upgrade wheels and brakes

pothole seeker

Hi all,

Looking at upgrading to some disks.

I was looking at the Merlin cycles wheel/brake sets sets. They seem really good value. Looking to get a decent entry level set. The 3 i was looking at.

Hayes hfx-9 carbon and Mavic crossrides
Avid Juicy 5 and Mavic crossrides
Deore LX brakes and hubs with mavic rims (choice)

There is also the Magura louise set on deore hubs and mavic rims.

They are all around the £200 mark. I've been changing my mind a number of time. Was initially thinking the Hayes, then the juicy and now the LX set. Depends on who you talk to but they all have their pros and cons. I've done some background reading on mounts etc and I've got IS mounts on my current bike.

So many choices.... Any thoughts? Excuse my ignorance, I'm only getting back into MTBing since the start of the summer after nothing since I was a kid

dav1

that brake list is the same as what i am trying to decide on now.

hays 9s seem to be loved or hated so i'm still working out if they are exactly what i'm after or not.

shimano LX are apparently very easy to look after and reliable but one review said the 160mm rotors can be a bit lacking in power. (and I cant find a cheap 6-bolt version)

I haven't found a bad word when it comes to avids but i'm still wondering weather they will be a tad too much for XC.

Perhaps we can share some ideas on this one .


As far as the wheels go the cross rides have been getting amazing reviews, they were loved by MBUK in a test a few months back winning best value award.
on the other hand people love hand built wheels and merlin are very highly recommended for it from what I have read on these forums.

sorry this doesn't help much, I guess it is nice to see what others have been thinking when they are in the same boat though.

I currently ride with Hayes MX2 mech disks. When they are adjusted right i love em, modular and enough power to bring me to a swift stop. Downside is it takes so much maintenance to keep them sweet it driving me nuts. Its hard to get a definitive answer on which will give good modulation, constant performance and low maintenance. someone needs to combine the three options I think

Andy B

I'd get Mavic XC717 rims on XT hubs with Deore disc brakes, more than enough power for xc/trail duties.

Crossrides are notoriously hard to get parts for so I'm told.

The Spiderman

The Shimano set up is probably going to be the easiest to set up,uses mineral oil,wil be easiest to maintain and get spares for.

The LX discs even with 160 mm whilst not as powerful as some will be enough for most xc duties.You can easily swap the 160mm rotor for a 180 mm rotor,by using a new adaptor at a cost of approc £25,if you find you need more power.

The LX hubs are cup and cone which are easy to service and long lasting if you look after them,the free hub lasts and can be replaced cheaply too.

The Crossrides are good wheels,probably a tad lighter but may not be as ultimately as strong as well built ,LX hubs wth Mavic 717 rims.Crossride spokes can be bought on ebay,but they are pricey and you have to remember that with only 24 spokes to begin with the consequences of a broken spoke are greater.Good looking wheels though.

The Avids are meant to be good ,powerful stoppers,have good modulation but I have seen stories of them being noisy.

Hayes are very powerful,but are either on or off.

Your choice would be Crosrides with Juicy 5s,if you value ultimate performance/weight,or Shimanos if you wanted something easy to live with.

Drepends on your priorities...

Link for Crossride spokes:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MAVIC-CROSSRIDE-XRIDE-BLACK-SPOKE-uni-Front-or-rear_W0QQitemZ320176068197QQihZ011QQcategoryZ58089QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

pothole seeker

Hey,

Thanks for the replies.

Dav1, I've come across a lot of the same things you have. Hayes, love hate relationship, they are post mount to so I might give them a miss, I might love it or hate it, seems like a risk for something I might hate. The Avids seem to be consistantly good, nobody seems to hate them that much. Might be the safe bet of the bunch, they have power too, I've heard of people using them for about every style of riding too. The Shimano are the easy living brakes it seems, I also read that review that they were a little underpowered. I think if you are going shimano you have to go all shimano, it's a bit like sony, if you have one sony thing you need all sony things for ease of compatability.

I like the sound of the crossrides, the magazines like them. I don't think i'm brave enough to break wheels. I presume that they are reliable too, but I dont' do big mileage (boo). I have no doubt the the Merlin wheels will be top notch if I went for them. The LX hubs would be good with the mavic rims.

The spiderman, ya I think you have told it as it there. The shimano set up for dependable easy living. For a bit more performance get the avid/cross ride combo. I've heard that before that people have said they can be noisy, haven't seen it much though. Can't be any worse then my v-brakes with mud and water all over them....

At the moment I'm leaning towards the avid/crossride combo. I want to be able to take it out of the packet and put it on my bike hence the merlin kit. I'm pretty good with adjusting things anyway so I'll get whatever kit up and going pretty quick. I'd go for the 08 Xt kit but that's a bit more money...

Did I hear that the stock avid pads are crap though?

supersonic

I'm not a fan of the crossrides really. Hard to get parts for, and I believe the design to be slightly compromised for what they are aimed at when compared to a handbuilt set from Merlin. For a start the Merlin has just that - handbuilt quality and a full compliment of DB spokes, laced to the top end XC rim on smoother and stronger hubs.

easyg

Crossrides? well they are the lowest level of Mavic wheel you can buy and for me there ain't a great point in 'upgrading' to them for this reason. I'm sure they would be fine but for me if you are going to spend your hard earned cash on an upgrade you may as well make it an upgrade that will continue to stand up alongside your own riding development. Is it likely that your riding will get better and thus faster and possible more aggressive/ technical? probably...

Personally I would go for XT hubs on either XC717s or XM317s depending on your budget and then the Avids. If you ring Merlin they will tell you that they get the least number of people people coming in with Avids that need repair or servicing. Fit them and forget about them. To be fair, he also said that about Shimano but in the braking department Avid have the edge it seems. Notably, the guys at Stif Bikes in Leeds also run Avids - when staff members at an LBS run them you know they are good as they have the pick of the crop.

If your budget won't quite get to the above, I would seriously save for a bit longer and go XT on 717s/ 317s with Avid stoppers - that will change your bike immensely.

Easy,
G

pothole seeker

The guys at merlin will build any spec you wish esentially correct?

Ya I think the Avids are the brakes to get alright

I might give them a buzz and see what the story is.

My grand plan is that I'm upgrading a few bits on my current bike. Next year I might buy a nice frame, stick the bits on. put my old one back together with origional parts and sell it

supersonic

Merlin do a wide range of builds, and the quality is exceptional. Great prices too.

The Spiderman

Have a look at their offer on the xt hubs with dt swiss rims.£125,then buy the avid brakes,seperately.