V rbake or Disc?
- Thread starter max123
- Start date
after riding disc, V and 990(BMX brakes which the molly uses) i see it like this..
Disc: can give very good power if you go Hydro or with a BB7, although most if not all mechanical discs besides the BB7 suck. they are also the most expensive of the three and aren't needed for a street bike. the rotors can also get in the way.
V: great power, great modulation, and pretty much every V i try feels this way. i run an extremely cheap one that was laying around my garage in peices and it still performs well. you can get a new decent one for 20 bucks..
990: many people rag on these and say only the high end models will work decently. i have a cheap tektro that i dialed into perfection, and it ended up working better then any of my brakes as far as power goes. (then i took it off like an idiot
) out of the three i like V's the best, they just feel so good and are the easiest to adjust by far.
eb's got it on point with that explanation, IMO...
btw, what are you talking about when you say "dm"? deathmobile, or dobermann?
DeathMobile is most commonly available with V mounts under the seat stays.... I think ISO disc tabs is just a custom order option because it requires wider dropout spacing on top of the extra weld on tab.
btw, what are you talking about when you say "dm"? deathmobile, or dobermann?
DeathMobile is most commonly available with V mounts under the seat stays.... I think ISO disc tabs is just a custom order option because it requires wider dropout spacing on top of the extra weld on tab.
I'd love some tips on getting these dialed. Mine suck and squeel like a stuck pig.990: many people rag on these and say only the high end models will work decently. i have a cheap tektro that i dialed into perfection, and it ended up working better then any of my brakes as far as power goes. (then i took it off like an idiot
.
First off
Get some good pads....Koolstops work wonders.
If you have a plastic covers over the springs on the brake ditch em.
use simple green to clean the pads and rim
also take a clean piece of sandpaper and take the top layer of junk off the pad.
1. loosen the two allen bolts that hold the springs.
2. push and each arm all the way out. and while doing this take a wrench and turn the spring tension bolt about 1/8 of a turn and tighten the allen bolt back up
3. do the exact same to the other side.
4. loosen all the adjusting nuts on your cables.
5. attach the crossover cable
6. squeeze the brakes agains the rim
7. pull all the slack out of the cable and tighten the clamp down
8. release the brakes from the rim
9. adjust the tension of the cable with the barrell adjusters to your liking
10. adjust the pads so they hit rim exactly at the same time
Aditional tip.....
the tension on the springs is the key and its not about making it really tight.
sounds good to me. i couldn't of come up with a better explanation then that.
Copied, pasted, printed. Thanks, I'll give it a try.
definitely good advise from glen.
I couldn't imagine using anything other than 990s for street/park abuse. I can thank Leethal for dropping the 990 knowledge on me back in the day
I couldn't imagine using anything other than 990s for street/park abuse. I can thank Leethal for dropping the 990 knowledge on me back in the day
great advice Gl3N
I've set up quite a few 990 style u-brakes in my day and they all bedded in to be nice and dialed...
until I got a set of the Revenges on my Molly... I was baffled as to why they slipped and had no power at first...
I ground and ground, cleaned and cleaned, re set toe and angle and cable tension... lever feel was great, they felt stiff.... but they just didn't have consistent slip initially.
Then I decided, even though the stock pads were new, and ground and cleaned, I would swap to trusty kool-stop eagle claws just for the heck of it and damn, that was the magic touch! those stupid fat green Dekka pads that came with them may have been nice and sticky, but matched up with a BFR rim, they weren't conforming the concave sidewall and were only contacting on the fat edges, not making a flat surface. The thinner and longer kool stops instantly contacted the inside of that concave sidewall of the BFR and stuck like glue. It's great...
I had people telling me left and right that the cause wasn't the pads, but the fact that I needed a chrome rim... but that wasn't true at all (although it does help in most cases)
so just a word of advice, if your U-brakes seem to suck, check your pad and rim contact surface for compatibility and how well they mate!
I've set up quite a few 990 style u-brakes in my day and they all bedded in to be nice and dialed...
until I got a set of the Revenges on my Molly... I was baffled as to why they slipped and had no power at first...
I ground and ground, cleaned and cleaned, re set toe and angle and cable tension... lever feel was great, they felt stiff.... but they just didn't have consistent slip initially.
Then I decided, even though the stock pads were new, and ground and cleaned, I would swap to trusty kool-stop eagle claws just for the heck of it and damn, that was the magic touch! those stupid fat green Dekka pads that came with them may have been nice and sticky, but matched up with a BFR rim, they weren't conforming the concave sidewall and were only contacting on the fat edges, not making a flat surface. The thinner and longer kool stops instantly contacted the inside of that concave sidewall of the BFR and stuck like glue. It's great...
I had people telling me left and right that the cause wasn't the pads, but the fact that I needed a chrome rim... but that wasn't true at all (although it does help in most cases)
so just a word of advice, if your U-brakes seem to suck, check your pad and rim contact surface for compatibility and how well they mate!
I'm still a disc guy but after this weekend i'll be more wary.
I ditched the pedals 180-hopping into a bowl and the bike swung and the disc hit me in the middle of the kneecap. four stitches later, i just want to get back on the bike.
I still feel like that guy who says you've got to have the high end ones if you're going to make 990s work. V brakes i always find to develop a lot of slop, at least with real use, including pedalling to spots in winter.
Discs are zero maintenance unless you feel like maintaining them.
They can get in the way in certain situations but stiky-outy v's would be worse, unless you insist on ice picking and double stalling on the left side.
If 990s were really great trials guys would use em.
it seems the only really good rule about brakes is committing to making what you've got work to the fullest of its capacity.
I ditched the pedals 180-hopping into a bowl and the bike swung and the disc hit me in the middle of the kneecap. four stitches later, i just want to get back on the bike.
I still feel like that guy who says you've got to have the high end ones if you're going to make 990s work. V brakes i always find to develop a lot of slop, at least with real use, including pedalling to spots in winter.
Discs are zero maintenance unless you feel like maintaining them.
They can get in the way in certain situations but stiky-outy v's would be worse, unless you insist on ice picking and double stalling on the left side.
If 990s were really great trials guys would use em.
it seems the only really good rule about brakes is committing to making what you've got work to the fullest of its capacity.
alright, I agree with most everything said, or at least I can see where you are coming from, but I had to wonder....
you say that if 990's were really great, than trials guys would use them... well, hmmm, I could agree, since having a trials bike I wouldn't have wanted to necessarily put U-brakes on it.... But.... thinking from that logic, couldn't you just argue that if discs were really great than you'd see bmx guys using them... ? or if magura hs33's were really great, you'd see DH racers still using them.... etc.
hard to say which one is best, especially when everyone has their own style and environment.
