice.
Is as powerful as this:
I say use what you like and can afford. It's all about choice.
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wow guys, i dont know how i got past the censors...
theres probably a lot more interesting brake issues out there. maybe some of you should go find them and ignore this one. really.
in the meantime, maybe someone should make a sticky about not posting questions about different types of brakes on the brake forums. its confusing for the uninitiated.
so i was gonna just let the thread die, but since some of you keep keeping it alive by coming back like moths to a flame, heres some more:
i have or have had different sets of xt hydros, juicys, bb5s, bb7s, and a few other disc and v-brakes that i didnt pay attention to cause i didnt know anything about bike parts at the time. its not a whole heckve a lot of brakes, which is why i thought id ask.
for me, the newer xt feel a little better than the older, but in general, all the hydros ive ridden feel kinda similar. same with the bb5s and bb7s, they generally feel similar. and while the mechanical discs have great stopping power, they definitely feel different from the hydros.
wheresas ive never ridden v-brakes on the trail, just for putzing around on the road. but i tried my friends v-brakes at the trail the other day, and they felt a lot like my bb7s (ducks for cover). much more than my bb7s feel like my current juicys or xt. kindve a surprise for me.
so when people started asking about the difference in the different types, i got to thinking about it and wondered what other people here thought. apparently, the issue just bothers people.
theres probably a lot more interesting brake issues out there. maybe some of you should go find them and ignore this one. really.
in the meantime, maybe someone should make a sticky about not posting questions about different types of brakes on the brake forums. its confusing for the uninitiated.
so i was gonna just let the thread die, but since some of you keep keeping it alive by coming back like moths to a flame, heres some more:
i have or have had different sets of xt hydros, juicys, bb5s, bb7s, and a few other disc and v-brakes that i didnt pay attention to cause i didnt know anything about bike parts at the time. its not a whole heckve a lot of brakes, which is why i thought id ask.
for me, the newer xt feel a little better than the older, but in general, all the hydros ive ridden feel kinda similar. same with the bb5s and bb7s, they generally feel similar. and while the mechanical discs have great stopping power, they definitely feel different from the hydros.
wheresas ive never ridden v-brakes on the trail, just for putzing around on the road. but i tried my friends v-brakes at the trail the other day, and they felt a lot like my bb7s (ducks for cover). much more than my bb7s feel like my current juicys or xt. kindve a surprise for me.
so when people started asking about the difference in the different types, i got to thinking about it and wondered what other people here thought. apparently, the issue just bothers people.
I think the two main differences between V's and moving to a mechanical disk - and these are big differences - is one - the degradation in performance once mud/water gets between the brake pad and the rim braking surface. You might slop through a couple of muddy spots, cross a creek with muddy banks and all of a sudden, the next time you pull the levers you get a grinding sound and gritty feel with not much braking power. V's are great in dry, but it can be a crap shoot if moisture or mud is involved and gets between the pad and rim braking surface.snowdenn said:so when people started asking about the difference in the different types, i got to thinking about it and wondered what other people here thought. apparently, the issue just bothers people.
The second big difference is related to the first, and that requires rim braking surface and pad maintenance. You really need to clean the surfaces after every off road ride to maintain tip top performance. Dry or wet ride that is. When finishing a ride, taking your wheels off to scrub down and get all debris off of the rim braking surface and pads (as well as picking out metal shards from the pads) is a part of good, quality V braking performance. And that can add about 5 - 15 minutes of work after each and every ride if you follow such a rigorous maintenance schedule for the best V brake performance. Without it, your braking performance will begin to suffer and you may experience rim braking surface wear through on the lighter XC weight rims. Nothing like an exploding rim to teach one the maintenance requirements of quality V braking.
Those are the 2 main differences that I have found in my years of owning and operating V's and mechanical disc brakes.
BB
I just want to say that I'll take a well-adjusted set of good-quality hydros over a cheap set of poorly-adjusted v-brakes any day of the week.
what the heck? a useful answer... thanks!BruceBrown said:I think the two main differences between V's and moving to a mechanical disk - and these are big differences - is one - the degradation in performance once mud/water gets between the brake pad and the rim braking surface. You might slop through a couple of muddy spots, cross a creek with muddy banks and all of a sudden, the next time you pull the levers you get a grinding sound and gritty feel with not much braking power. V's are great in dry, but it can be a crap shoot if moisture or mud is involved and gets between the pad and rim braking surface.
The second big difference is related to the first, and that requires rim braking surface and pad maintenance. You really need to clean the surfaces after every off road ride to maintain tip top performance. Dry or wet ride that is. When finishing a ride, taking your wheels off to scrub down and get all debris off of the rim braking surface and pads (as well as picking out metal shards from the pads) is a part of good, quality V braking performance. And that can add about 5 - 15 minutes of work after each and every ride if you follow such a rigorous maintenance schedule for the best V brake performance. Without it, your braking performance will begin to suffer and you may experience rim braking surface wear through on the lighter XC weight rims. Nothing like an exploding rim to teach one the maintenance requirements of quality V braking.
Those are the 2 main differences that I have found in my years of owning and operating V's and mechanical disc brakes.
BB
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