hydrolic or mechanical

caputo1989 · May 11, 2005

Best for the $ aer the Hayes HFX-9 (Kinks worked out__)
Mostly depnds on your riding style......

Handlebarsfsr · May 11, 2005

avid mechanicals are more than enough power and modulation than what 90%+ of riders need.

Changleen · May 11, 2005

Seeing as you apparantly have a BMX background, you probably don't have panzy ass fingers, so cable disks will probably feel real good to you. Having said that, just go down to your LBS and ask to try 'em both out. make your own mind up.

Edit: I have 6 brakes on my 3 bikes, 5 of them are hydraulic. The front V-Brake on my BMX is cable. That's all.

MMike · May 11, 2005

I never have to touch my hydraulics.....

firetoole · May 11, 2005

I can tell you that when I have to bleed my hyayes, those mechanicals look very tempting

jacksonpt · May 11, 2005

I have hope hydros... they came pre-bled from the factory, installed them on my Yeti, haven't touched them since.

I Are Baboon · May 11, 2005

The only disk brakes that I have ever used on my bikes are Avid mechanicals. I like them. I did use BrianHCM's DH bike last year and that had Hopes on them. Holy cow were those nice. I'm not spnding $400-$500 on brakes though.

narlus · May 11, 2005

Handlebarsfsr said:
avid mechanicals are more than enough power and modulation than what 90%+ of riders need.

i've used several different kinds of hydro disk brakes (Hope O2, Hope C2, Hope DH4, several different sets of Hayes) and two sets of mechs (avids). the avids work damn well, w/ a slight disadvantage in modulation. for trail riding, i really can't see the need for hydros.

unless of course you are a Hope b!tch, and there is no mech choice available.

BuddhaRoadkill · May 11, 2005

Upgrade from what? And what are they going onto?

I use 6" Avids on the HT and an 8"/6" combo on the Enduro. Can't see why I would ever need anything more. I got 'em set up nicely for 1 finger action and they have yet to fail me. Like all things cable, they require frequent changing if riden in harsher elements. [But what the hey, cables are cheap.] The red dial gives more than enough on-the-fly adjustment. Modulation is all in the lever you choose. I have Avid speed dials and they work great - BUT - I would not recomend them due to their weak ass "bendable lever" nonsense.
:nuts: to the lever
:thumb:

to the disc.

hooples3 · May 11, 2005

I have avid mechanicals on my singlespeed, they are great for xc use. On my heckler i have the juicy 7's, they feel soooo much better than the mechanicals. They offer less hand fatigue as well, and make it a lot easier to feather the brakes.. they are worth it to me on that bike since that is my do it all play bike. and they are worth the extra mantainence

Skookum · May 11, 2005

i gave up V's and went straight to Magura hydraulic rim brakes then to hydro disc, sorry i have no clue about the mechs. But i do know for a fact that low end hydros usually end up being more of a pain in the ass than anything.
But i'm fairly positive that a good set of hydros can't be beat. Anything with a cable is vulnerable to inclimate weather. Bleeding isn't really that hard to do for hydros. And the performance of a good hydro brake can help assist in any riding you do, owners of such brakes know....

golgiaparatus · May 11, 2005

Stopping power I find to be very similar. Hydros have a little more of a solid feel because there is no cable stretch thus a tiny bit more control I suppose. The big up for hydros for me is that you dont need to change your cables/housings really at all. But the decider when comparing the two is price, hats usually a pretty sizable difference.

urbaindk · May 11, 2005

As for the avid mechs, I think for the idiot-proofness of set up and adjustment makes these a great choice for average Joe Rider. I went with an 8/6 combo on my hard tail and love it. I have the speed dial levers with the modulation adjustment but I haven't really messed with it too much. I do most of my modulation adjustments by tweaking the inner pad - rotor spacing. Getting the cables tight enough to engage immediately with out having any tension on the caliper seems to be tricky, as there always seems to be a little springiness to the cables, but other than that no problems.

Also, in regards to dirt and gunk, run full length cable housings. Fewer breaks in the cable housing means few places for the dirt to get in...

pixelninja · May 11, 2005

I had Avid Mechs on my last bike. I currently have Hayes HFX-9. Both 6". I rode the mech's for almost 2 years and liked them alot. Now that I've tried hydros, I probably won't go back. Much better feel to them. I've had the Hayes for about 6 months now and haven't had any problems. Both brakes require(d) the occational alignment adjustment.

narlus · May 11, 2005

one thing which is a pain for hyrdos is dialing in the lever throw/pad bite position. i've got short fingers so this is critical to me, to prevent arm pump on the DH bike. w/ hayes, it's not so easy to do. just recently i've tried to do this after re-bleeding and changing pads, but the lever is still fairly far off from the handlebar when teh brake is fully engaged.

the usual tricks (removing pads; pushing pistons as far back as possible; installing pads; inserting park cone wrench sandwiched w/ 2 business cards; pumping brake lever as hard as possible several times; install wheel) hasn't worked. i've bled some fluid from the system to try to improve the situation, but that hasn't made a difference either.

any suggestions from the hayes pros?

pixelninja · May 11, 2005

narlus said:
one thing which is a pain for hyrdos is dialing in the lever throw/pad bite position. i've got short fingers so this is critical to me, to prevent arm pump on the DH bike. w/ hayes, it's not so easy to do. just recently i've tried to do this after re-bleeding and changing pads, but the lever is still fairly far off from the handlebar when teh brake is fully engaged.

the usual tricks (removing pads; pushing pistons as far back as possible; installing pads; inserting park cone wrench sandwiched w/ 2 business cards; pumping brake lever as hard as possible several times; install wheel) hasn't worked. i've bled some fluid from the system to try to improve the situation, but that hasn't made a difference either.

any suggestions from the hayes pros?

Have you played with the lever reach adjustment screw? On mine, there's a small allen screw below the level that ajdusts the amount of reach.

http://www.hayesdiscbrake.com/tech.cfm

narlus · May 11, 2005

yeah, that's the 1st line of attack (although i seemed to have lost my 2mm or whatever allen key that takes, so maybe the screw backed its way out).

slowSSer · May 11, 2005

jacksonpt said:
I have hope hydros... they came pre-bled from the factory, installed them on my Yeti, haven't touched them since.

hope mono M4's front, M2's rear on the 29er. awesome brakes. I cant see how any other hydros would be nearly as good.

as for mechanicals, nothing beats avid mech's on setup, maintenance, ease of use. weight isnt too bad, either.

JSB · May 11, 2005

I've been running the Avid Mechs. This is my second season on them and I've only made minor adjustments with the red dial. I run the FMJ/Flak combo, and have had great success. Best bang for the buck in my opinion.

santacruzer87 · May 11, 2005

Hyrdos for DH, mechanical for urban.....I guess.

-Ryan

Skookum · May 11, 2005

narlus said:
yeah, that's the 1st line of attack (although i seemed to have lost my 2mm or whatever allen key that takes, so maybe the screw backed its way out).

There are tons of aftermarket levers that might help....

also recently i upgraded my Hayes to the nth degree.
Bought some Galfer 203 Rotors
http://www.thorusa.com/galfer.htm

Some Goodridge brake lines
http://www.transcendmagazine.com/reviews/review_goodridge.html

and of course i had to get rid of the flexy old comp lever body's i had gotten with the stock Santa Cruz build and replace them with the original Mag lever bodys.

i got good deals on the stuff, yet it still cost me a small fortune, but i now own the ULTIMATE HAYES brake setup.....

hydrolic or mechanical

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