I think I have had it with rim brakes

Having nearly (but good enough to ride it) finished my Merlin that has XTR disc brakes, I have realised how crap V brakes are. Okay, mine are Avid Black Ops Ultimate rims brakes and hardly crap, superb even, but like all rims brakes they need constant servicing to keep them at their peak. I doubt disc brakes are such high maintenance.
I think I am about to ditch anything with V's :shock:

Harryburgundy":28e20bo2 said:

Having nearly (but good enough to ride it) finished my Merlin that has XTR disc brakes, I have realised how crap V brakes are. Okay, mine are Avid Black Ops Ultimate rims brakes and hardly crap, superb even, but like all rims brakes they need constant servicing to keep them at their peak. I doubt disc brakes are such high maintenance.
I think I am about to ditch anything with V's :shock:

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Wise decision, discs infinitely better than rim brakes, particularly in the wet

I like the solid feel of v's when setup correctly but they do seem to need more maintenence dont they.

Buuuut, why not see it as good rouitne to keep the bike tip top?

Little effort often = long life.

Depends on the brakes. I was very pleased with the power and modulation of my Formulas, but due to the way I ride the front rotor kept warping.
Had to straighten it at least every 50 miles. Floating Hope discs sorted that, but then again they don't have that tremendous braking power.

Also, the pads on disc brakes tend to wear a lot faster, and they're much more of a hassle to set up.
Not as easy to adjust the bite point without messing with oil and syringes either. I had to get a set of aftermarket modulators before I could adjust them while riding.

IMO you just can't beat mid-00's Tektro Vees. They're bulletproof, will stop a train and need less than a quarter of the maintenance disc brakes need.
With a good set of brake boosters (I preferrred the Tektro T9) they have more feel than any disc brake I tried and can be modulated better as well.
Rims also don't get nearly as hot and they don't start squealing if your 5-year-old touches them with his greasy fingers.

you could have disc on front and v on rear...???half the maintenance and half the cost i gots me disc up front and magura rear - i'm not really that tempted to change the rear to disc to be honest!!!

twain":3h5ztxuf said:

you could have disc on front and v on rear...???half the maintenance and half the cost i gots me disc up front and magura rear - i'm not really that tempted to change the rear to disc to be honest!!!

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Can you / do you use the same lever for magura discs and rims? Are the master cylinders the same bore etc...?

i have no problems with V or canti in stopping.Perhaps it's the weight of my bike

suburbanreuben":2crkyw30 said:

twain":2crkyw30 said:

you could have disc on front and v on rear...???half the maintenance and half the cost i gots me disc up front and magura rear - i'm not really that tempted to change the rear to disc to be honest!!!

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Can you / do you use the same lever for magura discs and rims? Are the master cylinders the same bore etc...?

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I've wondered about that too.

I've a non-disc Cannondale frame I'd like to build up, thought about putting Hope disc on front (disc Headshok fork) and Magura rim on rear. If I could use Magura disc and rim brakes with the same levers that would be great.

Anybody know for certain?

Depends on the brakes. What's important is how much fluid is displaced with a stroke of the lever. This differs between nearly every type of brake.
Dual-piston Formula brakes for instance will displace a different amount of fluid than dual-piston Hope brakes, etc.

As long as the values are quite close, it could work.
Basically you'll need to find out the bore and stroke of the pistons in both levers. Then you can calculate the volumes and see what works.

Raging_Bulls":1r1llbfb said:

Depends on the brakes. What's important is how much fluid is displaced with a stroke of the lever. This differs between nearly every type of brake.
Dual-piston Formula brakes for instance will displace a different amount of fluid than dual-piston Hope brakes, etc.

As long as the values are quite close, it could work.
Basically you'll need to find out the bore and stroke of the pistons in both levers. Then you can calculate the volumes and see what works.

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It won't work - pretty much all disc brakes are open system design with a reservoir to allow for system replenishment as the pads wear whereas Magura rim brakes are closed system.
The easiest way round the disc on front, V brake on back issue is to use an Avid BB7 on the front, Arch Rival brake on the back and Speed Dial levers.