hydraulic vs mechanical disc brakes? Least maintenance?

[mistermo]

I know most will argue that hydraulic discs have a better feel and may be more effective than mechanical discs. BUT, is one or the other more reliable or have fewer service needs than the other?

[d_douglas]

I love hydro brakes and have had good luck with them from the maintenance perspective, but assuming that others might have a few more issues than I have, I would guess that cable actuated brakes require less maintenance. More importantly, though, is that any incompetent mechanic could replace the cable vs having to bleed brakes (hard to do while out in the wild).

I personally have never have this issue, but it is something to consider.

[Mark McM]

Well, they are ... different. So service needs aren't 100% comparable. But if I were to attempt to sum it up, I'd say that the maintenance tasks on cable operated disc brakes are more frequent, but easier (and requiring fewer specialized tools), than hydraulic disc brakes. Pick your poison.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Well, they are ... different. So service needs aren't 100% comparable. But if I were to attempt to sum it up, I'd say that the maintenance tasks on cable operated disc brakes are more frequent, but easier (and requiring fewer specialized tools), than hydraulic disc brakes. Pick your poison.

That is what I meant to say, said eloquently...

[rkhatibi]

In the last 7 years of hydro Ultegra I replaced the pads (semi metallic) five times, the discs once, and a flush/fluid replacement for the hell of it. Shouldn't have bough the giant 2L mineral oil. Figure 3 hours of total maintenance.

Experiences with mech disc have been more mixed. Early mech only disc, Shimano CX77, was constant adjustment and unimpressive power including some near death experiences on San Francisco 10%+ downhills. Mech to hydro at the caliper, TRP hy/rd, was better after initial setup which required bleeding. Once setup they ran without needing much, but never had the power of full hydro. Eventually sold them and moved on. Didn't like running compressinless housing through the frame either.

In both cases the setup and replacing stock resin discs after being unimpressed was the most variable. Once everything was working almost no maintenance.

[CAAD]

After working at a shop for a number of years I'm not at all interested in road hydraulic levers no matter who makes them. Uneven lever pull, no lever pull adjustment, mushy lever, pads sit far too close to rotor and rub, pistons not fully retracting, random dead levers, rusty bleed ports rendering lever trash, bleed procedure. Yes, they require less lever force to operate and feel smooth but they are not for me. BUT not many options for road mechanical brake levers unless you go used or low end. My mechanical disc brakes (Growtec) with compressionless housing provided more than enough stopping power.

[fmradio516]

My 2 cents:

Cable: Set it up and forget it. Few years down the line, replace a cable.

Hydro: Everything is more complicated. Hoses are too short? Isnt as easy as just replacing housing...
One of the levers or calipers may develop an issue right out of the box, or shortly down the line.... either way, you dont know until it happens. And a lot of issues arent so simple to track down.


I try to avoid hydraulics whenever possible, but for actual mountain bike trail riding, i think you need it. Commuting/road riding; its just a "nice to have". I have never done gravel, so i cant speak to it, but i assume hydro would be good.

[CAAD]

Mountain bike hydro disc are pretty bombproof. Rairly re-bleed unless just maintenance.

Also have seen more than once hydro hoses failing at the caliper banjo from stress due to tight cable exit ports on internally cables frame/forks.

[Likes2ridefar]

Shimano hydraulic brakes have, by a landslide, required far less work and maintenance than any disc brake I’ve used. Most have been set and forget requiring only new pads. SRAM dot requires my attention at least once a year. Still better than cable actuated which requires constant adjustment as the pads wear, something I felt I was doing nearly every ride on my mountain bikes at times. The lever pull never felt as good after initial setup. Hydro feels the same every time I squeeze the levers.

I would only use a cable actuated disc brake if i had no hydraulic option.

[tellyho]

Interesting the variety of experiences here. I own 4 bikes with discs. 2 are Shimano hydraulic and I've had mixed experiences. They've all had leaky calipers of one sort or another. I just replaced two on two bikes and they're pretty solid now, but I've been through 4 calipers in my 10 years of ownership. Also I hate bleeding brakes.

