Discs or V brakes on hybrids

kennywilde

Hi. whats the pro's/ cons please?

Staff at Evans say dont bother with discs on hybrids but i notice alot of expensive boardman, Hoy, Specialized etc seem to have them

Thanks

supersonic

The discs are usually more powerful, and work better in the wet and mud. But they also cost more, and weigh more.

kennywilde

do the v brakes ruin the wheels?Do you mean cost more to replace or maintain or both. Do you have to replace the pads in discs more than the v pads?

Would i notice the weight issue doing a little commute?

Cheers

supersonic

Rims eventually wear through, but not usually after several thousand miles. They cost more ie a bike with discs usually has a lower spec than an equivalently priced bike with rim brakes. So you have that weight to consider too. Maintenance varies depending on model, but does cost more when it needs doing. Both need pads replacing periodically, again, depends on spec/compound.

If you are riding just on the road, and don't weigh too much, I see little point in disc brakes on road bikes.

mattv

Discs stop better in bad weather, but bump up the price of the bike to buy. If the bike has very slick tyres you find the wheel locks up before you use anywhere near full brake power though, eating tyres.

kennywilde

thanks fo the info, really helpful. Swaying towards the rim brakes and seeing as my other post about which bike to get has them it gives peace of mind.

Thanks again

p a t r i c k

I like V brakes. They are simple but powerful. With a solo bicycle it is difficult to imagine a requirement for a more powerful brake. Obviously the V brakes need to be set up correctly but this is easy to do.

What really matters with braking, is not so much the brakes, but rather that you practice braking technique.

The front brake is far more powerful than the rear. The physics is simple, when braking the bicycle weight is transferred to the front wheel and the rear wheel becomes light. So, in most circumstances, but not all, you will stop much more quickly using the front brake.

However it is best that you try this out for yourself in safe circumstances. Really get to know the effects of braking by finding a private road with no traffic and ride up and down it braking.

MichaelW

In the dry, V and basic disc brakes stop the same. In the wet, disc brakes keep on working the same but rim brakes take an extra rotation or 2 to dry off.
I really prefer disc brakes for winter commuting.

Ouija

V brakes do require a more heavier rim on the wheel, which can make the bike feel more sluggish and a little harder to peddle. Only really notice the difference if you've got very lightweight wheels and disk brakes though.

kennywilde

cheers guys, think ill test ride both. I no they have this in store http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kon ... e-ec034478 and this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec044191 and this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec044189

Steve@Tern

MichaelW wrote:

In the dry, V and basic disc brakes stop the same. In the wet, disc brakes keep on working the same but rim brakes take an extra rotation or 2 to dry off.
I really prefer disc brakes for winter commuting.

I really go with this - the performance of discs in the wet would swing it for me.

p a t r i c k

I would add that when riding in the wet you must consider that braking can be impaired.

The key to making sure braking is okay is to fairly frequently apply the brakes just a little bit, this will prevent a build up of water on the rim or disc.

As long as you are in this habit in the wet then braking will be fine in the wet with either brake type.

However as with my earlier post, it is important to check this out for yourself in safe cirumstances.

kennywilde

p a t r i c k wrote:

I would add that when riding in the wet you must consider that braking can be impaired.

The key to making sure braking is okay is to fairly frequently apply the brakes just a little bit, this will prevent a build up of water on the rim or disc.

As long as you are in this habit in the wet then braking will be fine in the wet with either brake type.

However as with my earlier post, it is important to check this out for yourself in safe cirumstances.

I do cycle at the moment. I have disc brakes on a mongoose MTB and commute on it so kinda used to discs. Its just that Ive never had rim brakes or a hybrid before. I do like your advice on testing the brakes evry so often though

IanLD

Formula discs on my hybrid and they are great. Really notice the difference when riding my road bike with Campag dual pivot or the folding bike with v brakes.

On both my mountain bike and the hybrid, braking is more powerful and easier to modulate, but that is hydraulic discs. No experience with cable discs, so can't comment on them.

Can be a bit too powerful at times, but it comes down to learning what they can do. That can apply to any of them if used incorrectly, or if trying to slow on a big patch of wet diesel (not fun with any bike or brakes).

One thing I really like is that the bike stays much cleaner in the wet without all the black grime that rim brakes leave all over the forks, stays, wheels and themselves.

prawny

Personally, purely for commuting I'd go for hydraulic discs every time. I'd take reliable stopping over quicker acceleration any day.

On top of that, the advantage of being able to ride home with brakes if you lose a spoke on route is good. There have been times where I've had to release the back brake to ride the rest of the way home when I lost a spoke, luckily I didn't have far to go but I wouldn't have like to have to ride too far a brake down.

kennywilde

IanLD wrote:

Formula discs on my hybrid and they are great. Really notice the difference when riding my road bike with Campag dual pivot or the folding bike with v brakes.

