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From Cable discs to hydraulics - change or not

1K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  1_fez_rider 
#1 ·
From what I am reading hydraulic disc brakes are better than mechanical disc brakes in the feeling of the lever and in wet conditions. I usually ride in dry conditions, will an upgrade from cables to hydro really worth it? Thanks.
 
#2 ·
it depends what mechanical brakes you have and what hydros you was thinking of getting and what sort of style you ride. I ride a bit of everything dirt jumps, light freeride and very light downhill and i find that my BB7's with 185mm rotors work perfectly well for this purpose. I have tried some hope hyrdos (not sure which) and yes there is better modulation but i payed for fornt and rear BB7's and still have money left over before i could have bought the hydros. In terms of stopping power, the hydros felt the same as mine when brakes were applied full. I am going to get some speed dial levers in the near future which should improve the modulation of my mechanicals which are perfectly fine for me at the moment
 
#4 ·
I really like my newly acquired XT hydros - still stoked that I could shorten the housing and not have to do a bleed!
With good maintenance I think both systems would have great performance but I imagine unless you got a problematic hydro a cable disc would require a bit more upkeep.
I've read that shimano & avid cable discs are the best pic of the litter so you won't get much better than that. Hydros will probably give you better lever feel & maybe easier on the hands but I imagine pure stopping power wouldn't be any greater. Never had cable discs myself though only Hayes Soles.
 
#5 ·
Hayes Sole are not cable discs, they are crappy hydraulics.

There will be a different feel at the lever, more modulation for sure, a tad bit less weight also(maybe 100g or a bit less total for both wheels?).

If you feel it is worth it, go for it.

For what it's worth, I ride juicy 5's and really like them, but I've tried many BB5's and 7's and liked them also except for their lack of modulation.
 
#6 ·
Check the FAQ

Mark,

The disc brake FAQ in the Brake Time Forum should have eveything you need in terms of the differences between mechanical and hydraulic. I'll try to summarize for you.

Good mechanicals will outperform bad hydros. Good hydros will have better modulation and similar (or potentially better) stopping power compared to good mechanicals, but will require less effort in squeezing the lever to get that same stopping power.

Hopefully this will help.

Bob

P.S. Is your Xtc frame not disc ready? (I read your other post) If it's not, I would agree with the other posters that it's probably cheaper to get a new frame than to make the Xtx disc compatible.
 
#8 ·
Nice and detailed instructions here from Schlim

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=268504

Undid the hose at the lever and pulled it out. Kept the hose vertical where I was cutting. The off cut ended up on the floor & of course the oil drained out of that. Inserted the new insert (that was the hardest part, getting it in) and put the new olive on before reinserting the hose & doing it up again.
The feel at the lever is exactly the same as before, it was only very slightly spongy beforehand, now it's the same if not slightly firmer & I'm going to ride it for a while before deciding wether to bleed or not - I'm still getting used to the difference between them and the soles.

I had the lever horizontal for the process and it was quite amazing that nothing comes out! Obviously excess oil did go down the hose while putting the insert in, but it was only oil displaced by the insert.

Like someone mentioned though if you don't have a bleed kit on hand it's probably guaranteed that they will need bleeding!
 
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