Bought a bike finally. Brake questions inside...

[BuickGN]

I haven't owned a bike in 10 years and what a shock the prices are! I wanted an entry level mountain bike with a decent frame that I can upgrade later on if I choose to. I wanted it mostly for exercise but will probably take it on a few trails in the mountains once in a while.

I ended up getting the Specialized Hardrock XC with disk brakes. This is all the bike I could every want for recreational use. Only one question.. It comes with 6" 160mm mechanical brakes front and rear. It has enough power to lock up/flip me over the front wheel. What I have noticed is when I purposely do a lot of heavy braking the disk gets very hot which I assume is normal. No sign of fade at all. Just wondering if these will let me down on a long downhill stretch. I weigh 210lbs.

I'll probably see if they fail first before upgrading the front. Does anyone know what's involved in swapping to a bigger 180mm or even a 200mm rotor on a bike already equipped with disks? It would be nice to just replace the rotor and space the stock caliper out the appropriate amount but something tells me it's not that easy.

 

[MGregoir]

I believe fade is caused by hydraulic brake systems, where the fluid boils and you are trying to compress a gas instead of the vapor. Mushy pedal.

I wouldn't imagine a mechanical system in a bike would let you down.

 

[moribundman]

Bike prices are insane. There's nothing out there for under $600 that I'd even consider. From $600 and up you can get an entry level bike that makes sense to upgrade as needed.

The Hardrock is a good bike. 160 mm rotors should be sufficient for recreational use. In any case, you should not need a larger rotor in the rear anyway, only in the front, if at all. Also consider that larger rotors are more fragile than smaller rotors. Larger rotors require adaptors.

 

[BuickGN]

Thanks guys. I went to the local bike shop and for the front rotor upgrade to a 180mm, it's $60+ $10 labor. Not bad at all and I would do the labor myself. I'm going to see if the smaller one fails first. My pads aren't even bedded in yet so I'll report back in a month or so after I get a chance to take it on a trail. I got it for $420, not too bad considering the only thing I would ever upgrade would be the front brake. I have to keep in mind that the forums I've been visiting are for people that are much more serious than me.

 

[BuickGN]

So much for waiting. I ended up getting the Avid BB7 203mm front brakes for $65. Should be here Wed. Girlfriend is going to hate me.

 

[moribundman]

Make sure the fork on your bike is strong enough to handle the increased force when braking with a large rotor.

 

[NYEngineer]

I just replaced some entry level Hayes mechanical discs on my stepson's bike with BB7's. They're great. He wanted hydraulic discs, but I couldn't justify putting 400 dollars worth of breaks on a 500 dollar bike.
The Avids are adjustable on both sides and operation is silky smooth. Did you get the linear pull levers also?

I still have a bike with Avid Tri Align cantilevers on it. The levers and the cants are probably 15 years old. Everything still works well.

 

[NYEngineer]

Oh, also, Read Mountain Bike Action. They review parts every month. They just had a tire shootout where they tested hundreds of different tires. The reviews were spot on. I swapped the tires on my 26" wheeled bike to the one they rated #1 and the bike feels tons better.

 

[wavinwayne]

Consider converting your wheels to tubeless, with Stan's No Tubes rim strips. Very easy to install, and with tubeless tires, you can say goodbye to pinch flats. With tubeless tires, you can run as little as 20 psi, and not have to worry about flatting.

 

[BuickGN]

You guys are bad influences lol.

My shifters and brake levers are integrated so I can't replace one without replacing the other so keeping the stock ones for now.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if I can lock the wheel with the 160mm rotor, is the 203 going to put more stress on the fork?

Tubeless tires sound cool but what's the going rate of these? My stock tires look like a compromise at best but since I use it mostly on road I'm not complaining. I may buy an extra set to swap out when I do some real off-roading.

