Upgrade to disk brakes

[adogshow]

ah! classic mistake...sorry i say that cos i nearly made the same one. i really  struggled to find a good fork, within a reasonable price, thats both disk and v brake compatible. Rochshox Tora 302. great fork!

[GTfan]

hydrolic !!! my vees also had good stopping power !!!

 

Ja, gotta agree with Hagar on that one, if you have the money go for hydrolic discs

[Christopher Brunsdon]

 

Why do you want to upgrade. I had a perfectly well sorted V brake system and without thinking it trough upgraded. It cast me a lot more than I actually could afford and it saddled me with a whole new set of problems.

1. The old  Vbrakes could stop me on a penny (I weigh a healthy 90Kg)

2. The new Shimano hydraulic brakes with a 160mm rotor couldn't stop me in a residential block. And believe me when I say' date=' I bled them, I stripped and rebuild, I had the LBS look at it, A 2nd Bike shop looked at it too and still the power was lacking and it continuesly rubbed the rotors.

3. I eventualy upgraded to a pair of Juicy5s with a 180mm Rotor in front and at last I have a system that equals the job of the old V brakes.

4. The Juicy is exelent brakes, but it too needs to be aligned frequently. The V brakes just required new brakes and the removal of the metal plinters after a rough ride.

Stick with the V brakes. They're lighter and they do the job just as good as any disk.

 

O ja. Riding a disk brake bike in a cross wind requires a whole new skill level. The wind acts on the front and when you're tired it may have an further unplanned effect on you.

 

[/quote']

 

Some great advice here. I'm currently on VBrakes still. Just order some Shimano XT M760 VBrakes - the have the same paralellogram as the XTR. But are 1/4 of the price.

 

Also put on some BBB double compound pads and major improvement. (I weigh a health 94kg and do downhill roads on my commute home hitting upto 60km frequently with at least 10 stops)

[Etone]

Still any ideas on the shifter?

[L'Bie]

Why do you want to upgrade. I had a perfectly well sorted V brake system and without thinking it trough upgraded. It cast me a lot more than I actually could afford and it saddled me with a whole new set of problems.

1. The old  Vbrakes could stop me on a penny (I weigh a healthy 90Kg)

2. The new Shimano hydraulic brakes with a 160mm rotor couldn't stop me in a residential block. And believe me when I say, I bled them, I stripped and rebuild, I had the LBS look at it, A 2nd Bike shop looked at it too and still the power was lacking and it continuesly rubbed the rotors.

3. I eventualy upgraded to a pair of Juicy5s with a 180mm Rotor in front and at last I have a system that equals the job of the old V brakes.

4. The Juicy is exelent brakes, but it too needs to be aligned frequently. The V brakes just required new brakes and the removal of the metal plinters after a rough ride.

Stick with the V brakes. They're lighter and they do the job just as good as any disk.

 

O ja. Riding a disk brake bike in a cross wind requires a whole new skill level. The wind acts on the front and when you're tired it may have an further unplanned effect on you.

 

[L'Bie]

Why do you want to upgrade. I had a perfectly well sorted V brake system and without thinking it trough upgraded. It cast me a lot more than I actually could afford and it saddled me with a whole new set of problems.

1. The old  Vbrakes could stop me on a penny (I weigh a healthy 90Kg)

2. The new Shimano hydraulic brakes with a 160mm rotor couldn't stop me in a residential block. And believe me when I say, I bled them, I stripped and rebuild, I had the LBS look at it, A 2nd Bike shop looked at it too and still the power was lacking and it continuesly rubbed the rotors.

3. I eventualy upgraded to a pair of Juicy5s with a 180mm Rotor in front and at last I have a system that equals the job of the old V brakes.

4. The Juicy is exelent brakes, but it too needs to be aligned frequently. The V brakes just required new brakes and the removal of the metal plinters after a rough ride.

Stick with the V brakes. They're lighter and they do the job just as good as any disk.

 

O ja. Riding a disk brake bike in a cross wind requires a whole new skill level. The wind acts on the front and when you're tired it may have an further unplanned effect on you.

 

[linnega]

O ja. Riding a disk brake bike in a cross wind requires a whole new skill level. The wind acts on the front and when you're tired it may have an further unplanned effect on you.

That has got to be the most bizarre thing I have heard regarding discs.  Do you seriously believe that - 1 cm of metal with holes in it?

[Etone]

I got into MTB with the aid of my son who started it, it seemed like fun so I borrowed a friends <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Mongoose tyrax which is a medium and does not quite work for some one 6?4?.

With limited budget I bought a second hand GT on B or B, which was supposed to be in good condition, only it was rather stuffed and came with solid front fork, after hunting for a fork I bought one hurriedly only to find out it was only disk brake compatible. I then had to replace the shifters as they were stuffed.

Cost so far:         Bike       R 1 800.00

Shock    R 550.00

Shifter  R 450.00

Cables   R 80.00

Disk compatible rims      Donated

To be bought    

Disk brakes 2^nd hand                       R 1500.00

 

Total  R 4300.00  could have bought a GT brand new on the hub for  R 4200.00 and had a brand new bike.

 

BLOODY SCHOOL FEES. 

[adogshow]

something that i am learning as i cycle is that research and knowing exactly what you want is really important. if you rush into something you think you need, you will prob regret it later cos you'll find something better maybe cheaper.

 

there are three factors to buying bikes: cheap, strong, light. but you can only have three of these!

 

[BrendonMyb]

best suggestion is. I run cable disc's & compared to my most of my riding freinds i have a whole lot less problems. I dont need to bleed the brakes etc etc. They are cheap to maintain & if you have a decent set of mechanical disc brakes they will last a very long time.

 

I sometimes wnder if they are not better than hydraulics due to the simplicity & it definately doesnt cost even a 3rd of the price & they work just aswell if not better at times than hydraulic brakes. That way you can keep your shifters & all youll need is the calipers, rotors & thats about it. That shouldnt set you back more than 1K 2nd hand

 

Just my zim$ worth

[Etone]

If only i could get a front rotor and a cable disk set i can run the back on a Deore XT brakes that i was given. I hyave posted often on the needed page but no response.Might even go for a new one if I could find.

 

[Rocket-Boy]

A mate of mine just upgraded to disk.

 

He recons it was the best choice he has made. Recons he got to the first really muddy ride and everyone else's vbrakes were gunked up with mud and his disks were still working perfectly!

[Etone]

The debate between "v-Brakes" vs Disk as well as Mechanical vs Hydraulic will rage forever.

 

All I need is a cheap front disk brake set up mechanical only, but do you think I can find that??

 

[adogshow]

etone, it seems since you have the fork that only works with disk brakes then obviously you have to go with it. but i would look to get a decent setup even if you can do the front first. try find the right hubs if need be and go from there. thats what my LBS told me. good luck!

[Etone]

Thanks,

Have a set of hubs that were given to me by a friend and took the plunge today and got a front huydrualic brake with rotor as well as a shimano shifter from the friendly and helpfull LBS, and put that on, works like a charm,  all I hav to do is now cut the fork and fix in on properly. a bit nervous to takle this but might get the LBS do do this if not to expensive. Will post pic when complete.

 

 

[adogshow]

great, stoked you happy. as for cutting the fork, let a pro do it. Unless you got mad skills with the angle grinder, your lbs will sort it out one time. many happy miles!