lol...Who's Opie? No need to borrow a bikey. Have enough to keep me busy year round, and prolly put more mileage on them than many of the lounge regulars here...
Somebody's sarcasm meter is borked.
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V-brakes
- Thread starter Da Peach
- Start date
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LordOpie
A.K.A. Lard-o-Pie
If you're up Seoul way, you know about the ice...lol...Who's Opie? No need to borrow a bikey. Have enough to keep me busy year round, and prolly put more mileage on them than many of the lounge regulars here...
Somebody's sarcasm meter is borked.
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*yawn*
As I've already said, this is a compilation of opinions for a specific subset of the cycling world which is more relevant than your individual experience.
So you can stick your ad hominem back in your junk hole and enjoy the salty flavoring.
Spent this year riding my Turner with some Avid Elixers. Nice brakes, they have worked flawlessly but I still don't like disk brakes. Found a new source for Ceramic rims, DT Swiss is making some know. I will be rebuilding some wheels and back rocking the ceramic Vees. 
That sounds pretty cool. But another beauty of discs is their independance of straight wheels. Even my XC bike has a slight wiggle in the rear rim. No prob with teh disks.Spent this year riding my Turner with some Avid Elixers. Nice brakes, they have worked flawlessly but I still don't like disk brakes. Found a new source for Ceramic rims, DT Swiss is making some know. I will be rebuilding some wheels and back rocking the ceramic Vees.
I use v brakes on my back wheel & discs on my front.
works great for me.
works great for me.
I have never had that problem. I ding rims a lot but have never really warped one, even if I break a spoke. It helps that I am about 150 lbs and my wheel builder is brilliant.
I have had more problems warping disks. After getting them red hot during a 1500 ft decent and crossing a stream, the damn things look like Pringles.
What size rotors?
160mm
King Westy of the Luddites.
My SS has a V brake on the rear cuz there's no disk tabs on the old girl (frame was from my first ever Mountain Bike). The fork is disk only though so it's rockin' an avid mechanical. They actually balance out pretty well.
I used V's for years and even stayed away from disks for a long time... but now overall I like Disks better. Once you get them dialed they take next to no adjustment, run through pads slower, produce more stopping power with less effort, modulate better and are nearly immune to water, mud, etc.
The step up to V's from cantis though is an even bigger difference. They are way more powerful with much less effort.
I used V's for years and even stayed away from disks for a long time... but now overall I like Disks better. Once you get them dialed they take next to no adjustment, run through pads slower, produce more stopping power with less effort, modulate better and are nearly immune to water, mud, etc.
The step up to V's from cantis though is an even bigger difference. They are way more powerful with much less effort.
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Rim brakes on a MTBs in the NW are completely useless in the winter. There is a reason we were early adapters of discs.
On a cross bike, stick to cantis. They are much easier to get running right with road levers.
On a cross bike, stick to cantis. They are much easier to get running right with road levers.
I bet bigger rotors would fix that...maybe some with alloy carriers/centers like Hope.
You'd think that if you could do that to a disk then you could really mess up a rim brake. Melted pads at the very least.
The thing I really don't like about disks is the initial grab, bigger disks would make that worse. For very low braking forces vees allow very good modulation. I can't make super fine speed corrections with disks. I always end up bleeding off more speed than I want. I've done back to back laps comparing disks vs vees at a 24 hour race and my lap times were always minutes slower on disks.
Keep in mind I am running ceramic rims which work much better than aluminum braking surfaces.
I thought you only ever biked uphill anyway...
Old thread! When I converted my KHS to a single-speed, removed the verticle dropouts welded on track dropouts, I just removed the disc tabs as I wouldn't be able to adjust them. So I'm running a BB5 disc in the front and Avid V's in the back. I put on some dual-compound pads (can't remember the brand right now) and they work great.
Loved my Avid Arch Supreme matched with Mavic ceramic breaking surface. Still never felt as nice as a modern dics setup and more maintenance.
Scott-Mathauser(bought out by Kool-stop*) or WTB?
*According to Sheldon Brown they were always manufactured by Kool-Stop
Cool that DT's making some. 4.1s?Spent this year riding my Turner with some Avid Elixers. Nice brakes, they have worked flawlessly but I still don't like disk brakes. Found a new source for Ceramic rims, DT Swiss is making some know. I will be rebuilding some wheels and back rocking the ceramic Vees.
I have a few NOS 517 cermaics in my basement that I'm hoarding. No, you can't have any. Running discs on most of my bikes, but my XC race bike's still got XTR V's. I can't see any reason to change them.
