Mechanical Disc Brakes vs. Hydraulic

[Zenroad]

I'm now shopping for my first set of disc brakes. Just getting into it. I'd like to hear the pros and cons of mechanical disc brakes vs. hydraulic. And what are some of the best of each? Any thoughts on Shimano Deore mechanical brakes? I've read that Avid are probably the best. True?

 

[Andy_R]

Avid bb7s...easy to set up, easy to adjust (once they're set up, no tools required), easy to repair. Stop a fat lad on a bike(me) like nobody's business.

 

[Cubist]

If your budget will stretch to it get Deore M596. You can get them for silly money from some of the German websites.

They're £67 for both the front and rear brakes at Roseversand.com or bike-discount.de plus shipping. Avid BB7 are £48 an end, so quite a saving!The levers will need swapping over as they are European setup, but you'll need to shorten the hoses anyway, so do both at the same time. They come with the necessary shortening kit and instructions .

Buy rotors separately, or from Ebay/bikefridge/superstar components. Deore are fit and forget, whereas Avid BBs need adjusting and faffage.

 

[ufkacbln]

Both are fine

I prefer the simplicity of cables to faffing around with bleeding brake lines

 

[Zenroad]

Both are fine

I prefer the simplicity of cables to faffing around with bleeding brake lines

Thanks, Cunobelin. I was thinking the same thing. I already know that I'm NOT going to want to mess around with brake fluid, bleeding, etc. Something I didn't mention before is that this is for a trekking bike, not a hardcore offroad bike, so there won't be a lot of braking going on. And plenty of time at the end of each day to make any needed adjustments.

I've read quite a lot of good stuff about the Avid BB7s. They seem like the gold standard of mechanical disc brakes. True? But their levers are not so good, eh? I can run Avid BB7s with Shimano XT levers, right? I've had XT levers for many years, and they've always been right on.

 

[Cubist]

You bleed hydraulic disc brakes once a year. You have to adjust cable brakes every couple of rides.

Hydraulic really are fit and forget. It doesn't matter what bike it's on, a hydraulic disc brake will out perform a cable/BB one any day of the week, and far simpler to maintain.

 

[ufkacbln]

A personal choice


All three of my trikes have BB7s, and with good cables they are fine with the Avid Levers, I use the ones that allow you to adjust reach / tension..

As for adjustment, all you really need to do is to wind in the adjusters every hundred miles or so.

I gave up on hydraulics as they require far more maintenance

 

[simon.r]

...a hydraulic disc brake will out perform a cable/BB one any day of the week, and far simpler to maintain.

I disagree about the performance. I have a set of Shimano hydraulics on one bike (not sure which model, but I suspect the cheapest) and I've been very unimpressed with them. They work well enough, but there's very little 'feel 'to them. Avid mechanicals on another bike work just as well and feel much nicer to use.

I'm sure there are better hydraulic systems, but hydraulic dooesn't automatically equal better than mechanical.

 

[Cubist]

There you go, completely polarised opinion

 

[HovR]

You bleed hydraulic disc brakes once a year. You have to adjust cable brakes every couple of rides.

Hydraulic really are fit and forget. It doesn't matter what bike it's on, a hydraulic disc brake will out perform a cable/BB one any day of the week, and far simpler to maintain.

Whilst I have no experience with long-term usage of hydro brakes, so I can't comment on them, the bold is a bit of an exaggeration! Even the cheap Tektro cable discs on a friends Carrera (which I do all the maintenance on) only require a few minutes adjustment with an allen key every 3 to 6 months.

 

[Cubist]

Whilst I have no experience with long-term usage of hydro brakes, so I can't comment on them, the bold is a bit of an exaggeration! Even the cheap Tektro cable discs on a friends Carrera (which I do all the maintenance on) only require a few minutes adjustment with an allen key every 3 to 6 months.

OK, hands up, mea culpa. I once serviced three bikes that had mechanical discs, and dind't enjoy all teh buggering about with pad wear adjusters etc etc.

But seriously, people are so scared of hydraulic brakes, imagining all sort s of horror stories. If you avoid Avids which are a pain to set up properly, and go for a recent Deore (M596) you'll need to fit them, which takes five to ten minutes on a disc-equipped bike, centre them using the various methods available, and then ride. You need to clean them occasionally to stop the pistons seizing, but other than that it really is low to no maintenance.

 

[HovR]

OK, hands up, mea culpa. I once serviced three bikes that had mechanical discs, and dind't enjoy all teh buggering about with pad wear adjusters etc etc.

But seriously, people are so scared of hydraulic brakes, imagining all sort s of horror stories. If you avoid Avids which are a pain to set up properly, and go for a recent Deore (M596) you'll need to fit them, which takes five to ten minutes on a disc-equipped bike, centre them using the various methods available, and then ride. You need to clean them occasionally to stop the pistons seizing, but other than that it really is low to no maintenance.

I'd say that they probably require less maintenance than V-Brakes (always seem to be going through V-Brake pads so quickly..), but a bit more than hydros to account for pad wear. They're also a little bit more awkward to centre (adds a few minutes to setup time) as only one side is actuated, but once set up it's really not too bad.

I'd love a good set of hydro brakes on the MTB, but at the moment the budget is going towards the road bike!

 

[02GF74]

I'm in the Cubist camp - the bleeding of the brakes can be a pain, especially those without a separate reservoir requiring the use of syringes, but once that is that, maybe 15 or 20 mins, it is done for a very long time.

 

[Peteaud]

Deore - fantastic
Avid Elixir - cr@p

My deore on the hybrid have been fantastic and are easy to bleed.

The avid on the MTB are a pita and will get binned. Ive had constant problems with them since day 1 and i dont really hammer the bike.

 

[Moodyman]

I'm in the Cubist camp - the bleeding of the brakes can be a pain, especially those without a separate reservoir requiring the use of syringes, but once that is that, maybe 15 or 20 mins, it is done for a very long time.

Me too. I've Deore hydros on one bike and Deore mechanical on the other. The mechanical need adjusting every 200 miles to keep them sharp. The hydros have been bled three times in 3 years. The only downside for hydros is you can't put the bike upside down or on its side for fear of getting air in them. This might be problem if the bike is transported a lot.