Newbie needs Rotor buying advice please.

loxster71

Hi,
I have a 2010 Giant Trance x3 that comes standard with Avid juicy 3's and a 185 rotor up front, my dillema is that i would like to add a bit of bling up front to go with the red hub on the front wheel and was looking to get a Hope Saw floating disc with the red centre but after looking everywhere they only do them in 180,183 or 203 sizes, no 185's.

Can i get a 183 rotor and do a straight swap??
Do i need an adaptor to do this to compensate for the 2mm difference?

If so would i be better off getting a 203 adaptor and upgrading to a 203 rotor up front for a bit more stopping power aswell as the Bling factor???
All advice is welcome...What would you do???

Thanks J.

nicklouse

183 would work if the caliper did not come into contact with the rivets on the rotor.

which is a common problem as are the pad removal tags.

so lots of problems for no (or less) improvement in braking.

but if you want the bling and can put up with the problems (pad removal could also be one) go for it.

I would not.

ThePriory1978

I have 203mm red Hope rotors up front on IS mounts matched to Shimano brakes that used to be 160mm.

If your gunna do it go for the 203mm rotor with appropriate bracket. This will at least make your upgrade worthwhile as the increase in rotor size will increase braking power.
Other than that everything Nick said applys. You will have smaller tolerances, potentially rivets catching so you may need to file the caliper (i have had too), constant minor rubbing or 'tinging' issues, more difficult to set-up and rivets that can potentially work loose.

Once they were set-up i was impressed by the added performance and the bling looks sweet but tbh i wish i'd just bought 203mm standard rotors like Superstars flame.

The floating element of the rotors dont add any benefits other than looking cool and maybe, Maybe, preventing warping from excess heat but i'm yet to see that proved. A disc is a disc is a disc. Size matters tho.

.blitz

loxster71 wrote:

...What would you do???

Paint the spider on your existing rotors with VHT paint from B&Q etc. There's no need to be particularly careful with the masking, the pads take off any overspray on the braking surface.

Lots of bling colours to choose from but avoid white it looks very scruffy very quickly.