I still run Vs on one of my mountain bikes. Since the components are pretty decent (517 rims, XT/XTR level) they feel nice and work well. V-brakes aren't so bad, even though I am more used to discs. The maintenance is slightly more, but discs are more prone to serious problems (like crushed lines, bad bleeds, warped discs) whereas the Vs seem to just need a little adjusting every now and then. My only complaints about the V-brakes are that (obviously) they start to suck and then suck more when the riding is sloppy and that I probably would run slightly larger tires if I thought they would fit between the arms properly.
Probably has a lot to do with the fact that you are use to squeezing a lot harder to get the power you need. I went straight from Avid 7s to Avid Mechanical Disks and I had the same issue.
Obviously always stick with what you prefer... but I'd suggest trying out some Avid Elixrs on a demo or something. You can either lock up both wheels with 1 finger or you can brake so subtly that you can barely tell you are braking and everything in between. Great lever feel on those brakes... none of that grabbyness or stiff lever that a lot of brakes have.
I've been riding Elixers for the past 6 months. I'm a pretty adaptable rider and I still prefer vees. I do a lot of racing, I'm not the strongest guy out there and never will be. I've made up for that by working on my bike handling. I feel as though I can can carry more corner speed than most folks. For me being able to ride at that hairy edge of control requires very fine very low powered braking adjustments. I can do that best with vee brakes. Hydro disks are more powerful, better in mud, have better tactile feel, and are probably lighter at this point but they still do not have the fine modulation of vees with ceramic rims.
Raced against a guy that could corner so fast a few weeks back... I was chasing him down till we got in the really smooth section through the trees... really fast but really curvy. I never caught him cuz he could out corner me and I'd have to stand and stomp 3-4 times to get his wheel back... When I did try to corner with him, my wheel would start to push a little. Heart Rate was too high from all the accelerations so I had to let him go and hope to catch up. He passed 4 dudes in that section, it was nuts.
Anyway, he must have had V brakes
J/k, I happen to know he didn't... I still bet you'd get use to the difference. I can't imaging being alble to modulate any finer than what I can with the elixrs.
Raced against a guy that could corner so fast a few weeks back... I was chasing him down till we got in the really smooth section through the trees... really fast but really curvy. I never caught him cuz he could out corner me and I'd have to stand and stomp 3-4 times to get his wheel back... When I did try to corner with him, my wheel would start to push a little. Heart Rate was too high from all the accelerations so I had to let him go and hope to catch up. He passed 4 dudes in that section, it was nuts.
Anyway, he must have had V brakes
When entering a fast corner I like to pull my rear brake lever in to the point of engagement so I can react quickly. With vees I can engage the brakes without having them really slow me down at all. With disks once they are engaged they always slow me down. I end up having to just cover the levers and I can't react as fast so if I have to make a minor speed adjustment it takes a little longer which usually means I have to brake just a little bit more. It is only a small difference but over a 25 mile of twisty trail it can add up to a lot. Every bit of energy put into your brakes is energy you don't have to pedal.
A lot of people race bikes like they were racing cars, on the gas into and out of every corner. I race my bike like I am driving a car with the gas gauge on empty and I have 25 miles to the next station.
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And that's how I ride dh most weekends so that I can ride all day.
How long of a span have you actually used disc brakes?
And avid elixers are not all disc brakes.
I've been riding the elixers for the past 6 months. I've had at least one bike with disks for the past 8 years or so. I've had Hope minis, mono minis, hayes mags and avid mechanicals. My issue is not lack of familiarity. I do ride more than just XC I just think vees still have their place.And that's how I ride dh most weekends so that I can ride all day.
How long of a span have you actually used disc brakes?
And avid elixers are not all disc brakes.
sounds like me and you have the same riding style. i noticed last year (during one of the few xc races i did ) while i was chasing a guy down for third during the final lap that he was , just as you say,full gas in and out. i just held it steady in and out of the corners . by abut 5 miles into the lap he was cooked. steady wins most times it seems
In Westy's defense for v brakes, he's ridden my bike and I am the best mechanic ever, so I know they are all they can be. 
Westy can corner pretty well as he says. I could almost keep up though.
Westy can corner pretty well as he says. I could almost keep up though.
Admit it, he dropped you like first period math, didn't he?Westy can corner pretty well as he says. I could almost keep up though.
Well other than the elixers, you did just list the ****tiest disc brakes ever made