On both my mountain bike and the hybrid, braking is more powerful and easier to modulate, but that is hydraulic discs. No experience with cable discs, so can't comment on them.

Can be a bit too powerful at times, but it comes down to learning what they can do. That can apply to any of them if used incorrectly, or if trying to slow on a big patch of wet diesel (not fun with any bike or brakes).

One thing I really like is that the bike stays much cleaner in the wet without all the black grime that rim brakes leave all over the forks, stays, wheels and themselves.

Cheers. taken on board! Not the best at cleaning my bike but I'm hoping I clean/look after my new bike a lot more than my current one!

kennywilde

prawny wrote:

Personally, purely for commuting I'd go for hydraulic discs every time. I'd take reliable stopping over quicker acceleration any day.

On top of that, the advantage of being able to ride home with brakes if you lose a spoke on route is good. There have been times where I've had to release the back brake to ride the rest of the way home when I lost a spoke, luckily I didn't have far to go but I wouldn't have like to have to ride too far a brake down.

Good points. I think ill have bus lanes to play with so stopping is key

notnot

kennywilde wrote:

prawny wrote:

Personally, purely for commuting I'd go for hydraulic discs every time. I'd take reliable stopping over quicker acceleration any day.

On top of that, the advantage of being able to ride home with brakes if you lose a spoke on route is good. There have been times where I've had to release the back brake to ride the rest of the way home when I lost a spoke, luckily I didn't have far to go but I wouldn't have like to have to ride too far a brake down.

Good points. I think ill have bus lanes to play with so stopping is key

Also depends how fast you're going - at moderate speed, I find the cheap-ish v brakes on my mountainbike let me stop quite quickly enough. If I were planning lots of fast descents, I might look to upgrade!

Remember that differences between brakes can be small and technique and road sense are important too. One of the scarier experiences I've had was going slightly too fast down a road that curves downhill to meet a larger road. I saw a car coming and braked hard slightly too late and while turning too fast - the bike started to slide, and I came rather closer than I like to ending up under a big lump of metal :shock: The brakes were fine - this was a road bike with good quality, well set-up v brakes and it was a dry day - but it was the rider that was the problem!

Big_Paul

In the dry I rate V-brakes above cable discs, in the wet it's about equal. I like hydraulic discs best though, my experiences with cable discs have not been positive, on tarmac at least.

Saying that, the design of the pad, the size of the disc and how the brake is adjusted make a great deal of difference.

Initialised

Properly set up disc brakes will out perform rim brakes in the wet, mud and on descents. So get V-Brakes if you don't intend to ride in the wet or at high speed down hills with twisty bits.

kennywilde

Initialised wrote:

Properly set up disc brakes will out perform rim brakes in the wet, mud and on descents. So get V-Brakes if you don't intend to ride in the wet or at high speed down hills with twisty bits.

i'll be riding every day to work and nottingham is hilly. Discs are looking favourite. cheers

supersonic

Good discs yes. Decent V brakes are fine for descents. And twisty bits. And wet bits.

markp80

You can vastly improve wet weather performance of standard v-brakes just by fittng decent pads - Swissstop Green for example. Something like that will give much better wet weather stopping than the standard ones.

Just my thoughts on not ruling out wet weather commuting with v-brakes. They can be perfectly acceptable.

Cheers,
MarkP

bigmonka

I commuted in all weather with Vs for years and very found much of a problem - they do the job.
I've now got discs (mechanical, probably bottom end or range) and have found that braking confidence in the wet is definitely improved over Vs. They're not mind blowingly amazing in every situation, but the increase in confidence in the wet means that they get my vote.

kennywilde

supersonic wrote:

Good discs yes. Decent V brakes are fine for descents. And twisty bits. And wet bits.

BigMonka wrote:

I commuted in all weather with Vs for years and very found much of a problem - they do the job.
I've now got discs (mechanical, probably bottom end or range) and have found that braking confidence in the wet is definitely improved over Vs. They're not mind blowingly amazing in every situation, but the increase in confidence in the wet means that they get my vote.

BigMonka wrote:

I commuted in all weather with Vs for years and very found much of a problem - they do the job.
I've now got discs (mechanical, probably bottom end or range) and have found that braking confidence in the wet is definitely improved over Vs. They're not mind blowingly amazing in every situation, but the increase in confidence in the wet means that they get my vote.

Hmmmm headache time! I'm hoping to put my order in next week so will just test ride a few and just go on what i like.
Ill probably shortlist a few bike again and post another topic

Thanks Guys

supersonic

It is all about the quality of the system. You can't label all discs and all rim brakes the same, a good rim brake will outperform a disc and vice versa. It is more likely a disc brake will perform better in the wet, but not given.

kennywilde

supersonic wrote:

It is all about the quality of the system. You can't label all discs and all rim brakes the same, a good rim brake will outperform a disc and vice versa. It is more likely a disc brake will perform better in the wet, but not given.

Noted. You should take a look at my other post and check the specs out