Brake upgrade. Mech or Hydraulic

obriends

Hi,

As a few people seem to be doing I plan on upgrading by mech disc brakes. I currently have Hayes GX2's on the bike but the question is for the difference of about 70 quid are the hydraulic brakes worth it. I don't do that much downhill and mostly singletrack/xc.

My dillema is do I upgrade to hydraulic which means changing brakes, gear shifters (current ones are dual and bike is 8 speed) and possibly rotors if mine do not match the hydraulic brakes. Or do I just put Avid BB7's on and save the hassle of extra connectors for the hoses etc/switching gear shifters etc

Guess I want to know the difference between Avid BB7 mech and cheap hydraullics i.e. Shimano Deaore LX.

Difference in price for both ends would be about 70 quid.

BlackSpur

In terms of power there will probably be little difference. Hydraulic brakes offer much better modulation i.e. control over the power during braking.

jpembroke

Avid BB7's are awesome. I've used them on my Inbred for 3 years now and they are still as good now as when I bought them. They seem more powerful than friends' Hayes and Hope Minis. This is worth a look if you want reviews:

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/disc_brake_system/

The Avids have nearly 700 reviews and get 4.64 average - they are one of the highest rated products on there. They may not have the cache of hydraulics but you won't be disappointed: cheap, easy to fit and maintain, and very powerful. Great brakes.

obriends

Jpembroke, thanks for that, I also found another review that seemed to rate them rightly.

One other question is what size rotors. I assume 160mm is good enough for the rear but not sure if going up to 185mm at the front is worth it.

heez29

delete this post

jpembroke

I have 160mm rear and 185mm front. Works well.