[Rallius]

My 02 deores hydors aren't giving me enough stopping power. I had to get off the bike because I wasn't able to take off enough speed without locking up my wheels. I was behind the seat also. Does this sound like a problem with my brakes or with brakes in general. My pads aren't worn out and I have enough stopping power in the parking lot but not as much compared to my friends hayes. What should I do? New brakes, run 8 inch rotors on the front ect. I weigh 185 and ride all mountain.

Kevin

 

[HTail]

tires?

Given your brakes lock up means you have power. Perhaps you need more aggresive tires or run with less air pressure?

 

[SuperNewb]

My 02 deores hydors aren't giving me enough stopping power. I had to get off the bike because I wasn't able to take off enough speed without locking up my wheels. I was behind the seat also. Does this sound like a problem with my brakes or with brakes in general. My pads aren't worn out and I have enough stopping power in the parking lot but not as much compared to my friends hayes. What should I do? New brakes, run 8 inch rotors on the front ect. I weigh 185 and ride all mountain.

Kevin

Which rotor does the Deores use?
I know some ppl been saying the lower end rotor doesnt seem to stop as well when comparing it to the XT level rotor.
You could try changing the pads if they are stock to like koolstops or something. Be the cheapest thing to try next to changing the rotors, unless you can borrow your friends hayes for a ride and see that way.

 

[Doc_d]

Like HTail said, If you are locking them up, then you have as much power as the available traction will allow you to use.

 

[frankenbike]

Like everyone said, if your brakes are locking up, then the juice is there.

Are you using mostly your rear brake? Even with a 8 inch rear hydraulic setup, if a rider just uses his/her rear brake only, you're not going to stop very well. Front brake is key. The physics of a moving vehicle will always need to rely on a front brake for the majority of it's stopping power.

I come from a BMX background, where I only had a rear brake. I brought that habit with me to mtn biking and I had so many sketchy descents and I just couldn't stop well with my habitual rear brake technique. Then I started to learn how to properly use my front and it's been SO much better since.

If it turns out that you are using mostly your rear, start practicing with the front. Some sprints and stop with just the front, gradually adding more power with each sprint/stop as you get comfortable with the threshold of it's power and learn to detect the point where it will nose wheelie the bike.

185 pounds is not too much for a 6" rotor to handle. A parking lot brake test will always seem awesome because you are not going downhill where the brake is truely challenged. If you observation that your buddy's Hayes were stronger based on a parking lot test, I'd say that's not an absolute indicator of brakes. Some brakes are more grabby than others in low speed parking lot test.

 

[Rallius]

I've been running enduro por's 2.2's with 25 psi. I changing over to 2.3 enduros this week with stans no tubes. We'll see how that helps. I am using both my front and back brakes. I'm using the basic old rotors and not newer XT's maybe I'll give that a try. So no one thinks I need better brakes?

Kevin