Hydraulic disc brake advice

chris369

Hi

I have a Giant XTX3 which came with Giant's MPH hydraulic disc brakes as standard. Had the bike a few years near and they've kinda packed up, the adjusters have seized up so can't adjust them in the hot weather and recently the hot weather has been causing the brakes to be applied so the wheels don't spin lol.

So my options are to get them repaired or buy some new ones... one local bike shop said he would cost £120 to ATTEMPT to repair them and if they can't I still have to pay. Have one more LBS to ask but judging by the first price I think I'm better off buying some new and better ones!

I've been looking at the Hayes Stroker brakes. Read some reviews and they same to be pretty good and they are not badly priced.

I can get Stroker Rydes for £100 or Stroke Trails for £140 a pair on Merlin Cycles.

Questions
1) Anyone have personal experience with any of the Hayes Strokers?

2) Is there much difference between the Rydes and the Trails? Don't mind paying the extra if it's worth it.

3) Any others you suggest for max £150 for a pair?

4) Will I still have the problem of my brakes locking up in the heat (I don't mean heat whilst riding, just when it's got hot in the shed and I take it out and the wheels wont spin)?

5) My rotors are approx 160mm at the moment. Does this mean I have to get the same size for the new ones?

That's all for now, sorry for the long post and thanks if you've taken time to read it!

chris369

Anyone?

dave_hill

Hayes are pretty good for the money and if my old HFX 9s are anything to go by they'll be very reliable.

Don't know about how they feel but Hayes tend to have a bit of a rep for being "wooden" - i.e. they feel either "on" or "off", there's little feel to them. But I like that so its horses for courses really.

Like anything else, provided you attend to the maintenance of your brakes there's no reason why they shouldn't last ages.

For similar money have a look at Quad brakes, available from your local Raleigh dealer (have a look at Raleigh's website). They get pretty good reviews for budget brakes.

You don't HAVE to stay with 160mm discs if you don't want to, but bear in mind that if you go bigger you'll also have to budget for mounting adaptors for the calipers to cope with the increased disc size.

chris369

Thanks for the reply.

About the adaptors, my forks have these mounts - http://www.parktool.com/images_inc/repa ... unt-31.jpg and the brakes seem to have the other kind so I'll need to get some adapters anyway.

Do you get more stopping power with bigger rotors? They're the same price so might be worth getting bigger ones if they are better.

Actually, I'm a bit confused about the mounting type because in the description it says

V6 model will fit both IS and Post mount, V7 and V8 come IS only but will fit post mount with the appropriate bracket.

But the brakes are clearly post mount looking at the picture so how can the V7 and V8 be IS only without an adapter?

dave_hill

They don't make it clear, really do they?

V6 - 6" (150/160mm) is the default basic size for 99% of disc brakes. Therefore, the calipers in the V6 set will be supplied with a separate adaptor. That means that if you have forks with a post mount, the caliper bolts directly to it; if you have forks with IS mount, you'll need to use the adaptor. At the rear, nearly ALL frames have IS mounts, so you'll need to use the adaptor whatever.

With V7 and V8 (185mm and 203mm), the adaptors will come ready fitted to the caliper, so you'll have to replace them with the appropriate ones if necessary.

Bottom line is, all Hayes calipers are post mount, so if you are fitting them to any frame or fork without post mount you'll need the appropriate adaptor.

There's no doubt that bigger rotors give you more stopping power (or at least they give you the same power for longer as they cool more efficiently) but you must also check as to whether your forks and/or frame will withstand using larger rotors due to the extra torsional forces generated. The manufacturers will usually give a guideline as to maximum rotors sizes.

hoathy

OK, dave is right, except they 180mm and 203mm rotor versions come with the adapters for IS mounts, but not the adapter that you need to 'step up' rotor size for a post mount. which is where they get there thing about only fitting on IS mounts from.
On another note, a a great brake you could get to replace yours that will cost you less than the repair is the avid juicy 3, its an entry level brake, but i seems damn impressive to me! and it wins all the tests for buget brakes too.

dave_hill

Hoathy wrote:

OK, dave is right, except they 180mm and 203mm rotor versions come with the adapters for IS mounts, but not the adapter that you need to 'step up' rotor size for a post mount. which is where they get there thing about only fitting on IS mounts from.

There you go! You learn something every day if you're not careful!

ratty2k

Just fitted a pair of Stroker Trails to my new build (well couple of weeks ago!) very impressed! Lots of power (will endo even my lardy ass!) I like the feel of them, so modulation is pretty good, and at £140 from Merlin (Where I got mine) a bit of a bargain, only difference I can see between the 2 models is the lever reach adjustment, a dial vs a little screw, not much but I'd pay the extra (and did!)

chris369

ratty2k wrote:

Just fitted a pair of Stroker Trails to my new build (well couple of weeks ago!) very impressed! Lots of power (will endo even my lardy ass!) I like the feel of them, so modulation is pretty good, and at £140 from Merlin (Where I got mine) a bit of a bargain, only difference I can see between the 2 models is the lever reach adjustment, a dial vs a little screw, not much but I'd pay the extra (and did!)

Cool, sounds good. Were they black or white?

I went to the other bike shop and they said it would be cheaper to buy new brakes too so I'm going to go for that and get an upgrade at the same time.

Will probably get the trails with 160mm rotors, should be plenty of stopping power for me as I've never had a lack of power with my current ones and these brakes are probably better anyway.

So if I just buy these with the 160mm rotors I should have everything I need to fit them on to my bike with international standard mounts ... I don't need any other adapters?

chris369

Anyone? Wanna get on an order these if that's all I need!

BlackSpur

ratty2k wrote:

Just fitted a pair of Stroker Trails to my new build (well couple of weeks ago!) very impressed! Lots of power (will endo even my lardy ass!) I like the feel of them, so modulation is pretty good, and at £140 from Merlin (Where I got mine) a bit of a bargain, only difference I can see between the 2 models is the lever reach adjustment, a dial vs a little screw, not much but I'd pay the extra (and did!)

IIRC the Trails get different/better pads and pistons than the Rydes.

chris369

Well I've gone an ordered the Trails so hopefully they will fit fine 8)

pothole seeker

I have Stoker trails on my Trance X2, very good brake so far, no issue with them, powerful 180front 160rear, good modulation

chris369

Damn, they're out of stock at the moment and expecting a delivery within 2 to 3 days. Gonna wait though because the price is brilliant.