Retro Bikes are so much easier to work on.

[ridevintagemtb]

Title says it all. Cables, housing, tubes. No suspension forks or disc brakes.

I just tried bleeding my Avid Juicys for the first time. Got the kit and everything. Followed the directions to a T, and now there's absolutely nothing in the lever pull. Not even a smidgen of pad movement.

WTF?

 

[THWANG-666]

to true and Aesthetically more pleasing to the eye

 

[Augustus]

I get flack for running a retro-esque modern rig but i'ts at least partly due to this problem.

Rigid forks (sometimes) and v brakes. Simple cables and pads and nowt to go wrong. Well not as much anyway. So that just leaves component changes as a result of fickle feeling as opposed to necessity of breakage.

 

[ridevintagemtb]

I took a good 10-year absence from 7-speed, and I guess I took for granted how well those systems shifted. The 'clunks' are smooth and satisfying. Dont get me wrong, my m950 stuff has always done me right, but they never really needed to crowd more than 8 cogs into that space, IMO.

 

[hollister]

I took a good 10-year absence from 7-speed, and I guess I took for granted how well those systems shifted. The 'clunks' are smooth and satisfying. Dont get me wrong, my m950 stuff has always done me right, but they never really needed to crowd more than 8 cogs into that space, IMO.

amen

 

[tintin40]

So true. A bike should be easy to use, maintain and be fun. All these so called 'modern' bikes look like hard work. Once a week i check the rear gears/both sets of brakes And a clean up - chain/cassette/rims. done. No messy FS forks or Full S. to go wrong. Been their once, never again. A bike should look like a bike. Most new mtb's look like motorbikes with out engines. OK my Trimble doesn't look like a 'normal' bike. But it is. Just look at my gallery

 

[Graeme]

to true and Aesthetically more pleasing to the eye

Absolutely!!

Look at those cockeyed, nose in the air long travel front forks monstrosities or the over heavy looking cheap full suspension jobs.

Look at the retro stuff, slim, well proportioned, light, simple.

And why disks?

A mountain bike has a contact patch of about 1cm square on a loose surface. Cantis* easily cope.
Can you lock your wheels with cantis? Yes.
Can you get good feel and feedback from fully off right up to the point of locking up with cantis? Yes (if they are properly set up)

Then why do you need more?

Disks are marketing hype.

*V brakes are cantis with longer arms and better cable angles

 

[Cloverleaf]

Well, not the normal way of an introduction post this (i\\\'ll do a proper one later!). However, I have to disagree with the post above statign that discs are overkill. I seem to remember that was what everyone said when they introduced V-brakes! I will admit that for old style xc (ie distance rather than techinal challenge) I would still rather have a set of Magura racelines as they just work better for that type of riding but for technical stuff and where you are using the brakes more, a set of discs will always be the better bet. They are more powerful, less succeptible to damage and significantly more controllable when you get a little speed up. At low speed there is less difference but when the weather gets bad then they are definitely a more noticeable improvement in performance. Also, the performance of tyres and suspension has improved massively in the last 10 or so years which means that the performance available through braking is also correspondingly greater. On my DH bike I have a set of 4 pot brakes that, if you were really hamfisted, could in all likelihood drop you over the bars at 40mph. For the harder rider like myself, that added performance is invaluable and if available, I would glady accept more powerful braking. My hardtail in contrast does not see the same levels of abuse and therefore I find a set of lightweight 2 piston brakes with 7\\\"+6\\\" rotors more than acceptible. For the extreme stuff I do on that bike those work perfectly. For the endurance riding I do on the scottish estate tracks a set of cantilevers would do the trick just as well. It\\\'s about choosing the most suitable setup for what you do but saying point blank that they are a marketing exercise and a waste of time is wrong.

Also, with regards to bleeding The Avid Juicy\\\'s, I would say that you just need to practice. I am sure that you didn\\\'t get a set of rim brakes set up the first time that you tried; I know I didn\\\'t! With the avids, you want to be very careful to ensure that no air is sucked back in when removing the syringes as even a few air bubbles can cause problems. Once you have the knack it really is easy.

 

[Graeme]

Cloverleaf, you may well have a point, wet weather is the downfall of most canti or V brake setups, but I remain unconvinced.

I also take your point about set up, lets face it, some of the cantis out there are an absolute nightmare to set.

I can't remember the last time I ran out of brakes before I ran out of traction in an off road situation.

I have limited experience of disks on mtbs but loads on motorbikes, including track racing and dirt. Only on the track did I ever pray for more brakes, the dirt bikes were all overbraked, especially those with a disk rear.

And although I am a total newbie here myself, welcome to this little goldmine of advice, bits and friendly chatter.

 

[Russell]

Disks are marketing hype.

Erm, no, they're not.

I own and ride bikes with cantis, V's, HS33's and hydraulic discs and you'd be perfectly within your rights to call me a blithering fool if I was to say that the bikes with 'cantis' had brakes that performed as well as the bikes with discs.

A good Disc outperforms good cantis, end of. Lets not let retro nostalgia get in the way of common sense chaps