disc brake for mountain bike?

Question

i'm using a V-brake now
i usually cycle on road with my mountain bike
but although its on road, sometime it can be quite fast and when rain, its not good to use V-brake
so, do you think i should change to a disc brake?
and how much does a cheap disc brake cost?
tell me the price and the country currency please..
best if its in singapore dollar
thxs

Answer 1

Disc brakes are good for wet and especially muddy conditions. This is because the brake is not near the tyre and doesn.t get so much crud on the braking surface.

If you purchase the hydraulic type, you can enjoy the benefits of being able to apply greater force where it counts, meaning that you can brake later than you would have.

This comes at a cost, namely weight. It will also cost you about £100 per wheel for a reasonable system. But you can not fit them unless you have calliper mounting points on your frame and forks. Also, in order to fit the discs, you need disc compatible hubs.

Overall, discs are better than v brakes in wet conditions, especially wet xc. But if you don't have the hubs and frame, its going to cost you, you might want to consider a new bike, with discs. Giant do a reasonable machine for about £400.

Luck

Answer 2

I have to disagree about the statement that nobody really needs disc brakes. A lot will depend upon the type of riding you do. V brakes are fine for most riding, especially the type of track and paved riding you are suggesting. Because the brake block is on the rim, it means that the braking surface comes into contact with water and your braking is therefore diminished. The real problem with V brakes is when you are going off road. More specifically, when you are going to get muddy. Most mud isn't a problem, since your wheel rotation will throw the mud clear. The problem arises as soon as you hit clay. My last bike had V brakes. I was out on a club ride one night and we went around the field boundary (Bridleway went that way). It got clogged up pretty quickly. The V brakes didn't help and I had to release the brakes, but they still acted to clog up all of the mud on the tyres. In the end I ended up carrying the bike for about a mile. This would not have happened with Discs. The braking surface is near the hub, so will not get clogged up with water as easily and, more to the point, will not mean that you end up with a mud encased wheel. The other reason why disc brakes are good, other than clearance, is the stopping power. The extra performance means that you can hurtle down the hill and not have to pre-plan your stop so much. In fact you can break later before hitting the corner or needing to stop. Mechanical disc brakes are not great and the cable tends to get glagged up, so the performance is not great. That said, they have the mud clearing qualities needed. An alternative would be cantilever brakes. These have the same drop in performance when wet, but the wire cuts through the mud, helping to shed it. Hydraulics are best in terms of performance, but expect to pay a bit more. your other option is to get V brakes, but with disc ready hubs. That way, if you want to upgrade later you can. Luck

Answer 3

Disc breaks are inexpensive $30-$100. The pricey part is that your frame must be built for disc brakes. Most newer Mountain bikes are.
If you are going to continue riding an older bike I recomend the older Cantilever breaks. They are better than V-Breaks.
check out ebay.com and you can get some of those for $5 or $10

Answer 4

i have no idea how to convert to singapore dollars, but i'll start off telling you if you want disc brakes, you need a compatible fork and disc hub. then get the brake kit. there are 6-bolt mounts and Centerlock mounts (made by Shimano). if you want disc on the rear, you need to make sure your frame is disc compatible. i think the Tektro IO is a good entry level mechanical disc brake. i bought mine for US $50.
they will work so much better in the rain than rim brakes. if you ride in heavy rain or mud though, the pads will wear out much faster unless you get metallic pads. organic and resin pads wear out fast.

Answer 5

I personally think that if you need to use a disk brake on the road, you are going too fast. You don't want to lock up brakes on pavement. It's not like offroad where dragging the wheel around a turn is a viable technique. Maybe you should slow down in the rain to be safe.

Answer 6

cheapest disc brake would probably be about 50-100 in us dollars, good ones(hydraulix ones) are about 100-200, or even more