Disc Brake advice

Brake choice is pretty limited if planning to use road levers i.e. cable actuated - Avid BB5 or BB7 is pretty well your only choice and they come with 160mm rotors and you can stop fine, in fact with road or CX tyres, grip is often the determining factor. Avid's cable pull works best with SRAM / Campagnolo - latest Shimano levers use a different cable pull ratio - there is a Shimano cable disc brake in this case BR-R505.
 
Unless you weigh two tons there's absolutely no need for a massive front rotor on a bike for road use. I don't know why you'd ever need a 200 on the back unless it's for crazy downhill stuff.
 
Going for hydraulic brakes, was bidding on Hope Monos set night they sold for £95 plus post and they included discs etc and braided lines but missed out on the ending. Was thinking 200 front and 160 rear BUT to be honest will go with whatever if i can buy a complete set up.

Has anyone ever tried the twin front disc set up - just curious ;)
 
Enid_Puceflange":32cz9gwl said:
Oh dear :oops:

6 pots & 9" rotors :LOL: :LOL:

1ae3e929.jpg


Overkill ;)

G

WOW :shock: thats mightly impressive :LOL:

Bet that catches you out the first few times :LOL:
 
I agree with the comments about big brakes on the back. Due to the loss of grip resulting from the weight transfer, there's only so much braking power you can effectively apply. Even a 160mm will provide plenty of power.
That being said, I run a 180mm on the back, but that's because the bike came with it.

As for the front, I can testify that a stock Formula RX set with 180mm disc (around £150 for a new complete set, front and back) will happily throw you over the handlebar at whatever speed you can achieve.
I really don't see the need for more powerful brakes.
 
I found 140 rear to be prone to brake fade on smooth descents even in the autumn when I tried it in Germany.

160 rear 180 front was still fading on the rear in Provence - still not exactly Alpine though. So....

In Denmark I use 160/160 on my hardtails as descents are very short but my FSR has 180/180 with 4-pots as it also goes abroad (180 both was superb in Provence the year after, also on Ventoux).

For all-round and with the possibility of stuff like the Peak district - I'd go for 180F/160R.

I wouldn't want to run excessively powerful discs at the front with something weedy that might fade at the back. For reasons that should be self-explanatory.
 
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