[kestrel]

I am planning on upgrading my wheels pretty soon, and am considering going with an avid mechanical disk up front. I can't run disk brakes in the rear because my frame doesn't have rear disk bosses.

Just wondering if anybody is running a disk front/V rear setup and what you think of it... Seems like it would work good to me, but since I have never actually ridden a bike setup that way I am looking for other opinions.

Any thoughts or experiences???

Thanks!
-k

 

[HELLTACO]

Ta me, it cud sounds like, a front disk is better dan no disk. Chure, people dose dat junk all da times. But I tinks, if chu wud spends da money, why not hydros front an' rear? Dat's what I wud likes on mine. An' chu cud gets an adaptor for disks in da back, but I wudn't gos fer dat.

 

[buttychunkster]

Im gettin anew fork and puttin a hope hydro on the front to go with the xtr rear should work a charm

 

[airwreck]

yes, and I have disc fr&rear setup as well. I'm starting to think I like the disc front V rear setup better because I find myself locking up the rear excessively with the rear disc. the solution may prove to be avid mech front and rear. anyway, I'm definetly an old schooler who preaches disc brakes, 6 inches of travel and 32 pound bikes for XC.
Eric

 

[Merwin5_10]

This is an awesome Dual Slalom set up for anyone who can't spring for dual disks, or uses their bike for DS and XC riding. Remember yout braking power comes from the front, not rear. Disk front, V rear is a nice combo.

 

[WebCyclery]

I agree with Merwin5_10. A disc up front is going to give you a lot more power than in the back. Something like 80% of your stopping power comes from the front brake (I don't remember where I got that number, I could be way off). If money is an issue, I'd go with a disc up front and keep the V-brake on the rear. This set up is also quite common on trials bikes. I saw a lot of the riders at the World Championships with front discs only.

 

[MuDHoG]

I to have recently taken notice of this, disc up front and v in the rear. I couldn't quite understand what was going on so I talked to a buddy at my LBS and he had the same thing to say as webcyclery, most of your stopping power does come from the front ( makes sense in that when you hammer the brakes all body wieght wants to move forward ). I would advise against mechanical discs though and try to steer you towards hydrolic, I had mech. brakes on my i-drive and I hated em, they feel like crap and were way to high maintenance so I switched to hydro. ~MuDHoG

 

[Big hit]

yup, that's what I'm rinding though it is just temporary. My rear brakes blew out and is under warranty (I hope) but for the meantime I am running hayes hydros in front with v's in back. In dry conditions the rear has been pretty good to me but I think that when it gets wet I expect problems with it.

Though as the other monkeys stated, most braking comes from the front end if yo're coming to a full stop but when taking hits or going down the steeps I use alot more rear to keep the bike in control....tight corners, burms...etc.

umm, I do reccomen the disc's up front for certain, I know you'll love them for their consistant braking in all conditions

 

[Elvis]

Ive seen Ryan Leach's trials ride and he has the front disk rear v set up. You should be ok with that set up. Braking is split 70/30 front to rear. V brakes actually give better holding power once at full lock but the disc will give you better and more consistent modulation during most trail conditions. V brakes also tend not to get damaged when doing urban trials type riding as the rotors can easily get bent.

 

[gravity]

there are plenty of bikes with a front disc rear v setup, like the Giant ATX 840 (or is it 870? cant remember exactly). However you will inevitably find that a decent set of vees will be more powerful than any cable disc brake, at the expense of wet weather power and all-round modulation. However, if you're just a recreational rider then you will find the Avid discs more than powerful enough, however for DS or DH racing you will want hydros. The rear brake hardly does any work (exaggerated a bit I know) as the front end loads up under braking when you have suspension. This means that the rear skids easily with any type of brake from cantis to hydros. And don't try one of those bolt-on disc adapters for the frame, they're dodgy as all hell.

 

[gravity]

oh yeah and btw do not forget that vees provide more raw braking power than all but the best hydro discs, as they have far more leverage on the wheel (like having a 26" rotor instead of a 6" one). So if you do put cable discs on the front it might be worthwhile to have an 8" rotor put on for that extra oomph.

 

[Shibby]

i have Hayes front (hydro on the DH, cable on the DS), and v-brake rear on both. i'm quite displeased with the hayes cable disc, but the hydro is super-good. in the coming months, i'll be running hydro front and rear on the DH, and avid cable front/hayes cable rear on the DS. but until then, v-brakes in the rear are great.

shibby, 2 seasons of DHing with rear v-brakes

 

[PApa MoNo]

Using a front disc brake a rear v is not a bad option. but you can try using an adaptor for rear disc brake or do one by your self is better than a v, because you never now how is going to work, and using two fingers is not a goos option

 

[DHiTone]

That set up works fine but i really would consider a Hope Mini on the front - open system, look cool with the bubble rotor and not that much more expensive than some of the mechanical disk brakes which really are substandard.

Disks are a joy, i have run Hopes in various guises for about 5 years and they are fantastic. Hope you get some sorted soon

Tony