Improve brakes? How?

[Master ACiD]

hydraulic brakes on a bicycle? wow i have been out of the loop.

 

[MarkC]

Ever try one of those "brake booster" things that look like a horshoe?
I never did, my Avid V-brakes were fine, both on my Moab and my Zetech, but I've seen guys with them.

 

[moribundman]

I think I've seen the brake booster gizmo.

My biggest fear of disc brakes has to do with the load on the asymmetrically arranged spokes. I've seen more than one front wheel fold over during hard braking. A high quality wheel is a must with disc brakes.

Some info on brakes: http://www.mtbr.com/techtalks/brakes/brakesfaq.shtml

 

[MarkC]

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Ride that new bike as hard as you possibly can on the trails. Give it H E L L. After breaking things a few times, you will either decide to give up mountain biking, or you will look into more durable equipment from a local bike shop. Generally speaking, any bike under $500 will not stand up to too much abuse.

---

Very much agreed. I try not to discourage folks from riding, even on a discount store bike, but those are best left for kids who will outgrow them in a few months, not folks looking to get into the sport. One will have a much better experience with a bike shop bike and the support which comes with it than with a discount store bike assembled by a min wage, part time, non-riding, sales associate. $150 for 6 months of hard use is a lot more than $400-500 for 2-3 years of hard use.

---

I believe that learning to work on and repair your own bike is way better than to depend on a bike shop for anything other than buying parts.

 

[rpn453]

Quote:

---

My biggest fear of disc brakes has to do with the load on the asymmetrically arranged spokes. I've seen more than one front wheel fold over during hard braking. A high quality wheel is a must with disc brakes.

---

Any chance they were radially laced? Those wouldn't stand a chance with disc brakes. Cross-3 is the minimum when you have discs.

I've never personally seen a mechanical disc brake setup that compares to hydraulic discs. I'm still running V-brakes though, so obviously I can make do with much less than the best when it comes to braking! V-brakes are fine without mud and/or long, intense downhill runs, but I'd probably own discs if I lived in the mountains.

 

[moribundman]

That was over ten years ago. I don't remember how the spokes were laced.