Jarrett2

V-Brakes vs. Disc - What do you prefer and why?

kingsqueak

So for rim brakes, v brakes are pretty awesome, a whole world better than calipers worked when I was last riding 25yrs ago. However, I prefer discs simply because they stop when wet much better than rim brakes do, particularly if I'm not concentrating and roll through a puddle on an otherwise dry day..forgetting to drag my rim brakes to dry them off again.

I went with the Avid BB7's on my new bike and I've been very happy so far, though admittedly I'm only on the first hundred miles.

I flipped a coin over mini-v's vs the discs, discs won mostly because I could blow the money on them at the time.

jsigone

disc brakes for anything off road
rim brakes for anything on road

Jarrett2

Why is that?

Pamestique 

I don't see anything wrong with v-brakes. They are lighter, work fine. Really easier to maintain. That said, I have mechanical disc brakes on all my mountain bikes. I tried hydraulic; just too much hassle for me; went to mechanical and am very happy. Most bikes (other than entry level) now come with disc brakes; there is seldom a choice. Even WalMart bikes have discs. So I went with what was available.

As to road bike, disc brakes are totally unnecessary; just too heavy and really not needed with one exception, if you are travelling on a fully loaded touring bike, then disc brakes are awesome

phillybill

I prefer disc as they are easier on my arthritic hands

jsigone

cuz I go to fast for V brakes on the dirt & need stopping power
and I don't go fast enough on the roadie to need disc brakes

donalson

over the years I've used U-brakes, Cantis, V's, mechanical discs and hydro discs... (still never had a chance to play with Hydro calipers... I'd love to get my hands on some old maguras

the easiest to setup by far have been the hydro discs... bleeding has only been required when cutting to shorten the line/hose or when swapping to a different leaver... granted in this aspect I've only used Shimano and Tektro both of which use mineral oil and have a very simple bleed procedure... once bled it was as easy as bolting everything on (keeping the caliper screws loose) and then squeezing the lever to center the caliper and then tighten the bolts... unless the hose has a kink (because of how so many frames setup the hose guides) or a warped rotor you should have a well dialed in brakeset

after that for setup I'd say my mechanical discs... I've had a few mechanical discs and of those the BB7's rule supreme... add avid SD7 levers and some clarks prelubed cables and you've got some dead on reliable stoppers that feel 99% as good as any hydro... my old LBS shop owner had these on every bike... he's can get anything he wants for next to nothing (and has in the past) but still chooses this setup.


Canti's and U brakes where a bit of a pain to setup...

V's... I like em... they work well and are easy to setup properly.

my fav bike still has to be my early Karate Monkey running "mullet" bb7 disc up front and SD7 V out back... it had all the power I needed and didn't give me any hassle when removing my rear wheel (early karate monkey required loosening the caliper mount so it could swing so you could slide the wheel out of the track end)

in short... they all work... but if you snap a spoke or wack your wheel way out of true discs will get you home and let you still stop ;-)

Medic Zero

No dog in this fight, I prefer cantilevers!

Rootman

For the most part disc brakes are completely unnecessary for most bikers. Any good rim brake can generate more than enough stopping power than required to safely stop a bike in 99.9% of situations - BUT - damn they sure are nice! I have hydraulic disc brakes on my bike and I absolutely love them. They are so much easier to use and stop me on a dime. They offer so much more control in stopping as well. I can think of a lot of other things to waste money on that are not as cool or nice. I would get a bike with them again in a heartbeat.

cyclokitty 

One bike has v-brakes, the other bike has disc brakes and I like how they work but the disc brake is quieter and stronger. My preference for bike pads for the bike with the v-brakes are the salmon Kool Stops because they work wonderfully in wet weather and very well in dry, but they are rather squeally when wet. I can sense curtains twitching when I brake at intersections. My mtb has cable disc brakes and for all of the "cables stink, hydraulics rule!" chatter, I have to say the cables work well at stopping my bike and my heft.

All in all, I give my salmon Kool Stop equipped v-brakes an A & my Tektro cable disc brakes an A+.

Erwin8r

Disc brakes, hands-down. I wish all my bikes had them. I disagree with the "they're heavier" argument--top-shelf disc brakes are only marginally heavier than top-shelf caliper set ups (nice big discussion about this in the roadie forum). At my weight, discs are SIGNiFiCANTLY better than rim brakes. I have all styles (disc, cantu, caliper, and v) on my bikes. Disc brakes on my commuter and mountain bikes make my life significantly easier.

