Disc brakes vs. V-brakes

I remember in the late 90's the big brake innovation was going from caliper brakes to cantlilevered and then to the "V" style (copyright Shimano) brakes. The braking force was so much better and you didn't suffer from brake fade (as much) as calipers. I remember how awesome it was when I switched out to the V's that I could literally lock up my wheels using a pinkey finger. At the time, the only other brakes that did that were those yellow Magura hydraulic rim brakes which were prohibitively expensive and pretty damn heavy.



Seems nowadays the big thing is definitely disc brakes. I'm curious, what makes them better? I know they are closer to the center of the wheel so less crap gets on them, but they are also heavier, correct?

I guess I'm wondering except for maybe downhill rider applications where you are on the brakes a lot, the V-brakes seemed to work incredibly well for me, even in the mud / rain / sleet. And they are very light. What am I missing :dunce:

one of the many things i hate about my bike is the non-disc brakes. LBS asked me point blank, you think you'll be riding wet? if so, get disc. i said no, riding wet was not in my future.

i of course was wrong.
A - stream and mud crossing = wet

B - actually riding in the rain is kind of fun. rain eats pad brakes for breakfast. every time i rode in rain i had to replace my pads.

Try them, you'll realize how crappy a rim brake is! short brake distance, No brake fade, work great when wet and don't make turkey calling noise(unless you have me work on them)

I feel like the V-brakes I had on my Proflex (Shimano XT) worked really well in the wet. I might have to drag the pads for a brief second to dry them out but then they seemed to perform fine. Maybe though I'm just comparing to what it used to be like with the old school cantilever breaks.

I've never actually ridden with a bike that has discs.

Better wet/mud performance is big. The thing I like the most is they're not as finicky about adjustments. When I had v-brakes it seemed like I was always having to adjust them so that they worked optimally. Then there was the annoyance when a wheel went even slightly out of true, which was magnified if any mud or grit got on the rim or pads. The constant scrape sound drove me nuts.

Some of the mechanical disc brakes are about as light at some v-brake setups.

I have hydraulic discs that I love. They take about 5 minutes to install and adjust and then they're good to go until the pads wear out (then you spend a couple of minutes changing pads, without needing any additional adjustments). Sure they're a little heavier, but the set it and forget it aspect more than makes up for that to me. Add to that good modulation with easy one fingered braking and it's a winner in my book.

Maybe I wasn't very good at setting up the v-brakes, or maybe I had low quality ones. I don't know and frankly I don't care. I won't miss them (though I still have to deal with them on my wife's and daughter's bikes... :-?). It's the way of the future, no use fighting it. You won't find very many FS bikes with v-brake bosses on the frames, nor will you find a good selection of forks or decent rims.

Nick said:

I guess I'm wondering except for maybe downhill rider applications where you are on the brakes a lot, the V-brakes seemed to work incredibly well for me, even in the mud / rain / sleet. And they are very light. What am I missing :dunce:

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Drum brakes used to stop cars but now almost every car, economy ones included, come standard with disc brakes. IMHO, the difference between v-brakes and disc brakes is much greater than the difference between old cantilever brakes and v-brakes.

I've got both

I've got 2 mountain bikes, both hardtails, one with rim brakes (v) and one with mechanical discs (avid bb7). No comparison in smoothness. As Mark said, any rim imperfection gets messaged right back to your hands and the frame, as there's a pulsating. The discs are more predictable and more easily modulated, whereas the v brakes tend to grab. Back when I raced road bikes, I had my rims perfectly straight, and brakes set perfectly as well,and that was a hot set up until a spoke popped or something got tweaked. Discs eliminate any feedback from imperfect rims.

Disc break work even if you rim is shaped like a taco. In other words you can be lazy and never true you wheels.

yeah I always hated truing my wheels. even if I got them nice from a lateral perspective they'd be all F-ed up from a vertical perspective

Nick said:

yeah I always hated truing my wheels. even if I got them nice from a lateral perspective they'd be all F-ed up from a vertical perspective

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Rim brake chase premature wheel wear and the heat from friction weakens the aluminum making the wheel more likely to get out of true. Since I switched to disc brakes I am having to tru my wheels much less.

Nick said:

yeah I always hated truing my wheels. even if I got them nice from a lateral perspective they'd be all F-ed up from a vertical perspective

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Rim brake cuase premature wheel wear and the heat from friction weakens the aluminum making the wheel more likely to get out of true. Since I switched to disc brakes I am having to tru my wheels much less.

Am I suppose to be truing my wheels?

o3jeff said:

Am I suppose to be truing my wheels?

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Only if you want to.

o3jeff said:

Am I suppose to be truing my wheels?

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Are they still round? :smash:

Nick said:

Are they still round? :smash:

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They still roll, I guess that's all that matters.

Nick said:

I've never actually ridden with a bike that has discs.

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You will answer your own question once you do. Its like night and day.

I've found that disc brakes perform better (in general in wet weather definitely). The deal breaker for me was riding in below freezing weather. My rim brakes were pretty much completely useless. The also pads seem to last longer. As for weight I can't imagine it would make enough difference unless you were a sick racer or something.