V brake recommendations for mountain bike
Posted by: starbuck on 15 December 2004
Hi there
The brake pads have now worn down on my mountain bike and, rather than just replace the pads on what I know to be fairly cheap and ineffective brakes, I thought I’d take the opportunity to improve them. My question, therefore, is what V brakes would the mountain bikers recommend for upto £100.00?
The bike the brakes are going onto isn’t hugely expensive, and I’m not likely to need the stopping power that some do (I live in Suffolk, not Scotland), so I was thinking along the lines of Shimano LX or XT’s (you can pick up complete kits of XT’s for about £80.00 I think) – any thoughts on these? Also, does anyone use Magura HS33’s? I’ve seen these for around the same money as the XT’s and wondered if one was any better than the other.
I do mainly cross country riding, with some downhilling when I go away on holiday, so something flexible (though not in the physical sense, hopefully) would be good.
Thanks in advance,
Chris.
PS - I'm not really interested in replacing or rebuilding my wheels in order to accommodate disc brakes, despite the fact that they've come down in price a lot and are, probably, better. I'll look at discs if I ever change frames.
Posted on: 15 December 2004 by Tony Lockhart
You're in pretty much the same position as me. The most my bike has to face is the Roller Coaster in Thetford Forest.
My local bike man has recommended LX. The parallelogram arrangement works well, he says, and they are rigid and light for the money.
I might change my mind if I go to Wales next year....
Tony
Posted on: 15 December 2004 by starbuck
quote:
parallelogram
What a beautiful word. That alone has almost convinced me to buy Shimano - any ideas about availability of spare parts for Shimano brakes, as I've heard from some that they can be tricky to find(so can cost more in the long run)?
Thanks for the tip, Tony.
Chris.
Posted on: 15 December 2004 by manicatel
Hi there,I too ride mainly round thetford,& essex/herts area.If you're sticking with v-brakes,I like the avid stuff.A bit less squeal/easier to set up,& not shimano.Nothing against them really,just like to see something not quite as common.Check out
www.bikemagic.com,or www.mtbr.com for opinions on stuff, or just get out & ride,cos I don't really think there is that much difference between them all told.Cheers, matt
Posted on: 15 December 2004 by Tristram
If you get some LX or XT brakes you can further enhance your braking ability by getting ceramic wheels built when your old ones wear out. The ceramic /v-brake combo is terrific in wet conditions, and when set up properly, will offer no noise at all. tw
Posted on: 15 December 2004 by fatcat
Why don’t you buy a basic/cheap pair of shimano V brakes. The improvement over your current brakes will be immense. Probably more of an upgrade than going from £30.00 V Brakes to a pair costing a couple of hundred pounds.
Posted on: 16 December 2004 by Dobbin
Posted on: 16 December 2004 by JBoulder
quote:
Originally posted by Dobbin:
I'd go for Avid Single Digit's 30 odd quid
SRAM/AVID 7 would be a good choice. Inexpencive and sports replaceable pads.
Posted on: 17 December 2004 by starbuck
Many thanks for all those suggestions. Since posting this question it has been pointed out by my girlfriend that Santa is on his way, and that I shouldn't be buying anything at this time of year in case Santa already has one for me.
I think that means I'm getting brakes for Christmas, although I don't know which ones yet.
Thanks again,
Chris.
Posted on: 17 December 2004 by fatcat
I'm not being sexist but I doubt most girlfriends would know what a pair of V Brakes are, if they did I doubt they would know which to buy.
HOWEVER
They are capable of buying a complete, new bike.
Posted on: 17 December 2004 by long-time-dead
.... they are also totally capable of knowing EXACTLY where you spend a lot of your time and money.
They also have the advantage in knowing your bike shop will not tell you she's been in - or you won't get to go back !!!
You'll have EXACTLY the correct brakes next Saturday.
Posted on: 18 December 2004 by Steve G
If you're going to stick with V-brakes then Avid are the obvious choice. Even the Single Digit 3's are pretty good, but for the money you're taking then the 7's would be my recommendation.
BTW disks aren't possibly better, they're definitely better - for everything except weight.
Posted on: 18 December 2004 by fatcat
quote:
they are also totally capable of knowing EXACTLY where you spend a lot of your time and money.
Well. My wife thinks my
Dura ace equiped racing bike cost £75.00
RR1's cost £200.00
32.5 cost £50.00
DL103 cost £30.00
110 cost £50.00
Creek4040 cost £75.00
Yamaha KX580 cost £100.00.
Note. she thinks the huge outlay for the RR1's was worth it, because they are so cute.
Posted on: 19 December 2004 by miles
Just in case she hasn't bought them already... I'd just like to recommend the Magura HS33. I've had them for years and never had to mess about with them like I did cable brakes. Other than changing the blocks they really do seem to be fit and forget.
At the prices they are now I think they're an absolute bargain!
Miles
Posted on: 20 December 2004 by starbuck
quote:
I'd just like to recommend the Magura HS33. I've had them for years and never had to mess about with them like I did cable brakes.
Thanks Miles. I have a sneaky suspicion that it's the Magura's that are on the way, so it's good to see a recommendation for them - what wheels do you use with them, if you don't mind me asking?
Chris.
Posted on: 23 December 2004 by miles
Hi,
Cool - I'm sure you'll love them. I'm using the wheels that came with my bike originally (a '96 cannondale hardtail) which are Mavic something or other (not the cheapest but not the most expensive) on shimano STX hubs. Sort of looking around for new ones but not sure what to go for as of yet! Magura make special pads for ceramic rims though so...??
Have a good christmas!
Miles
