Disc brake options / using mountain bike disc brakes

[benphyr]

+1 on the discs should work better.
The only time I've had them not work as well is when a bolt was loostening and before I noticed it I was getting intermittent but regular rubbing and could never keep the brake pads in alignment. They still worked well, just made noise, rubbed and were generally annoying. Once I palm-forehead found the loose bolt it was miraculously fixed. This was BB-7 after no maintenance for a couple years of commuting.

BB-5 I have on my QX100 give a weird phenomenon: They give some play that feels kind of like a loose headset - you grab a gentle handful of brakes and rock forward and back and there is play between grab forward and grab rearward. If you pull the brakes harder it becomes much less and I think it is just some play in the way the brakes work because they work fine they just feel lower quality or worn out mechanisms when going really slowly and braking gently.

**If it is at all possible that you have gotten grease, oil, wax or any lubricant including the natural oils on your skin - anything besides water - on the rotor or pads then you definitely should clean them both properly and thoroughly. The easy way is brake cleaner - a nasty chemical that you can just spray on and it exterminates grease. Any organic solvent that does not leave a residue would work, as would a light sanding of the brake pads (same trick works for brake pads on rim brakes by the way and tends to take out any sand embedded in them too). The tiny amount of brake cleaner could be a bike shop or an auto mechanic garage, just protect the rubber from solvents....

And then be careful when your "new" brakes stop you twice as well as anything you have ever used before.

If all of the spokes are getting loose it can result in a sloppy wheel that decreases the effectiveness of braking (and pedaling too).

Here's to good predictable braking.

 

[RojoRacing]

Never sand your brake pads if you use carbon rims, you don’t want that kind of silica grit in your pad compound.

 

[benphyr]

Never sand your brake pads if you use carbon rims, you don’t want that kind of silica grit in your pad compound.

And I absolutely bow to the greater knowledge of the more knowledgeable - I've only ever had Al or steel when I was a kid rims. Someday...carbon.

 

[jond]

So will 160 mm rotor fit on rear of v20 black core edition. ?

Just ordered some yoleo 50 mm carbon wheels disc. Trp spyre sl And 160 mm rotors six bolt.

 

[Doug Kline]

I’m happy with SRAM’s hydraulic brifter. It works flawlessly. Unfortunately, getting the brake line through the frame to the rear requires cutting reconnecting.

Yeah you can't go wrong with sram hydro road brifters. I have 22 speed HRD(hydro brakes, cable shifting) on the V20

Mathew, Jason,
I have a SRAM 10-speed set up on my S40 and would like to switch to a full hydraulic system using SRAM S700 brifters. What advice can you give me on a long hose for the rear wheel? Can you buy a long enough one or is splicing required? I haven't tried working with hydraulic hoses so anything you can point me to would be quite useful.

 

[RojoRacing]

If you just buy a sram genuine replacement hose it should come at 2000mm length. It’s a bit retarded but when I bought my RED HRD brifters the hose for the rear brake was already at like 1900mm and that ended up being like 30mm too short. So on a brand new setup I already had to buy a $35 replacement line. You kind of already have to break the seal on the line anyways in order to feed it through the frame so it wasn’t a complete waste of effort.

You’ll probably want to have someone else install it unless you already know how to bleed brakes.

 

[Doug Kline]

You’ll probably want to have someone else install it unless you already know how to bleed brakes.

Thanks for the reply. That helps. I see that hose.

Here's the thing about me. About 20 years ago I bought a newfangled Montague Paratrooper folding mountain bike. It fit in the back of the car nicely. The first time I took it into the LBS, the mechanics gave me such s**t for having a folding MTB that I've never gone to a mechanic since (except for a problem with a carbon frame). I got a lot of miles out of that bike for many years. So...if I'm going to do this, I'm going to have to figure it out. But the MTB I rented out at Moab last year had really nice brakes, so I'm thinking it is probably worth figuring out. And hopefully not the hard way.

 

[RojoRacing]

I’m not familiar with s700 brifters but the RED hrd stuff is way easier to bleed then any of my mtbs. It just take an intelligent mind to look at what you’re working with, how it is supposed to work and how you can get it to work. Sound easy enough if your among the people who can look at problem and solve them but for others it’s black magic if the exact steps they follow to net them results the first time.

I learn lots of things the hard way, that’s why I tend to be so knowledgeable in certain things. Who is the better expert? The person who knows only how to do it the right way or the person who on top of knowing the right way also knows the 7 others way you shouldn’t do it and why others would likely try doing it those other ways by mistake.

 

[Mathew Fy]

See the video for instructions. It’s not terribly difficult, but more involved than their mountain bike brake system. Be sure to buy the road bike (brifter) hose instead of the mountain bike one as the two are incompatible. Or, better yet, do as Jason suggests and have a pro do it.

 

[benphyr]

...the LBS, the mechanics gave me such s**t for having a ...

@Doug Kline
I hear you on the mechanic-attitude! I have had many similar experiences. Not all bike mechanics are like the one that zinged you though. Best of luck and wishing you excellent braking!

 

[RojoRacing]

@Doug Kline
I hear you on the mechanic-attitude! I have had many similar experiences. Not all bike mechanics are like the one that zinged you though. Best of luck and wishing you excellent braking!

At the very least make sure you wash your bike before taking it in for service. Someone giving me a dirty bike is a sure fire way for me to do a minimal half A$$ed job because if the owner doesn't care why should I.