But that's just me

cyccommute 

I have 7 bikes in my garage and the brakes run the gamut from dual pivot side pulls to cantilevers to v-brakes to mechanical disc to hydraulic. All of the brakes are high quality and not a single one does better in any condition than the others. V-brakes off-road? Work fine. Cantilevers on a loaded touring bike with a 50lb load and a 200+ lb rider on a 50 mph rain soaked downhill? No problem. Cantilevers in ice and snow? Again no problem. Dual pivot brakes on a light road bike? I can stand it on it's nose with little effort. Braking is about knowing how to use the them and not about the mechanisms.

That said, I find discs to be mostly a royal pain to deal with. Fitting racks to a disc equipped bike requires a lot of Mcgyvering. The mechanism isn't as easy to set up as many people think. The rotors have to be hyper true. They are far more 'fiddly' than any rim brake I've ever run across.

And, finally, a cheap, bad disc caliper is 10 times worse than any bad rim brake...including the hated Diacompe centerpull ripoff of the Mafac center pull which wasn't all that great to begin with. I work on a lot of cheap bikes with super cheap brakes. Even the lowest level v-brake or cantilever or even a stamped metal long arm side pull can be adjusted to work adequately enough to stop the bike. The same can't be said of cheap discs. Avid's brakes, both hydraulic and mechanical, are pretty good and can be adjusted to work adequately. I haven't seen any other brand that can say the same thing.

nfmisso

Rim brakes - V, U, canti, dual pivot side pull - all are easy to set up and powerful enough to send the rider over the bars, even when wet (with good pads). Allow much lighter wheels.

Only place I can see for disc brakes is in deep mud; and sandy conditions - which will cause unbelievably fast rim wear with rim brakes.

Discs require stronger (heavier) wheels, because the braking forces are transmitted by the hub and spokes to the rim.

Jarrett2

That's an interesting thought. Could this count for spoke breakage?

donalson

it could... but it doesn't... spoke issues still tend to be on the drive side...

another note is that up front it can lead to a weaker wheel as the wheel has to be dished somewhat rather then the even/same length spokes...

Jarrett2

Whatchu talkin' bout, Willis?

donalson

on some (not all) the front hubs the flange on the disc side has to be pushed in a little... that is going to then need a slightly shorter spoke on that side then the non disc side and the tension between the two sides won't be the same... same thing happens on the rear wheel for the drive side... but to a much lesser extent on the front.

Jarrett2

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for the info.

GTryder

Most of my bikes have V-brakes. One has canti's, 2 road bikes have calipers (all function well when properly set/up maintained) and my newly acquired bad weather/winter commuter has discs.
Last winter I rode with V-brakes and the cables contracting were more of a problem in very cold weather than the brakes themselves (derailleur cables were even more of a problem). Spring slush (along with road salt and sand) was a pain for about a week - still had stopping power with grinding and abrasion on the rims. Hoping the discs will eliminate these issues. They have been a bit of a challenge for rack/fender mounting as well.

cyccommute 

You are correct with one exception. All front disc hubs have the left side moved in to make room for the rotor. There may be a little less dish on something like a Shimano Centerlock hub but I doubt it.

fietsbob

There is a slight dish of a Disc hub equivalent of a 1mm shorter left side spoke ..

A Non standard 110 wide hub and fork spacing is another way to make a dishless front wheel..

Mechanical Disc calipers with few exceptions have 1 moving and 1 stationary pad,

the moving pad pushes the disc into the stationary pad


Hydraulic Disc brakes with rare exceptions are double acting .. the pads come in together on either side of the disc.


I like my Hydraulic German Made Magura HS33 rim brakes , Have been using the BB7 discs on my Bike Friday Pocket Llama
for the past couple winters ..

Do I have a preference, ? not really, The bike bought came with those brakes ,,t the one with the HS33's on it
can be converted to disc brakes , just not really motivated , because the ones on there are fine.

The Bike Friday Pocket Llama has the Disc Brakes , and posts for V brakes .. If I can find a distributor that the LBS deals with,
for the New TRP Hy-Rd I'll try those in place of the BB7..

So Jarrett2 what kind of bike are you indecisive on what kind of brakes You Want?

fietsbob

FWIW, last Winters Cyclocross World Championship race , in L'Ville KY

the racers running disc brakes found the pads did not even last an Hour.. the length of the race.

they flew in some custom made discs without holes in the edges to see if they wouldn't carry so much sand in the holes

and take out the brake pad surface as fast.

I think the 1st 10 places were all using cantilever brakes , that day.

donalson

ya it looks to be that it is the center lock discs that had the slight change in measurements (was just looking at the shimano spec sheets)

but I doubt it makes a hill of beans of difference when compared to a rear wheel

cyccommute 

That's on a par with the spoke length difference of a 135mm rear hub and look what kind of agony that causes.