V Brakes vs disc brakes - cost comparison

[mattr]

Personally, I've found v-brakes to be cheaper to run.

V-brakes. I've only ever worn through one set of rims in 20+ years of biking. Pads tend to last around a year - and a set costs about the same as disc.

Disc brakes. Resin pads last about 3 months. Sintered about 5 months. Only had to bleed once, and the rotors haven't worn out.

For me, I find disc brakes - particularly the rear - a real hassle compared with v-brakes. For some reason my rear ones keep glazing over and producing horrible vibrating shudders and groans under heavy braking. I get about a 100 miles before the problems come back. Front are fine.

V-brakes are considerably cheaper on the £/gram front in terms of initial outlay. Disc brakes give better performance in more conditions.

The other problem I find with disc brakes on the front is that they have a tendency to chew up tubes. Basically the valve gets cut by the rim under heavy braking.

For me, I think the best combination will probably be disc at the front, and v at the rear.

A lot of that sounds like poor set up tbh.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Prices on CRC at the moment

XT Disc brake (M785 levers-caliper inc 'adaptor, disc, pads' )
£212 (F&R bundle offer)

XT Disc brake (T785, same as above)
£180 (F&R bundle offer)

XT V Brake F&R (T780 levers, calipers, pads, cables etc)
£72

That's the quick outlay costs, for a quality setup of each.

 

[FluffyChicken]

I assume discs wear out and if they last the 5+ years of say an XC717 rim does in Dalby and Moors grinding paste, prices for XT seem to be about the same as the rim XC717 or a few quid cheaper.
then there is little difference in replacement cost there, switching and tension/truing a rim maybe harder than unscrewing a lockring and switching disc over.

Pads cost the same at the same level, more for high end branded stuff (XT Shimano), cheaper for generic clarks/disco types.

 

[greencat]

Yep, unless you get lucky in the sales - £150 seems to be around the lower limit for a set of wheels nowadays. They, like most other bike stuff, have really rocketed in price over the last few years. I only buy second hand now as I tend to stick with at least XT hubs.

Disc brakes, however, have got cheaper if you don't mind the older, often European set up, stuff. I was regularly picking up older deore for around £15/20 for caliper, hose and lever.

 

[greencat]

Personally, I've found v-brakes to be cheaper to run.

V-brakes. I've only ever worn through one set of rims in 20+ years of biking. Pads tend to last around a year - and a set costs about the same as disc.

Disc brakes. Resin pads last about 3 months. Sintered about 5 months. Only had to bleed once, and the rotors haven't worn out.

For me, I find disc brakes - particularly the rear - a real hassle compared with v-brakes. For some reason my rear ones keep glazing over and producing horrible vibrating shudders and groans under heavy braking. I get about a 100 miles before the problems come back. Front are fine.

V-brakes are considerably cheaper on the £/gram front in terms of initial outlay. Disc brakes give better performance in more conditions.

The other problem I find with disc brakes on the front is that they have a tendency to chew up tubes. Basically the valve gets cut by the rim under heavy braking.

For me, I think the best combination will probably be disc at the front, and v at the rear.

A lot of that sounds like poor set up tbh.

Any thoughts on how to improve it then? It's been in any number of bike shops and the result is always the same. After 100 miles or so, the groaning/vibrating is back under heavy braking on the rear.

 

[mattr]

5+ years for a xc717? How often do you actually ride off road? I'd be lucky to get 5 months out of one. That'd be 5-8 races and about 2 or 3 rides a week. Unless I had 5 months with not a drop of rain......

And Greencat, I'd be looking at caliper alignment, in all directions, and possibly getting a smaller disc. So you can get more heat into it. Or one with a more racy profile to keep the pad surface clean.

 

[greencat]

5+ years for a xc717? How often do you actually ride off road? I'd be lucky to get 5 months out of one. That'd be 5-8 races and about 2 or 3 rides a week. Unless I had 5 months with not a drop of rain......

And Greencat, I'd be looking at caliper alignment, in all directions, and possibly getting a smaller disc. So you can get more heat into it. Or one with a more racy profile to keep the pad surface clean.

Thanks mattr. I'll take another look at the rear caliper alignment. I'm currently running these XT 160mm rotors at the moment:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... -prod39007

Can you get smaller rotors nowadays?

 

[jimo746]

think you can still get 140mm rotors, do you use an adapter to fit the 160mm rear rotor? if yes then you could go down to 140mm, if no then 160 would be the smallest you could fit.
If the rear rotor is fitted securely then perhaps try cleaning the disc & pads with brake cleaner, sounds like oil/greasy fingerprints on the rotor or pads.

 

[wookiee]

Thanks mattr. I'll take another look at the rear caliper alignment. I'm currently running these XT 160mm rotors at the moment:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... -prod39007

Can you get smaller rotors nowadays?[/quote]


You wouldn't want smaller than 160mm to be honest. A 2nd for caliper alignment. Is there any chance the pads/discs are contaminated? Have you tried cleaning them with hot water and washing up liquid? I have used a few different brands of sintered pads and some (jagwire) were awful and honked and vibrated badly. I now stick to shimano which I can get from Bikediscount for £7 a set!

 

[Matthews]

I get about 12 to 18 months out of a set of disc pads (superstar sintered so not very pricey), buy 2nd hand disc setup for pennies , discs last years and just work in any conditions (Ask elpedro about wearing a rim out as he had a nice 5 mile walk from the top of cutgate a couple of weeks ago when his rim disintegrated), discs all the way for me , they work , easy to set up , cost very little to run and are low maintenance .
On the vibrating rear setup it could be down to the frame , I had an M5 stumpy with a 180 on the back and it was terrible (whole frame resonated ), same brakes moved onto Genesis Altitude steel frame , no issues , them moved onto Soul still no issues , then moved onto retromod Lavadome , no issues , 160 disc on Stumpy and it was fine , the 180 just managed to hit the frames resonant frequency .