Surpin

Hi! I have these two used road bike deals at hand but I can't absolutely determine on my own which is the better one.

They are two substantially identical bikes from 2020, but one is sold at 1400£ with its stock Shimano 105 groupset and hydraulic disc brakes, while the other at 1150£ because its stock Ultegra groupset and full hydraulic disc brakes system got swapped with a Shimano 105 one and a mechanical-hydraulic converter disc brakes system (i.e., now it has some sort of hybrid disc brakes: hydraulic disc brakes that are mechanically actuated).

I really have no experience to realize if the lower price is actually worth it given the brakes downgrade.

Do you have any opinions on the matter? Thank you very much.

Lombard

Personally, I would go with the 1400 pound stock bike vs. the 1150 pound bike with "Franken-brakes".

vespasianus

I find mechanical disc brakes, especially those for road use, to be terrible. Spend the extra money on the full 105 equipped bike.

Chuck M 

Another vote for the stock braked bike. While there may be a good reason that someone did this full hydraulic to mechanical hydraulic combination, I don't know what it would be.

Lombard

Probably because they wanted to put the better Ultegra full hydraulic brakes on a bike they were keeping?

thin_concrete

I’d take the stock 105 bike too.

Canker

Full hydraulic>hybrid hydraulic>mechanical disc>rim
That being said on a road bike I don't care, the > isn't that much to me on a road bike. My road bike is mechanical disc and I'm perfectly happy with it. Mountain bikes on the other hand hydraulic >>>>>>>>>>>> everything else. Go try them both out and see if you will regret the rest of your ownership by saving the money and going with the hybrid setup. You don't want to think "I shouldn't have saved that 300" every time you get on the bike.

Lombard

Personally, my preference would be Rim > Full hydraulic > The others mentioned.

Mechanical disc brakes suck.

Canker

It is funny how things change over the years. 6 years ago or whatever roadies mostly hated disc brakes of any kind, then they hated hydraulic disc brakes because of all the "difficult maintenance" they took so mechanical ruled, and now everything other than full hydraulic is trash.

Polaris OBark

I think there are two things going on here. One is that hydraulic disc brakes (105, Ultegra level) are demonstrably superior to mechanical disc brakes. (You don't see mountain bikes that cost more than $300 using mechanical disc brakes.)

The other is that the less expensive bike was downgraded to an extent not reflected in the small price drop.

The mechanical disc brakes in the OP sound like they are cable/hydraulic hybrids, which I think (no personal experience) are much more highly regarded. The caliper is hydraulic, but is cable-actuated. However, they are still a bit of a compromise.

Canker

also depends heavily one what hybrid hydraulic brakes are on on it. There are some super cheap ones and some super expensive kinds. Juin Techs run $170 each and are pretty highly regarded or $50 a pop no name brakea off aliexpress.

rsbob 

Cyclists tend to be tradionalists. Whatever has worked for the last 20 years has to be good enough. When something new comes along it is met with suspicion and derision until the pro-riders adopt it, and then it is great and a ‘must have’. Note: The pros usually don’t adopt new tech unless it is proven.

We have plenty of traditionalists on this forum which is fantastic. It’s similar to preserving classic cars. If it works for them, what could be better? I do take issue with whiners and negativists, but they too are an unfortunate part of life <-Just like me complaining about them right now.

Lombard

I never could understand the reason for these. It seems like the worst of both worlds - the hassles of cables and needing to periodically replace them along with the hassles of a hydraulic system and needing to do a bleed every so often.

Lombard

I have bikes with rim brakes and a bike with hydraulic disc brakes. I believe it's like anything else. There are excellent as well as dismal examples of each.

rsbob 

I too have two with rim and discs and know of what you speak. Everything has to go through development from the initial offerings, but then there are always the sub-par cheapos which just suck.

msu2001la

Agree. I think these exist mainly as a workaround to allow older rim brake road groupsets to be used on disc-brake bikes. A mechanical disc setup does the same, but people find the performance of mechanical disc setups to be lacking, so it's natural that there are "upgrade" opportunities out there.

For the OP, spending 250£ more to get an actual hydro 105 setup is a no brainer, IMO. The reason the other bike likely has these brakes is because someone wanted to keep the Ultegra stuff and had (or got a good deal on) a rim-brake 105 groupset, but still wanted to list it as "hydro brakes".

merlinextraligh

I’ve used hydraulic disc brakes, mechanical disc brakes, and hybrid disc brakes.

In my experience, hydraulic disc brakes are clearly superior to mechanical, and hybrids are better than purely mechanical, but not as good as purely hydraulic.

we changed the mechanical trp disc brakes to trp hybrids on our Co-Motion Java tandem. The mechanical brakes were difficult to setup to have enough stopping power without rubbing, and required frequent adjustment. The hybrids were a marked improvement in stopping powe, and also required much less futzing. ( like pure hydraulic they automatically adjust to pad wear, unlike pure cable actuated brakes.)

while the hybrids are a compromise, they have a place, such as for use on a travel bike where you may not want hydraulic lines that can’t easily be disconnected, or to extend the life of a mechanical group.

eduskator

I'd go with the 1st one. Are they both in the same condition and do they have similar mileage on them? That is more important than the actual brake type IMO.

Giant had a similar technology a few years ago (it was cost effective - mechanical levers being cheaper) but it disappeared quickly.