Which one?

[mpl]

Hi.
I'm currently looking into buying a bike. I want one for commuting and for occasional off road but nothing too demanding. I have spoken to my local bike shop (I know the owners through mutual friends so think I can trust them!) I have a limited budget and the two models he suggested are the Merida 10V and 20MD. Tempted to go for the 20MD but am a bit unsure about hydraulic disc brakes on a bike (been 20 years since I had a bike- things have changed a bit!) Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
Martin

 

[Herr-B]

Don't know about the bikes in question, but hydraulic disk brakes are like attaching a vice to your wheel. I tried my bro-in-law cube and if he didn't have his suspension set to the softest setting I'd have easily been over the front. Just takes some getting used to, no reason to discount it.

 

[FreeFlow Bikes]

Hydraulic brakes are very powerful brakes and would be my recommendation. I have Cable disc brakes on my MTB but have had a shot of friends bikes that are equipped with hydraulic disc brakes and really liked them. You have the confidence of stooping quickly if you need to. It does take a little while to get used to the power if your used to rim or cable brakes but worth it. It's just like jumping out your car and into another car, the biting point of the clutch and the brakes are different to what your used to but within a couple of miles you get used to it.

 

[lulubel]

Hydraulic disc brakes are great. I have them on my MTB. You can stop very quickly if you need to, but they're also easy to modulate (I think that's the word), so you have a lot of control over how much braking force you use.

I'd shop around a bit before you buy, though. From what I've seen, Meridas tend to be quite expensive for the level of components, so you might find you get more for your money elsewhere (or get a better deal/extras thrown in from your lbs if they know you've been looking elsewhere).