I told a couple of my friends in LA that I got a bike and have come to find out they have the $1,500+ bikes and are a bit serious with downhill riding which is what sparked my interest in the bigger brake. I don't mind dumping an extra 60- $100 in brakes into a $420 bike but I'm trying to not go crazy. My GN started out this way too, picked up a beater for $3,600 and wanted mid 13s and look at it now. I'm trying my best to not get obsessed with this bike like I do with everything else.

 

[wavinwayne]

Originally Posted By: BuickGN
...Tubeless tires sound cool but what's the going rate of these?...


Around $40-$60 per tire. BUT, with the Stan's No Tubes system, you don't have to use tubeless tires, you can use what's on the bike now. Stan's website has videos showing how the process works.

It's a very easy process. I've done it, so it can't be that hard.

 

[sciphi]

One, good deal!! That sounds like a lot of bike for not a lot of money.

Two, yeah, keeping the wallet full is just as hard with bike as it is with a car. Although the stuff I've done to commuterize my bike (lights, small saddlebag and fenders) has saved my tail more than once in just the few months I've had it on.

 

[BuickGN]

Got the BB7 203mm brakes installed yesterday. All I can say is wow. They are extremely linear and easy to modulate and with two fingers I can send myself over the handlebars. Not bad for $65. Keeping the stock front for parts when the stock rear needs replacing.

 

[MarkC]

$420 is the list price for this bike. Good job getting rid of the original brakes.
Now get out and ride it.
Next upgade should either be the fork or derailleurs.
But for now, go ride!

 

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted By: MarkC
$420 is the list price for this bike. Good job getting rid of the original brakes.
Now get out and ride it.
Next upgade should either be the fork or derailleurs.
But for now, go ride!


Definately need some ride time. I knew I would upgrade the front brake for sure so I did it. Now I need to ride it on an actual trail to see what's next. I have a feeling you're right on the money with the fork.

I paid full price for the bike ($420) but with a $40 store credit I like to think it was $380 lol. With the accessories, it was just under $500 out the door. Going to look at an HID light for it because it seems less fatiguing on the eyes over LEDs.

I have a co-worker that just bought a Hardrock without disks. He wants to buy my stock front brake for $30 which I told him was not a smart thing to do on his part but he wants it. That would mean I would only come out of pocket $20 for a 185mm BB7 for the rear.

 

[MarkC]

Does his fork have mounts for disc brakes? Are his hubs gonna be strong enough?

 

[BuickGN]

Mounts are there already. He would have to get a cable and hub/rim.

 

[MarkC]

I'll tell you what, Sun DitchWitch rims are bombproof. I haven't had to so much as tighten a spoke in almost 4 months, and I tend to choose lines that will take me over, rather than around most obstacles. (Not always intentionally).

 

[BuickGN]

I'll let him know. We're both newbs to bikes.

If anyone cares, I finally got to do some downhill. Both front and rear performed flawlessly. The BB7s do have better modulation and I've noticed they stop much better once they have a little heat in them. They will lock up cold but lever effort gets easier as they warm up. I purposely dragged the stock rear 160mm Tektros and couldn't overheat them at all or I should say they didn't fade but the rotor did turn blue.

One big difference in the 203mm BB7s is the braking confidence. They don't seem to care whether I'm going 10mph or 40mph downhill. They stop just as easily from high speeds where the stocker on the rear seems to require more effort as speeds go up. I could keep the front balanced right on the verge of lockup from about 40mph to a dead stop easily with two fingers. Modulation is excellent. At first pull they feel a little weak, weaker than a v-brake but are very progressive. I tried to do every no-no in the book to make them fail and they were perfect. Up until now I was planning on going to hydros but I can't see a reason to anymore.

I was going to upgrade the stock rear to a 185mm BB7 but not sure if it would be worth it except for the bling factor. The Tektros actually aren't that bad when setup properly. Both front and rear were poorly setup by the store I bought it from and braking power improved by about 200% after I adjusted them.

 

[MarkC]

Sounds cool, have fun...but ponder what the "XC" on your bike stands for, and be careful doing downhill stuff, don't wanna break anything.