Mtn bikers - disc brakes & modulation

[vandeda]

Hey all, i'm hoping to tap into your knowledge base. Its time for a new mountain bike. It looks like my only option for brakes is disc brakes.

My experience with disc brakes hasn't been good so far. Every set (bb5, bb7, juicy 5 & 7, and some hayes hydraulic) has been far too grabby with over-the-handlebar power with my pinky. Just poor poor modulation imho. If I'm on the hairy edge, i don't want grabby brakes ... just like when i used to do some SCCA racing ... grabby upsets the chassis far too easily.

Are there any disc brake setups that offer good modulation and require a good *firm* squeeze of the brake lever? None of this single finger flick locks your brakes like a bad 80's american car (or my parents nissans), but a good firm squeeze.

I think part of the problem is at 125 lb i'm a lightweight and i've never had problems with braking power with my v-brakes, even when wet and muddy ... but there has to be something out there thats got real good modulation and adjustability

Thanks!

[gt6267a]

i have avid carbons and am not locking them up all over the place. MUCH better than my hayes equiped bike. i have not ridden the latest shimano setups on the mtn (ironic that i had a lx dual control setup but never got it on the trail) but have heard they are the business in the modulation department.

[Dave B]

Mechanical brakes the modulation is you grabbing too hard on the levers, but if would back out the pads or on hydrolics the lever contact dial so you have to squeeze more lever for the pads to engage. You can still run v brakes on several things, but with all due respect, you might not be using your brakes in the best way. what I am trynig to gently say is that your riding style might need a tweak. If you feel as though you are grabbing too much brake then I would suggest braking earlier. Until they make anti-lock bike brakes I think it could be a combination ofr lever through and riding style. When you brake push your body towards the rear of your bike, as if you move forward and need to get on the brakes harder then I would imagine a pitch over the front would seem likely.


However there are pads that tend to be less grabby. Metallic pads are less grabby then say a resin pad.

I suppose you could also play with rotor size. If you are running larger then 160 up front yo umight try a 160, and maybe a 140 in the rear. Your weight does not seem like much to me.

[vandeda]

Mr. President, i think you may have misinterpreted my message a bit. Lets generalize a bit. for brakes, you'll get x braking force for y lever force. We'll write it as x/y.

If x/y is really high, then you'll get tons of braking power for very little finger effort, and resultingly poor modulation.

If x/y is really low, then the opposite is true. Like, braking in wet weather with steel rims. You squeeze on the brake levers with all your might, yet you dont stop.

I find that x/y is too high on all disc brakes i've used so far. I've found that x/y is high enough that the brakes have been too grabby with poor modulation.

i'm looking for brakes with a higher x/y ratio that provide better modulation than all the brakes i've used so far.

Does that make it clearer what my issue is?

[Dave B]

Yess, but I usually use A and B... :D

For modualtion I think Avid juicy, Hope mono mini, and 960 XTR are my personal favs.

[vandeda]

Cool ... thanks Pres! Of those three, which do you find is best?

So far two votes for Shimano, and a vote for metallic pads.

I'm crossing my fingers here, this can make or break the ride (no pun intended!).

Thanks for the replies so far!

[Dave B]

I think of the fixed brake, the avids probably are some of the simplest to set up, bleed, and maintain.

I love the XTR or XT as I like the shifting and braking. In all the time the dual control has come out I have maybe misshifted a handful (no pun intended) a few times.

I think for super technical (think down hill rocky rooty boulder) I think there may be an advantage to fixed brake lever.

I am able to bleed both front and rear disc brakes with the pads still in the calipers in about 15 minutes with Shimano's kit. They are sleek, can be a pain in the arse to set up unless you have my wonderful easy step by step process, which I would give you for free, and they are dead sexy.

How can you go wrong....unless you want to use SRAM! Then you are sol for dual control! :D

Goodluck!

[gdw]

Another vote for Shimano. I'm not a fan of discs but the Shimano's have great modulation and the newer 2008 XT's seem to be their best to date. The older model LX, XT, XTR's are being cleared out by the web retailers and on Ebay at really low prices if you're interested in saving a few bucks. They offer great modulation but their wheel locking power isn't much better than a good v set-up. In other words they aren't very good brakes for the gen x freeriding crowd but perform very well for the xc trail rider or racer looking for a reliable all weather brake. ATMO

[link]

160mm rotor = good modulation and power
180mm rotor = better modulation and power