izzypzee Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Bought a Specialized Hardrock Sport 2 months ago (first bike)I have come to the realization, confirmed by the shop attendant, that the brakes suck! They more than suck! I stick to uphill because I am scared to go down. I asked the shop attendant, where I bought the bike, what I would have to do improve the breaks. He gave me a rough estimate of R4000 to put new rims and disk brakes on. This is 60% of the price of the bike!! Does anyone have any cheaper stopping advice?
Johan Bornman Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Your brakes almost certainly don't suck and I have no doubt that they're fine. Dont' spend money on new brakes in spite of what your friendly bikeshop guy says.But lets start at the beginning. What's wrong with your brakes? I understand chainsuck but not brakesuck.
AndreZA Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Take it to another shop to sort out and never use that useless shop again. The lady here at my work has a R1800 Silverback and her brakes is enough to destroy tyres on tar. .
Ratty Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Are you sure the brakes are setup correctly? I've ridden a mates Hardrock and while the brakes are not quite as good as mine (avid juicy 7's), they are perfectly adaquate. I rode down Jonkershoek on the bike with no problems. Ratty2009-03-31 01:51:50
izzypzee Posted March 31, 2009 Author Posted March 31, 2009 They are super!! soft.Sent the bike in for its first service and half a ride later the brake lever was reaching my handle.I understand how to tighten them. They just appear really soft. Is there harder, more grippy compounds for these v's?
Johan Bornman Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 You don't want to go harder. Just take up the excess cable slack.What you are describing is a classic case of cables that weren't tight enough at the anchor bolts and have slipped. Take up the excess cable slack and tighten the anchor bolts.There, you just saved R4k. It is a tradition on The Hub that rookies who save megabucks thanks to Mampara and Ratty's help, gets taken to a pup and rewarded. Please honour this tradition.
Ratty Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 There is more to setting up brakes than just tightening them. I won't go into details as I'm no expert, but I've had bike shops / friends help me before when I had a similar problem on my first bike.Seriously, when I rode the same bike, the brake levers did not feel soft at all. 3 of our friends bought the hardrock and none of them have complained about the brakes being soft and the one guy is a very nervous rider. Question is, where your brakes very soft before the service? From what you said now, it sounds like something they did during the service stuffed the brakes up. I would take it to another bike shop and see if they can sort it out for you before going and spending huge amounts of unnecessary money.
izzypzee Posted March 31, 2009 Author Posted March 31, 2009 Ratty - they were soft from the word go.Think the concensus is to find the solution to my problem with the existing setup. Not to put new disks and wheels on. Thanks for the advice guys. Otherwise very happy with the bike. Any other advice on setup?
SwissVan Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 Ratty - they were soft from the word go.Think the concensus is to find the solution to my problem with the existing setup. Not to put new disks and wheels on. Thanks for the advice guys. Otherwise very happy with the bike. Any other advice on setup? The bike shop attendant is trying to make money a living money and sell some of that stock that he has not been able to get rid off, or that he has just recently marked up 38% from last years recommended retail price. You dont say which V brakes you have, but imo I would stay with them.Just read some of the other brake threads about disk brake issues... Learn how to adjust them your self, its just like flying a kite you gotta keep the string cable tight and make sure the brake pads are making full contact with the rim when you apply the brakes. Check this link out for some DIY advice.http://www.sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html
izzypzee Posted March 31, 2009 Author Posted March 31, 2009 Dirtbreath - That wouldn't be very nice of me to name names. On another note : just threw myself down a couple drops... and almost stopped at the end of 'em too
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