Brake Upgrade

[G-Rod]

Hey all,

My XC bike is due for an upgrade and considering that our dollar is pretty strong in the US im upgrading my forks (cause my old ones are buggered) and upgrading my brakes to hydraulic from the old school V brake type. Was just wondering if anyone could highlight little tricks to look out for or issues that you have come across if you have come across when upgrading.

Cheers much appreciated

 

[AngoXC]

If your bike is using V-brakes, I'm guessing it's possibly an older model yes? First thing is that I'd be checking to see if you have disc brake-compatible forks, frame and hubs. If not, I'd be questioning the cost effectiveness of the upgrade, vs a completely new bike.

I'd also ensure that you have separate brake levers/shifters as the combination sets make life a little difficult.

Make sure you have the appropriate adapters for the brakes. These generally fall into two categories, IS and Post Mount. Some details on the bike, the fork and the brakes will help here... Additionally, disc brake hubs are generally either a 6-bolt configuration, or of Shimano's 'Centerlock' standard -again, make sure that the brake rotor set matches with the hub type.

6-bolt config. uses Torx T-25 bolts, not hex bolts as many people unfortunately discover. Get yourself a good quality T-25 tool - I stripped two heads last week using a shoddy one

Thats all I can really think of for now...

Good luck!

 

[G-Rod]

Cheers for the info buddy. My gear levers and brake levers are a combination set which will make life difficult. Its a mongose frame not sure what the model cause its now pretty old. Im mainly a DH rider so this XC bike is just ridin when my mates are keen on doing some XC and im planning on doing one night ride a week with them. Im planning on getting Rock Shox Tora 318 Coil U Turn Forks from the states which have both the disc and V brake mounting options so therefore if the brake upgrade becomes overly difficult then ill just stick with the old school brakes (cause they still pull up fine). I dont ride XC enough to warrant buying a new bike.
Cheers for the helpful info

 

[AngoXC]

Your biggest issue is probably that you don't have disc hubs. Might be able to pick up something really cheap like this which will certainly do the job but in all honesty, I'd probably just keep the V-brakes.

New brake cables and some quality pads will make the world of difference if you're after any performance improvements for the V-brakes.

Good luck!

 

[T-Rex]

Hydraulic rim brakes?

Have you considered a set of hydraulic rim brakes eg Magura HS33's? A lot less mucking around than converting to disks.