[karavshin]

I own a 2003 Trek Liquid 20.

It has Hayes HFX-9 XC Hydraulic Disc Brakes. They are absolutely horrible. The hydraulic system often fails and needs reflushed, they are very finicky, and easily fall into mal-adjustment.

I just bought a 2006 Specialized Stumpjumper with mechanical disc brakes and they are much more dependable and robust.

I would like to replace my Liquid 20's brakes with a set of mechanical disc brakes. Can someone recommend a good set/kit to do this?

 

[DownCycles_Stef]

I'd say go with Avid's. Get the BB7 if you can afford it, BB5 is good as well. You can also check out the Hayes MX2 or MX3, both of them are pretty rad as well. As for Shimano, I had their mechanicals on my GT Moto 4x bike and I really don't like them. And Tektro's....well they are cheap, they do seem to work but I've never ridden them and I've never set them up on any bike that's going to be ridden really hard, just entry level mountain bikes and hybrids.

 

[karavshin]

How can I tell if these brakes will fit my Liquid 20 ? I haven't been able to find any discussion of compatibility for these things.

Is there some sort of universal mounting configuration for disc brakes? I'm skeptical there is.

 

[DownCycles_Stef]

Your bike has standard ISO mounts on the frame for disc brakes so ANY new disc brake will work. The only ones that would give you any sorta problem are 6+ year old 22mm mount Hayes Calipers.....but considering those are damn hard to even come by in used parts bins, you'll be fine.

All bikes these days use a standard mount for disc calipers. Most companies use adaptors to go between 6, 7 and 8in rotors. Hope and Shimano used to use swappable half-calipers but they are now even using the standard 6, 7 & 8in adapters.

Just decide which brake falls into your price range and go for it, you won't be dissapointed with either the Avid's or Hayes.