My New Bike

[Stevieb]

right so recently i moved from an old hardtail giant...unsure of the exact model. and moved to a giant trance 3, from 2007. no real reason behind the pick other than that i liked the way the rear suspension worked, it looked innovative.
when bought it was brilliant it was second hand from a rider nearby who moved from cornwall,uk to bristol,uk and had kinda left the mtb scene.
the bike itself was adapted with some 'Rock Shox Duke's' for the front and some 'float r' fox racing for the rear. deore shifters and...(the presumably bad part) hayes sole brakes...iv read up on them a bit...and they seem somewhat awful comparatively. and when trying to adjust the rear pad, i found the barrel adjusters were fused and i managed to trash the allen key thread :/...woops

so my main question is; what brakes would be better? if any? >< and are there any restrictions on the fork preventing certain rotor sizes?

i would quite like to get into downhilling and XC, when i get the balls
but dont feel its worth the risk with these brakes. iv been riding bikes for years, and this is my first kinda proper offroad bike.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[battered]

I've not found any hydraulic discs to be poor to be fair. Then again I've not tried them all. I have Hayes Nine on one bike (nice) and old Hope C2s on another (much better).

That said if the adjusters are knackered then it may be replacement time unless you enjoy DIY repair and rebuild.

DH and XC are very different briefs. DH are generally big and heavy and will withstand repeated heavy braking. XC are light, smaller and will fade or boil fluid long before the DH stuff is more than half warm.

 

[Stevieb]

mmm ok, thanks battered. I'll look them up, i definately need some new rear brakes at least though. sucky :/ i have no idea how i could DIY a new barrel adjuster >< ha. and nowhere seems to sell them, not that thatd matter theres no way im getting this one out.

By the sounds of it my bike is an XC then however I will still be doing jumps with it when i can again.

 

[GilesM]

The Hayes Solo brakes are not the best, I have a friend with a Giant Trance, it used to be fitted with these, I tried it once and was impressed with the bike, but definately not the brakes, he has since upgraded the brakes and is much happier. I would go for Hope Tech X2 brakes, you should be able to use 180mm front (160mm maybe okay, it all depends on how much you have to stop, and how fast you may be going) and 160mm rear, just make sure you get the correct adapter for the caliper, obviously a different size rotor will need a different adapter, if in doubt, contact Hope directly, they are very helpful. Other option would be Avid Juicy 5s, or some of the better Hayes brakes.

As for XC and downhill, as already mentioned, very different bikes required, the trance is a trail bike with (I think) 4 inch of travel front and rear, perfect bike for enjoying most trails and alot of natural stuff, but probably a bit heavy for XC (most XC riders use Hard tails still) and to light with too little suspension travel for Downhill, the downhill bikes will now have 8 to 10 inchs of travel front and rear. Don't be concerned though, the Trance is a perfect bike to learn all of the required mtb skills and fitness while having a great deal of fun. I should add, enjoy the jumps.