V-brakes or cable Discs

[jagwil]

What about the Rim getting hot? People told me that they saw a tyre burst because the rim got so hot? Doesn't make sense to me...

 

Well' date=' wheels do get hot from rim brake use, but not to the extent that it is a problem.

 

It is prevalent on tandems where poor teqnique has the captain drag the back brake to scrub off speed. This easily overheats the rim and the tyre bursts quite easily under these conditions. It can be remedied by using the more effective front brake (more stopping for less heat) and only using it in short bursts instead of dragging it.

 

On a road bike you can also burtst the tyre - again by dragging the brake whilst slowly going down a steep mountain.

 

On mountain bikes the margin of error is larger and bursting a tyre through heated rims is neigh impossible. The tyres are too soft to start of with and their volume is much more forgiving than a 23mm road bike tyre pumped at 110 PSI.

 

 

[/quote']

 

This is not impossible. On a mountain biking  trip to the French Alps a few years ago we had 1 bike with V-brakes. On the first day that particular bike had no less than 8 flats. We discovered  that the rim was heating up so much, on the mostly down hill riding, that the rim was burning through the tube at the valve  We had to replace the V-brakes with disk brakes at the end of that first day. Problem solved. No more flats. It was quite an expensive repair as a single Hayes El Camino Disk brake cost the equivalent of R2800 in Morzine, France at the time. 

[Wyatt Earp]

Hi Jagwil

 

 

 

Even though I try and stay out of the technical discussions lately as I get the impression that the TECH forum is owned by a few, I have to agree with your post here, I have seen this happen many times.

 

I agree with what Johan said, the probability of a tyre bursting is low, but as you said , tubes bursting is definitely high on the agenda.

 

I have been riding with disc brakes since 1999 when I had a bike with cable discs.

 

I do believe that it's time to move on, unless one looks at the entry level end of the market for a bike, but as someone pointed out, even at the most entry level, if I could get a bike with crummy cable brakes, I will take it, as the transition to hydraulic brakes is that much more affordable.Summit Cycles2009-05-05 00:11:44

[jagwil]

Seriously' date=' spend a bit more on entry-level hydraulic discs.[/quote']

 

AGREED. This is the way to go.

[Brad@TheRiot]

I have never liked cable discs. From personal experience, the braking power is better with decent v brakes and they're also easier to setup/adjust.

 

But, what I would do in your situation is take the cable disc option and then upgrade to hydraulic discs when you can. I have Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic disc brakes on my hardtail and they have seriously impressed me! I have been riding them pretty hard since Aug last year and have had no issues. The stopping power is good, the feel is good, pads are cheap (+- R60/set, still on the original pads BTW)... and they're very affordable. Retail around R1600.00/set! Best value for money brakes!

 

[GoLefty!!]

Henri,

 

V-brakes are better than cable disc brakes. Rather get the V-brake equipped bike.

 

cable disc brakes do not add much to the resale value of a low end bike. You will pretty much lose 40% of the value tomorrow on either bike.

V-brakes are also easier to maintain for a newbie.

 

cable discs are poor performer because they only have one moving piston which pushes the rotor up against a static piston with brake pad. V-brakes clamp both sides of the rim.

 

Also as Johan says, V-brake performance can be much improved by fitting Koolstop pads. Nearly all cable disc brakes use a poor quality resin brake pad which does not have a good lifespand and they tend to glaze over or crumble.

 

Get the V-brake bike for peace of mind

 

[dirtrider]

Hi Jagwil

 

 

 

Even though I try and stay out of the technical discussions lately as I get the impression that the TECH forum is owned by a few' date=' I have to agree with your post here, I have seen this happen many times.

 

I agree with what Johan said, the probability of a tyre bursting is low, but as you said , tubes bursting is definitely high on the agenda.

 

I have been riding with disc brakes since 1999 when I had a bike with cable discs.

 

I do believe that it's time to move on, unless one looks at the entry level end of the market for a bike, but as someone pointed out, even at the most entry level, if I could get a bike with crummy cable brakes, I will take it, as the transition to hydraulic brakes is that much more affordable.[/quote']

 

 

 

Thats about the best advice I have seen on here in ages . But I can not believe what I just saw coming from Lefty !!! Now I always thought this was somebody thats got a good understanding of what is going on in the world of MTB'ing , but after his last comment I am sad to say I think ,he maybe a roadie !

[Thug]

I obviously ride like a woosie cause I've never had any issues with the cable disks on my rigid 29er.

 

 

 

[Tumbleweed]

I obviously ride like a woosie cause I've never had any issues with the cable disks on my rigid 29er.

 

 

 

 

quite a few years ago, when i got me first giant dual sus, i was suprised to read that the dics brakes that came on them - avid mechanicals - were rated better than some hydraulics. never had issues with them, except for a snapped cable on the concrete downhill at the rhodes challenge, which made the descent, well, challenging! holy roller2009-05-05 00:44:14

[Bos]

Ja I dont quite know what all you guys are resting your claims upon, but In my mind theres no question... go for discs.. you guys are making claims that the pads are cheap& nasty that come with some entry level discs, but at the same time you say things like in order to get the V-s to work properly just get some coolstop pads.... Contradicting

 

Then It is said that Vee's are easyer to work on, how is this? The chance that he will fit the koolstop pads correct the first time with "to-in" etc etc and not letting it touch the tire which is probably the biggest reason these things blow up in the first place is much worse than simply pulling the pads out and slotting new ones in.

