disc brakes?

Question

are disc brakes a MUST over the traditional kind? if i have a bike without disc brakes, can they be installed?

Answer 1

In order to fit disc brakes you need to have hubs that will take them. You might be looking at a new set of wheels. Also, your forks need mounting points from which to fit the calipers. This could be expensive.

Are they worth the effort? Well, you do get better braking, this means that you can brake much later. However, this is ofset by the additional weight. The reason that I chose discs was because of the kind of winter riding that I do. I found that, when muddy, ordinary brakes cake up. I found that I had to carry my bike on several occasions. The extra clearance offered by disc brakes eradicates this problem, allowing me to ride through thick mud, over distance.

Luck

Answer 2

Are disc brakes a must? You need to ask yourself a couple of questions...where do you ride (what type of terrain)? and How fast do you ride? In regard to the compatibility...hubs must have rotor mounts, and the frame must have disc brake mounts. Many inexpensive (usually hardtail) bikes and lower end front forks do not even have mounts for disc brakes.

So back to the first two questions...if you are riding on a bike path or fire road...or even smooth singletrack, you probably don't need disc brakes. Especially if you are not going very fast. If you are in rough, rocky terrain...steep downhills, singletrack that is banked and burmed for pumping through at high speed...you might want them.

I am a small woman. I used to think I didn't need disc brakes. Once I got them, I realized that they actually helped me to go faster overall because they work so well, and you can actually be hauling #ss and dump a bunch of speed for a turn without losing traction (disc brakes will slow your wheel's rotation in a hurry, whereas rim brakes are likely to lock up your wheel, which just causes you to lose traction -and with it-control).

So...do you need them, maybe not, but they will take your riding to a whole new level if that is what you are after.

Answer 3

disc brakes are cool, yes, they brake much quicker, i nearly fell off my bike the first time, but no, not really a must, i've been mountain biking with regular brakes and i was alright. As to converting an old bike to disc brakes, i don't think that'll be too easy, its probably possible, but should be a challenge

Answer 4

no disc brakes are not a must..you do get quicker stopping power..i live on a hill, in a city with lots of hills and i go down hills every day to work or to just ride. i found that the disc brake option works much better for me..if you want to go to disc brakes check your accessory prices and labor to decide whether its cost effective to ugrade[if possible]. it may be money wisely spent to upgrade to a new bike...I often wonder why I didnt upgrade sooner to disc brakes..talk to people in you local bike community...this is a good time of year to upgrade there are lots of bikes out there[check your local bike shops] prior to the 'start' of biking in the nice weather

Answer 5

No they aren't a MUST. Rim brakes work quite well. We all got along fine with them for years. They are lighter and cheaper and from what I can tell already exist on your bike. They can be installed if you have tabs or posts on the rear drive side seat-stay of your frame and tabs/posts on the fork. There are conversions to fit a rear disk to a bike with cantilever brakes and no tabs but your fork must have tabs existing.