Which Size Disc Rotor 160 or 180mm

Andy B":29a7drt8 said:

A little test for those who believe that a rear brake has a greater stopping power than a front brake

Ride along at a set pace, at a given point pull one brake hard until you stop

Repeat the process using just the other brake

I'll bet a whole cake, yup I'm risking cake on this, that you will stop quicker just using the front brake compared to just using the rear brake braking from the same speed & from the same point

The reason for shifting your weight back under heavy braking is to stop you going over the bars.

180 up front 160 out back.

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Try that downhill, round a corner, on loose, wet, mud, grass etc.

My point was that the rear brake is often seen as the poor relation to the front brake and as such gets over looked. On a mountain bike depending on the situation either brake can be required to provide the majority of the braking force. On downhills the rear brake is generally used more than the front to control speed without compromising steering and to improve stability. In these situations a bigger disc will give better modulation/control and will fade/wear less. Off road I always wear out rear pads quicker than fronts. So, why not have the same spec brake on the back as up front? The cost weight implications are minimal.

My point is to prove that a front brake has more stopping power than the rear in the majority of circumstances

I'm not saying that the rear brake has no use, it's just not as good at stopping you as quickly as the front

Yes you can control your speed a little using the rear brake, but it can lock up easily and a locked brake will not stop you quickly or slow you down much at all

All your braking should be done before the corner, braking in a corner will mean a slower exit speed through the corner & a good chance of helping form braking bumps on the trails

I still have my cake

I understand the concept of the front brake providing more of the stopping power due to the weight shifting forward etc. and know thats true of cars but don't believe its necessarily true of bicycles, especially offroad. I just think you shift your weight around and vary both brakes accordingly and they both work just as hard. In fact as I said I get through rear pads quicker.

I brake mid corner with the rear brake, it's called doing a skid and it looks cool!!!

JamesM":t2urjoqj said:

I brake mid corner with the rear brake, it's called doing a skid and it looks cool!!!

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post of the day right there

if you are a light person and its XC ONLY go 160/160 if you way 12 stonne or more and its XC / TRAIL go for 180 front / 160 rear or if you are very heavy go for 180/180
I use my bike for agressive trail and AM use im 13.5 stonne and i use 203 front / 160 rear because its a hardtail...oh and i use formula brakes.
Bare in mind you can have fantastic brakes but if you are running crappy cheap non grippy tyres you are not gunna stop that well anyway.

203 / 160 on my FSR seems to work pretty well for me.