Hydraulic brakes

[DE Naude]

Hi all

I want to upgrade my bike from mech to hydraulic brakes. My budget is limited to about R1500. Which brakes should I buy? I’m not too concerned about ease of installation. I just want reliability and serviceability to be hassle free. I’ve looked at brakes such as Tektro and Shimano mt200, but I don’t know where to buy them. Thank you

[David Marshall]

Both those brake options will fit your budget and are reliable.  You should be able to order through a bike shop.  Servicing on any hydraulic brakes these days is limited to pad changing and bleeding - anything more than that involves replacing the unit.

[Mawbs]

def the Shimano i got a pair recently for my commuter bike and they are the bomb and pads are cheap...just browse online for cheapest i got mine for R1100 on SALE

[RobertWhitehead]

To answer your question regarding Tektro vs Shimano: 

Shimano is better and will last longer. 

Reason: 

It comes down to the internals of both units. If you open both you'll notice that the Tektro lever uses a normal o-ring to block the fluid from leaking out and to keep the pressure. Unfortunately those o-rings tend to fail fairly regularly. The piston on the Shimano side is a bit more robust and takes quite some time before giving hassles. My one set of XT's lasted for 7 years before giving crap (The pistons are the same). 

The link provided was just a quick search. I have bought from @Naas many times before so you can buy with confidence. 

 

Below budget: 

https://evobikes.co.za/product/shimano-br-mt200-disc-brake-set/ 

 

Slightly above budget: 

https://evobikes.co.za/product/shimano-mt400-front-and-rear-disc-brake-set/