 

Like I said Ive had crappy cable discs when I first upgraded and It had Loads of power compared to Vee's.

 

And at closing, theres no chance that this bike will come out with those linkage V's that some of you are reffering to, and the thought of upgrading a wheelset and a brake set over just buying a brake set to upgrade to Hydro's is just not cricket.

 

Stop confusing the guy...get the discs

[Shebeen]

I'm not sure there's many around who has ridden with late model V's and Cables and Hydros.

 

My experience with cable discs was some RST on a 2001 model diamondback and it was only frontwheel. the amount of adjusting you had to do to stop the pad rubbing was crap. the back V-brake was better. Maybe cable discs have come along way since then. All things being equal, go for good V's which will cost the same as bad cable discs.

 

I now ride V- Avid SD5, and stopping power is not a real problem. ja sure I have to true the rims now and then, but that's therapeutic. Had a breakage mid race the other day and was able to fix it with cable ties (must fix it properly now!).

 

but don't get me wrong, the next brakes will be hydraulic discs and they will be worth the extra $$$.

[Bos]

I'm not sure there's many around who has ridden with late model V's and Cables and Hydros.

 

My experience with cable discs was some RST on a 2001 model diamondback and it was only frontwheel. the amount of adjusting you had to do to stop the pad rubbing was crap. the back V-brake was better. Maybe cable discs have come along way since then. All things being equal' date=' go for good V's which will cost the same as bad cable discs.

 

I now ride V- Avid SD5, and stopping power is not a real problem. ja sure I have to true the rims now and then, but that's therapeutic. Had a breakage mid race the other day and was able to fix it with cable ties (must fix it properly now!).

 

but don't get me wrong, the next brakes will be hydraulic discs and they will be worth the extra $$$.

[/quote']

 

Shebeen, a friend of mine had one of these on his DH bike way back- because they were cool, The guy crashed all the time and those things are SHOCKINGLY BAD... I dont know how they could call them brakes..

 

I have pesonally not seen any of those for a long long time and can assure you that modern cables are much better.

[Johan Bornman]

On mountain bikes the margin of error is larger and bursting a tyre through heated rims is neigh impossible. The tyres are too soft to start of with and their volume is much more forgiving than a 23mm road bike tyre pumped at 110 PSI.

 

 

 

This is not impossible. On a mountain biking  trip to the French Alps a few years ago we had 1 bike with V-brakes. On the first day that particular bike had no less than 8 flats. We discovered  that the rim was heating up so much' date=' on the mostly down hill riding, that the rim was burning through the tube at the valve  We had to replace the V-brakes with disk brakes at the end of that first day. Problem solved. No more flats. It was quite an expensive repair as a single Hayes El Camino Disk brake cost the equivalent of R2800 in Morzine, France at the time. 

[/quote']

 

Perhaps you should have given me a bit more lattitude. I said ALMOST impossible even though a typo turned my nigh into a neigh.

 

I am fully aware of the heat generated in a rim brake wheel being braked by someone scared of the descent. They tend to drag the brakes.  I described the phenomena in my post. You don't see tyres bursting in Pro races even though they descend the same Alps you did.

 

I've had steam coming out of the eyelets of my road bike when I went down the continental divide in Costa Rica 15 years ago. I was riding downhill in the rain and the soaked wheels steamed from 33 little blowholes (32 for spokes and one for valve), even after I stopped. This indicated that the rim was somewhere in the region of 100 degrees or more. I didn't have a blow-out, but I think two things saved me: 1) I like softer tyres and those were about 90 PSI and, the bike was a hybrid with really wide tyres - 28mm or maybe 32mm.

 

[jagwil]

At present I have 3 Mountain bikes. A hardtail with XTR V-brakes which I rode for about 5 years before getting my first full suspension bike. This bike had XT V-brakes. These were changed to Hayes El camino Discs in France about 4 years ago when my son was using the bike. At that time I had a full suspension bike with Hayes  El Camino's. My son was NOT scared of the descents but still burnt out about 7 tubes on the first day of mostly fast, twisty, single track downhill riding. No one else in our group of about 9 riders had V-brakes. Three years ago I traded in on a new full suspension bike with Hayes El Camino's. So, the bottom line is that I have been riding with Hydraulic disc brakes for the past 5 to 6 years now after having ridden with top of the range V-brakes in the past. Experience with V-Brakes and hydraulic discs ( nothing to do with any technical expertise , which I do not profess to have) tells me that I believe that hydraulic discs are far superior to any V-brakes that I have had. I have not had experience with cable discs.

 

So, my advice, for what it is worth is, buy a bike with hydraulic disc brakes. The extra cost is worth it.   

[scotty]

V brakes are fine for SA conditions, they have even achived top 10 position at the Cape Epic (Trek 4500), as mentioned easy to maintain and with quality cables and pads will do the job.

[dirtrider]

Scotty my old mate , racing partner , master of the universe bla bla bla how do you expect anybody to take you seriously dude ? The man that thinks tubes are better than white bread , needs medical attention before race starts , drives a DC Colt and drinks 4 beers before a race .

[Tumbleweed]

Scotty my old mate ' date=' racing partner , master of the universe bla bla bla how do you expect anybody to take you seriously dude ? The man that thinks tubes are better than white bread , needs medical attention before race starts , drives a DC Colt and drinks 4 beers before a race .[/quote']

 

 

 

i'd believe a man like that! east rand rocks!