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New Front Break


Jan Tore

What brake would you choose?  

62 members have voted

  1. 1. V, Magura or Disc?

    • Avid Ultimate V-brake
      17
    • Echo SL Magura
      5
    • Try-All Hope Disc
      40


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depends what disc/wheel size. A mod with a 160mm disc is like running larger than a 200mm disc on a stock, so a vee on a mod would be pretty pointless when a disk is better in most ways.

The opinion of Ali C, not OBMOn a stock however, a vee just owns!The opinion of Ali C, not OBM

I don't know what % more powerful a disk is than a vee (they deffo are though). But the issue is that a disc is stopping the middle of the hub, so that cancels out the extra power they have when you compare it with a vee stopping the outside edge of the rim.

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In fairness to Ali, the first part is correct, as is the latter part when you factor in spoke flex and so on. However, the middle part is puuuuure shiiiiit :P

Jan - your brake and everything got packaged up today, but just missed the UPS pick-up. It'll be leaving (with the adapter needed) tomorrow.

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In fairness to Ali, the first part is correct, as is the latter part when you factor in spoke flex and so on. However, the middle part is puuuuure shiiiiit :P

Jan - your brake and everything got packaged up today, but just missed the UPS pick-up. It'll be leaving (with the adapter needed) tomorrow.

Sounds awesome.

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I've been riding for about 8 yrs now ( on and off ) and during that time i've had...

Magura HS33 (old type and new, 4-bolt and 2-bolt)

Avid SD7

Avid ultimate

Avid Cable Disc

Hope mono trials Disc (160 and 180)

My overall opinion is a follows...

The worst option up front by far is the HS33, it really is a rear brake champion only! Right now I run an avid SD7. There is NO difference to the ultimate in terms of performance in my opinion, PROVIDED that you get the right pads for your rim and you buy a better set of cables (Clarks I think make the high performance ones)

I'm still torn between the hope mono trials 180 setup and the avid SD7 rim break overall. I run the hope Disk on my 24" and the SD7 on my 26" and I'd say there are advantages and disadvantages to each.

The SD7 gets the best bite by far and is really good for wheel swaps and front wheel gaps. It goes well on a light bike to make the front end weight next to nothing but its biggest fall down in my opinion is wet weather. If you do ride in light rain, even with good pads it can start slipping and also the cables get wet where exposed, although this is a relatively minor issue. The Hope Disc is the best all rounder, it deals with the wet well. It performs brilliantly (even better now with sintered pads) and it has amazing modulation. It only lacks that instant bite of the vee.

Final verdict...

Comp Dry - Avid SD7 Vee

Comp Wet - Hope mono trial disc (largest rotor you can manage + sintered pads)

Street - Hope mono trial disc (any rotor but sintered pads)

Extra tips for front break set up...

SD7 - Grinded rim works well, clarks high performance cable kit, make sure they are sprung evenly and use spacers to get the pads exactly the same distance from the rim each side, take time over lining them up square. You can use pads designed for a smooth rim (with gaps/grooves) on a light grind for truly astounding bite, but don't expect them to last long!

Hope mono trial disc - Sintered pads, DO NOT bed them in down a hill. They are trials specific, not designed for downhill. Doing this overheats the pads and lessens the effect of the sintering. Yes they will work well, but they will work better if you only bed them in doing trials and fight the urge with some patients. Setup the disc well with spacers so that one pad touches lightly and the other is far away. Not center! the fork side pad should be touching. Get the bleed done by tarty unless you are 100% confident in leaving no air!

A final question?... Although braided cables are stronger, is it true they have a larger diameter for fluid to pass through and actually slightly lower the performance of the break. I have braided cables on my 26" and they have gone downhill for sure.

Hope you can all trust and value my advice after 8 yrs of Trials, David

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Hope mono trial disc - Sintered pads, DO NOT bed them in down a hill. They are trials specific, not designed for downhill. Doing this overheats the pads and lessens the effect of the sintering. Yes they will work well, but they will work better if you only bed them in doing trials and fight the urge with some patients. Setup the disc well with spacers so that one pad touches lightly and the other is far away. Not center! the fork side pad should be touching. Get the bleed done by tarty unless you are 100% confident in leaving no air!

Why would you want one side touching first, what performance benefit does that give? Personally I'd avoid that, one of the main causes of disc brake problems is when the pistons don't come out evenly due to misalignment.

There's nothing wrong with bedding pads in by riding downhill, as long as you don't go overboard and heat them up too much. General concensus in the industry seems to be that short, sharp braking is the best option. I find a decent hill, get up to speed then brake fairly hard for 3-4 seconds, then get back up to speed and make sure there is a few seconds gap before doing the same. Usually after doing this for 10-20 times you notice a definite increase in performance. In my experience bedding pads in by just riding trials can take days, and often doesn't bed them in fully. Oh I also give new pads a spray with disc brake cleaner before fitting them to make sure they are perfectly clean, it seems to help with bedding in.

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I have the disadvantage of having to compare cycle brakes against motorcycle brakes... touch the lever on my Beta and you would be over the bars and that had 74 kilos of bike and 80 kilos plus of my weight behind it!! :)

Last year when i had an Adamant A2 i had a set of cheap shimano v's on the rear with a basic avid lever... was so much less hassle than a magura and it stopped as good or better. If i slide it down a rock, common problem for me, and ripped anything it was a simple cable and outer problem... didn't have to sort out a new hose, connections, oil and then bleed it. The down side if you are a rider as shite as me is that as soon as you put a buckle on the rim, or knock it out of true, it does start to feel a bit weird on the lever. But that is an issue with maggies as well. Only reason i have a maggie now is that i can't be arsed with the bolt-on v adaptors.

On the front i always go for a disc as i would be more likely to smack into something hard with the front and bend the rim a bit... at least the disc is out of the way more!! Interestingly i have recently changed from a Hope to a cheap basic Magura louise and it is so much better. I have had 3 Hopes and just never been totally happy with them but the Louise went on and worked straight away.

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Why would you want one side touching first, what performance benefit does that give? Personally I'd avoid that, one of the main causes of disc brake problems is when the pistons don't come out evenly due to misalignment.

There's nothing wrong with bedding pads in by riding downhill, as long as you don't go overboard and heat them up too much. General concensus in the industry seems to be that short, sharp braking is the best option. I find a decent hill, get up to speed then brake fairly hard for 3-4 seconds, then get back up to speed and make sure there is a few seconds gap before doing the same. Usually after doing this for 10-20 times you notice a definite increase in performance. In my experience bedding pads in by just riding trials can take days, and often doesn't bed them in fully. Oh I also give new pads a spray with disc brake cleaner before fitting them to make sure they are perfectly clean, it seems to help with bedding in.

Its what I was taught with disc set up, will have to change that then with some very thin washers. my bad!

with regards to bedding in, don't you find that that cooks the pads a bit matt? I avoided a hill last time and the break worked so much better, but then again the time before i tried this ride down the hill, tip water over the disc method that I read on here, and I think that was a bad idea... lol

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