mechanical dis...or v brake

markbsac

if chooseing a hybrid...what are peoples opinions on mechanical disc versus v brakes the bike in looking at i can have either and the price is the same......they are tektro discs.

cheers mark

Peyote

I've just got a new Tourer and specced it with mechanical discs (it's got drop bars so hydros aren't an option) purely for the longevity of the wheels. Months of commuting in all weathers takes it's toll on rims like nothing else. I'd go for discs everytime if you're going to use it regularly in wet weather.

V-brakes in my experience are as good as mech discs in dry weather and only slightly worse in the wet (it takes longer to dry a rim than it does a disc). They're almost certainly lighter and maybe easier to maintain (this is I'll concede is debatable).

HTH!

markbsac

i have discs on my mongoose but not great i must admit...my lads disc on his apolo a tektra is far batter than my promax........i will be riding in all weathers.

Belv

Generally i'd expect that if two bikes are of the same price and one has discs and the other V's, then the disc-equipped bike would have component savings made elsewhere.

If it's a budget mechanical set, then i would go for V's without a second thought since i've yet to see any that stop as well as V's AND don't rub on the disc when not applied.

Tektro and Promax are manufacturers rather than models of disc brake, so hard to offer specific advice.

I agree that wet weather performance of a good disc brake is better, but have not had a problem with excessive wear of rims (1 rear rim in 4 years).

Those are my opinions!

SJLcp

I have Avid mechanical discs on my cannondale crosser which I use for commuting and really like them - good in the wet and strong - only downside with them is that the discs will eventually glaze up to the point where the discs are useless - you then have to change discs and pads - not sure if this is common but it happened to me albeit after three years of heavy use.

richk

My commuting bike has Tektro IO disks - sure they stop the bike OK (better than the v's on my road bike), but squeel like anything in the wet - though I've read that some better disks might help that (which I'll do, when the disks need replacing). They're at the 'budget' end of the spectrum so don't expect too much. Pad wear hasn't been too bad (swapping front/back pads at 6 months) gave me about a year (2500 miles) out of a set.