New bikes with V brakes

xcjunkie

Hi all,

First post so be gentle! i'm looking to buy a new hardtail with a max budget of £600.00. There seem to be lots of good bikes out there for this sort of money and i have tried a couple at my LBS. However, i want something with V-brakes as standard. Criteria is nice and light with V - brakes.

Ps i don't want to start a disk v V-Brake debate. I know there are merits to both systems. I only weigh 70kg and my current V-brake bike has all the stopping power my riding needs.

Thanks in advance

nicklouse

good luck, not many out there with V's.

LBS and custom build.

ride_whenever

I'd build my own then, nice light frame, something like an on-one ScandAl, carbon forks, really light wheels and singlespeed! For £600 that;d be a really nice, light bike.

I thnk there is possibly a genesis built up one for that amount

xcjunkie

May have to consider building my own, i know the rockhopper is available in V brake, but to be honest its not quite the bike i'm looking for,

Had a look at the Genesis range but couldn't see a V-Brake version, any chance of a link?

Thanks

ride_whenever

I can't get to their site here at work, I'm pretty sure one of the bike messengers for the university postal service has one though. For £600 you could probably get a decent frame, carbon forks, 717 on xt hubs, nice v brakes and resonable finishing kit

Anonymous

Not trying to start a debate here either, but honestly, there is so little maintenance needed on discs, plus the fact that they work just as well in the wet as they do in the dry, and if you have a minor wobble on your wheel, it doesn't affect them.
Just give in, man, get some discs! I can guarantee that you will not regret it.

stubs

allterrain do some nice v brake frames try this link

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/108375.html

Surf-Matt

We have one bike with Vs, and two with disks (plus one with cantis!!).

Althought disks are very good in many ways, the following gets on my nerves:

1) Often squeak.
2) Need frequent re-alignment (well Juicys do anyway)
3) Have to be treated too carefully - don't get rotors wet, don't touch them, etc.
4) Weigh more.
5) Much harder to strip down and clean.
6) The fluid is pretty nasty.

However I love the power in all conditions, love the way there are no bosses to foul up, like the fact that they are central on the wheel so much less exposed to muck and like how long they last.

stubs

1) true but rim brakes squeal a lot
2) never re-aligned my brakes after I had brake mounts faced
3) they still work if they are wet but your right about never touching a rotor
4) true but give it time my mates hope monos are not far off the weight of a set of avid Vs
5) true
6) true thats why I went onto shimano and magura they use mineral oil which is still not nice to drink but isnt toxic

ride_whenever

You'll have trouble getting a bike without disc mounts so you can always stick some on eventually giving you much more room in the budget for the actual bike.

Anyway, lets not have this arguement, have you decide what to do yet? Are you planning on building one up?

xcjunkie

Thanks for all the comments and advice,

The allterrain bike looks pretty nice :-)

A little bit closer in deciding what to do, seems to me that there are a number of options;

1. Bite the bullet and go disk, discounted as i don't want to do this.
2. Get a frame with V brake mounts and build the bike up
3. Buy a cheaper V Brake bike such as a Cape Wrath XC for £250, then slowly upgrade it. Would probably spend £200 putting Rebas on straight away. A decent wheelset at a later date should make this into a pretty decent bike.
4. Scour ebay etc for a slightly older decent bike.

Any comments welcome

Surf-Matt

xc - option 4 might be a good one.

My 1997 Stumpy is still very good - steel framed, pretty light (24ish lbs - quite stripped down!) and a nice back to basics ride. Despite having some pretty newish parts (LX Hollowtech 2 chainset, SRAM cassette, new mechs, etc, etc) it's worth absolutely naff all - so might be worth looking for a top flight steel framed bike.

Stubs - how do you get your brake mounts "faced?" Sounds like I might need that doing too!

xtreem

My choice number 2.

Maybe it's the most expensive, but it's worthed. You can choose what ever parts
you want to be put on it, and most important, the colour of the whole bike,
let's say.... everything green (pedals, rims, frame, grips) and white (fork, seat post, handlebar).

stubs

Surf-Matt Its a bike shop job they use a tool that clamps into the dropouts on the frame or forks and uses a cutting head to take the paint off and any rough edges off the metal this gives you a smooth paralell surface for your brake mount to be clamped against

I had a trek that was powder coated and the brake bolts kept coming loose and the brakes juddered something terrible. took it back to bikeshop the problem was the powder coat was really thick on brake mounts 5 minutes with the brake facing tool and the problem was solved no loosening and no juddering

had a problem with a pair of rockshox rebas couldnt get brakes lined up 1 pad kept touching disc took them back to merlin and they faced mounts while I waited

last bike I built had the mounts faced on frame and forks cost me 2 large bags of doughnuts and coffee for all the lads in the shop

Surf-Matt

Stubs - that could be a plan if my LBS can do it.
I really like my Juicy 5s but am a bit sick of constantly re-aligning them. Thought new pads would sort them but to no avail.

Only thing is that it's an almost 100% standard Stumpy Comp so the brakes should be 100% compatible with the (Fox Float 90RL) forks...

ride_whenever

It isn't a compatability thing, it's a manufacturing thing though, if they've never been faced then that will often fix your problems

xcjunkie

Had a bit more of a troll around the net last night, would anyone have any thoughts on a Scott Scale 60? Seem to retail for a bit under £600 and ticks most of my boxes,

Thanks

xtreem

Great bike and nice colours too. I'll take it.

stubs

you cant go wrong with a scott they always do very well in magazine tests