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What kinda disc breaks for 200+ guy?

1K views 22 replies 15 participants last post by  bongo_x 
#1 ·
right now i have juicy 3s with a 185mm front and 160mm rear on my cannondale 29er. thinking about going with juicy 5s hoping they have just a little extra stopping power that the 3s seem to lack. I will go with the 7s or elixir R breaks if i have to but i was wondering if anyone else has juicy 5s and what they think of them. If they have enough stopping power or if you feel like you need a bit more bc thats the way i feel about the 3s. Thx
 
#2 ·
I have sevens, but I find the rotors pretty crappy, they have decent stopping power but I've cooked them on a descent before and then they go to ****.

I'm going to try switching over to a different rotor design and see if that helps vent heat better.
 
#3 ·
I ride Hayes HFX-9's with 203mm front and 180mm rear, i weigh about 220 and they stop me on a dime with one-finger braking. I tried my Dad's bike with Juicy 5's and i was not impressed, good modulation but no bite compared to the Hayes.

Try a bigger rotor, since you're on a 29er you'll get less brake force than with a 26inch wheel on the same size rotor anyway. Get a 203mm rotor for the front and move the 185 out back and see how that feels. A new rotor and adaptor is alot cheaper than a whole new brake system.

Paul
 
#4 ·
sinac84 said:
right now i have juicy 3s with a 185mm front and 160mm rear on my cannondale 29er. thinking about going with juicy 5s hoping they have just a little extra stopping power that the 3s seem to lack. I will go with the 7s or elixir R breaks if i have to but i was wondering if anyone else has juicy 5s and what they think of them. If they have enough stopping power or if you feel like you need a bit more bc thats the way i feel about the 3s. Thx
The 3's should be close in power to the 5/7's so I would not change to them.
The 5 and the sevens have the same caliper so there is no difference in stopping power, the sevens have an adjustment for pad contact point that is awesome though. From Avid the Elixirs have more power and ofcourse the Codes still more.

Same story from most other manufacturers.

The first thing I would do is get a 203 rotor front and move the 185 to the rear. On my Prophet I ran 185 front and 160 rear and felt happy, that is at 170 lbs and 26" wheels, so to get the same feel you would need to size up both rotors for the larger wheel. This also gives you more security, as a 200+ riders is pushing the limit for safety on long descents with a 185/160 combo with just about any brake.
Also getting different pads with more power might help. (and be cheap)

Alias Pauly said:
I ride Hayes HFX-9's with 203mm front and 180mm rear, i weigh about 220 and they stop me on a dime with one-finger braking. I tried my Dad's bike with Juicy 5's and i was not impressed, good modulation but no bite compared to the Hayes.
Paul
Funny, I used to have 9's and I found the opposite, and this is also what I have seen from pro tests. Where they the same rotor size and pad compound?
 
#5 ·
sinac84 said:
right now i have juicy 3s with a 185mm front and 160mm rear on my cannondale 29er. thinking about going with juicy 5s hoping they have just a little extra stopping power that the 3s seem to lack. I will go with the 7s or elixir R breaks if i have to but i was wondering if anyone else has juicy 5s and what they think of them. If they have enough stopping power or if you feel like you need a bit more bc thats the way i feel about the 3s. Thx
I have to go with Pauly on trying the bigger rotors on the 29ers. Even if you go with a complete different system, the larger rotors will offer much better overall power. The leverage alone will be noticeable, but the heat dissipation will also be a factor.

As far as systems, I like the Magura BAT systemand this one here http://elitecycling.com/page.cfm?PageID=55&action=details&sku=BR4419

I personally run BB7's. They're enough for my 250lbs and very reliable.
 
#6 ·
Oh just remembered two rotors that can be interesting:

Formula makes a 220mm rotor for at least one of their brakes(can't remember which) Great cooling but maybe to much power for a less aggressive tire/rider.

Hope has the 'Ventidisc' it does what it sounds like. It's a rotor that consists of 2 discs sandwiched together with airspace between then for more cooling. In testing it really upped the resistance to fading.
 
#11 ·
Won't be a problem using an M4 caliper up front on a 183 rotor. That's plenty of brake for a person of your weight. Hell, I even used on and a Mini on the rear of mine and I ran fine, riding weight was higher than the OP and the bike is mid 30's.

You can also go for Maggie Louise brakes.
 
#12 ·
Just got my Avid Elixir R break set today and love them. When for a 8 mile ride at the International Horse Park here in Georgia (where the 1996 Olympics for MTB where held) and there is alot of elevation change there and alot of chances to be hard on the breaks and they had awesome feel and good breaking power over the 3s. Good choice for anyone who is wanting some higher in breaks.
 
#17 ·
bongo_x said:
I'm using 203's front and rear with Avid mechanicals. I'm about 240-250.

I'm curious why everyone uses a smaller rear disc. Since that would seem to be the stronger wheel why not just use the biggest one you can?
same reason motorcycles have 2 large discs up front and one small one in the rear...

same reason cars went to discs up front and had drums in the rear for a long time and when they went to 4 disc the rear discs are much smaller... same reason the brake system has a valve in it that puts a lot more brake fluid to the front stoppers vs the rears...

the front stoppers do significantly more of the work in stopping a vehicle... when you hit the brakes you load the front tire and unload the rear which is why if you have a suspension fork you get brake dive... next time you're out grab a hand full of the rear and you'll just skid... do it up front and you might just endo... the weight is pushing on that tire...
 
#19 ·
as does the front wheel on a bike. i use the same size front and rear because i feather brake the rear alot which creates more heat and for the front because i use it hard which causes alot of heat but it is given much more time to cool than the rear is.

also for xc i use 160mm rotors and on my AM/FR bike i use 203 rotors. also i weight in at 260 without gear and i have no problem stopping either bike.

btw on a bike the front brake is about 70% on all of your available braking. this also hold true on motorcycles and car.
 
#20 ·
bongo_x said:
I'm using 203's front and rear with Avid mechanicals. I'm about 240-250.

I'm curious why everyone uses a smaller rear disc. Since that would seem to be the stronger wheel why not just use the biggest one you can?
Because the larger diameter has more power, making it easier to lock up when combined with the weight transfer. You can use large diameter on the rear too, but it takes more finesse to avoid lockup. Easer just to dial back the leverage with a smaller diameter rotor.
 
#23 ·
I understand that the stopping power comes from the front, I just use the front more and go easy on the rear. Maybe it's just a lot easier on mechanicals than hydraulics (I've never used hydraulics). I don't find that it takes that much finesse.

But maybe I'm just used to it, always done that, even when I had v-brakes and before that.

I thought maybe there was a technical reason specific to discs.

bb
 
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