[mstateglfr]

Originally Posted by mistermo

I know most will argue that hydraulic discs have a better feel and may be more effective than mechanical discs. BUT, is one or the other more reliable or have fewer service needs than the other?

I had mechanical disc for 1 year and did nothing after setup, other than adjust a caliper that had moved somehow and created disc rub.

I have had hydraulic on that same bike for 3.5 years and have done nothing after setup, other than adjust a caliper that ad moved somehow and created disc rub. Oh, and changed pads.



So...for my use- I havent seen a difference. Its a gravel bike and I dont fly with it or do anything more than ride it on paved and unpaved roads.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

Shimano hydraulic brakes have, by a landslide, required far less work and maintenance than any disc brake I’ve used.

Originally Posted by tellyho

Shimano hydraulic and I've had mixed experiences. They've all had leaky calipers of one sort or another.

My wife owns two bikes with Shimano hydraulic disc brakes.

One of them has been absolutely problem-free; they worked great right out of the box and haven't required any maintenance in the ~1 year she's owned it.

The other took over a year to get working acceptably -- including two items that Shimano had to replace under warranty, after six (!) trips to four different mechanics to try to diagnose/repair the issue -- and even now, almost 5 years on, they're still kinda dodgy, not the most confidence-inspiring sensation when grabbing a handful of brake.

So we're batting .500, and I'm not sure if that impacts my thoughts on any future bike w/ hydro. I've never owned a bike with hydraulic disc brakes, just had one with mechanical disc brakes (which I no longer own). It needed the same routine maintenance as my rim brake bikes: Change the pads occasionally, adjust the cable barrel nuts periodically.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by CAAD

After working at a shop for a number of years I'm not at all interested in road hydraulic levers no matter who makes them. Uneven lever pull, no lever pull adjustment, mushy lever, pads sit far too close to rotor and rub, pistons not fully retracting, random dead levers, rusty bleed ports rendering lever trash, bleed procedure. Yes, they require less lever force to operate and feel smooth but they are not for me. BUT not many options for road mechanical brake levers unless you go used or low end. My mechanical disc brakes (Growtec) with compressionless housing provided more than enough stopping power.

That hasn't been my experience with SRAM Force AXS hydraulic on 3 bikes. There's lever reach adjustment and contact adjustment. With short fingers, my levers are set as close to the bar without touching under hard braking. The contact adjustment really isn't used. The brakes are bled with default position being as immediate contact as possible. Screwing the adjuster in just creates dead band. The bleeding edge system is simple.

I've had Juin-tech cable operated hydraulic calipers. They were OK, but I had to disconnect the cable and squeeze the caliper lever by hand to get the pads centered. The cable pushes the calipers out of alignment.

[Likes2ridefar]

Let’s be honest and state the contact adjustment does nothing and it’s why it is no longer available on the new models. It is why I don’t use their brakes and instead Hope rx4.

[TheseGoTo11]

Originally Posted by CAAD

After working at a shop for a number of years I'm not at all interested in road hydraulic levers no matter who makes them. Uneven lever pull, no lever pull adjustment, mushy lever, pads sit far too close to rotor and rub, pistons not fully retracting, random dead levers, rusty bleed ports rendering lever trash, bleed procedure. Yes, they require less lever force to operate and feel smooth but they are not for me. BUT not many options for road mechanical brake levers unless you go used or low end. My mechanical disc brakes (Growtec) with compressionless housing provided more than enough stopping power.

I'd echo most of these and toss in fouled pads and rotors from leaking fluid and perhaps more important (to me) the lousy ergonomics with road hydro levers. Chunky, bulbous hoods with vague hand positioning contrast with the sublime fit and feel of most mech levers. The one advantage I appreciate with hydro road brakes is the amount of force required on long, steep descents (good example for those familiar with Boulder riding--Sunshine Canyon from Gold Hill). But if you're not doing descents like that, I can't think of any redeeming quality road hydros have that overcome the things I dislike about them. Spyres with Jagwire compressionless housing are my preferred mech brake setup.