Rockhopper upgrades (brakes)

Rhod81

Hi everyone,

Over the last six years or so, I have been very much a road cyclist, but after two winters of road riding on dodgy, wet roads with ignorant drivers, poor conditions, trashing components,etc, I have decided I'm going to spend the winter getting covered in mud instead! unfortunately it means I'm very much out of the loop of what's about nowadays.

I have a 2011 Rockhopper SL which is pretty much standard apart from a shorter, stiffer stem and some nice carbon fibre, low rise bars. However, the frame is really decent geometry-wise, it's comfortable and looks good so I feel it deserves a bit of upgrading...

My main concern is how poor the brakes are. They have never been much good. I prefer my brakes to be quite sharp, very much on/off with minimal brake lever pull. The shimano BR M505's are soooo spongey they're horrible to use. I feel I can nearly pull the lever all the way to the bars. I have tried new pads, bleeding the oil, etc, but nothing improves the feel to how I like it. Luckily the brake levers and shifter pods are separate so I can change completely. They are 160mm rotors front and back I believe, could I go bigger? Any recommendations? Price is an issue, but I will (within reason) invest in decent brakes...

From my road bikes, I know what difference a new set of wheels can make, so this would probably be my next upgrade, but I feel the brakes are more important!

The Suntour forks, I know aren't the best, but they work and new ones are too expensive. Component-wise, mainly Deore with some Alivo, I know is basic, probably heavy, but at the end of the day it's functional.

Basically, any brake advice please !!!! Ta

JGTR

Recently bought XT to replace my Avids on recommendations from other and they are superb - £100 but I did buy mounts and rotors which bumped it up to £140

cooldad

New Deore - M615 are superb and about £70 a pair.

kajjal

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19738010#p19738010]cooldad[/url] wrote:

New Deore - M615 are superb and about £70 a pair.

This is what i would suggest as well. Good brakes make a huge difference on a mountain bike.

Rhod81

Lovely. Thanks folks.

Been out again today, got very wet and muddy and the brakes inspire no confidence whatsoever. Looked on Wiggle and the 615's seem to be about £41 each which sounds ok to me.

The next thing is; wondering on people's opinion of bigger rotors? I have found info elsewhere on pros and cons, but always curious as to opinions. I'd start off with what I've got, see if the m615's make the difference, but at times my rear brake may as well not be there. Obviously majority of stopping comes from the front, but bearing in mind my 95kgs, was wondering as to possibly 180/180, or maybe even 203f/180r ??

Also read about the frame and forks only being rated to what's fitted, could going bigger damage the bike???

The riding being done is general XC/Llandegla Red/Black type terrain btw

kajjal

The front brake has a much greater braking force as your weight is behind rather than in front of the wheel.

I weight slightly more than you and ride mainly remote XC with a few red routes. I have a 180mm front and 160mm rear, never had any problems braking. If your current rotors are contaminated might be best to buy some new ones to be sure or you will just contaminate your new brakes.

rockmonkeysc

180 front / 160 rear is a nice general trail set up. If you go to a 203 front with your fork you will start to get serious flex in the fork which will make it difficult to hold a line under braking.
When you get more powerful brakes you won't want them too sharp, you need some level of control in them.

cooldad

£63 a set from Merlin with current auto discount.

http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-deore-m615-disc-brakes-front-rear-set-62194.html

Rhod81

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19738430#p19738430]cooldad[/url] wrote:

£63 a set from Merlin with current auto discount.

http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-deore-m615-disc-brakes-front-rear-set-62194.html

Great stuff... Just ordered. Thanks.

Clockworkmark31

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19738526#p19738526]Rhod81[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19738430#p19738430]cooldad[/url] wrote:

£63 a set from Merlin with current auto discount.

http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-deore-m615-disc-brakes-front-rear-set-62194.html

Great stuff... Just ordered. Thanks.

Enjoy had Shimano XT M785s on my old rockhopper 180/160 rotors. Pleanty of braking force. And great power for the moments you really have to grab a handful, sure the M615s are pretty much the same.

Are you using the standard fork? I fount the standard SR fork to flex until I uprgraded to a Reba.

Rhod81

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19738604#p19738604]Clockworkmark31[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19738526#p19738526]Rhod81[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19738430#p19738430]cooldad[/url] wrote:

£63 a set from Merlin with current auto discount.

http://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-deore-m615-disc-brakes-front-rear-set-62194.html

Great stuff... Just ordered. Thanks.

Enjoy had Shimano XT M785s on my old rockhopper 180/160 rotors. Pleanty of braking force. And great power for the moments you really have to grab a handful, sure the M615s are pretty much the same.

Are you using the standard fork? I fount the standard SR fork to flex until I uprgraded to a Reba.

Hi, yeah I still do have the standard forks. I'm gonna have to put up with though until money allows.

Rhod81

Hey everyone,

Right, I've fitted them easy enough. As per everyone apparently there is waaaay too much hose so it'll need to be trimmed. Have googled how it's done and it seems straight forward enough - so quite happy there.

A couple of stoopid questions though; although the feel is much nicer than previous, there is still too much lever pull for my liking. I would like full lock-up (I.e.brake lever won't pull any further) with the minimal of lever pull - at the moment it still pulls a good inch or so towards the bars.

If I trim the hose, will the "firmness" of the lever improve?

Also, if I disconnect the hose from the lever, will oil not p*ss out everywhere???

Sorry if a bit dull, not too clued up I'm afraid!

Thanks

cooldad

That seems about right to me.
What hydraulic brakes have you used that take immediately?

For shortening the hose, use:

http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/shorten-shimano-hoses-without-bleeding/

Rhod81

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19743127#p19743127]cooldad[/url] wrote:

That seems about right to me.
What hydraulic brakes have you used that take immediately?

For shortening the hose, use:

http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/shorten-shimano-hoses-without-bleeding/

I used to ride a GT I-drive 1.0. The lever had a lot less pull than these, and the previous ones on the Specialized. Dunno, maybe I'm just used to the super sharp brakes on my road bikes and I have to get used to how hydraulics differ. As I said, the modulation of the system feel a lot nicer than the previous and I guess I'll have to take them off road to test them properly!

Gotta be an improvement on the old ones that gave up when wet !!! Lol.

Rhod81

And thanks for the link... Very helpful :-)

The Rookie

Leverage ratio gives you power but more lever movement, you can't have one without the other.

They will get sharper as the pads bed in and the pistons settle to the disc properly.

You can also play with the stroke adjust.