I’ve tried a lot of brakes.
Shimano XTR hydraulics, Hope hydraulics, shimano cable pull discs.

The best brakes I ever had were shimano XTR V brakes on ceramic rolf propel rims.

I love feathering the brakes. no-one seems to feather the brakes any more.

I don’t like the soft squidge of the hydraulic discs.

oh and then there’s the maintenance of discs. bleedin’ hydraulics!

Is this just a lone wolf ramble or are there other kindred souls out there? ❓

Fitted my Elixirs maybe 3 years ago and apart from pad changes and realigning after wheel removal (a matter of minutes) I haven’t touched them.

no-one seems to feather the brakes any more.

What a ridiculous statement!

no one needs to true their wheels was more my thinking 😉
yes you are probably alone in this respect

*haven’t touched them maintenance wise that is*

bikes take too much maintenance, I just run around with my hobby horse

You have badly set up disc brakes. Mine have always been razor sharp and zero maintenance apart from new pads on about 5 or 6 different bikes.

I’ve got a variety of xtr cantis kicking around and I’d take a disc brake every time. I don’t think any of my disks are “soft squidge”.

You haven’t learned to feather the brakes you mean.

Feathering discs and feathering V-brakes take different techniques.

maybe not. But I have been riding for 17 years. perhaps it’s a case of first love. With discs you can apply a constant amount of force to the brake and have a predictable gradient of braking. with V’s you have to clench release a bit more. I prefer the latter especially with technical stuff as I seem to be able to anticipate the braking force better with V’s as there is more tactile feedback.

I don’t know. I mean I know it makes more sense with pretty much every aspect – mechanical efficiency, reliance on wheel trueness, etc but I just haven’t got on with them.

anyway I’ll just keep to myself on this then 🙂

oh and then there’s the maintenance of discs. bleedin’ hydraulics!

Opps! Should I have done maintenance on my 4yr old Oros? 😕 😳

Feels weird using the mini-V’s on my CX bike. Actually uses effort to brake.

Normally a bike forum is the perfect place to find Luddites espousing their anachronistic views on steel frames, rigid forks and singlespeeds, but I can’t imagine you will find many people who will go as far as to say they prefer v-brakes to disc brakes. Disc brakes are much less hassle than V’s, and offer much better performance. Would have to agree with others above, you must have something wrong with either your disc brakes or your technique, or both.

I have V’s on my old steel Kona and Hope Tech 4’s on my Enduro – I get on with both.

Properly set up V’s are perfectly good enough in all but the wettest claggy conditions – I can lock both wheels easily.

Saying that, I do prefer discs (with the exception of the horrible Avid Juicy’s I had on my old Enduro).

my v-brakes sent my braking surface concave from too much riding in the wet. New rims aren’t cheap.
Never had that with discs. as others said, will be surprised if you find many agreeing with you.
And on the feathering, you’re entitled to an opinion but surely it’s just that – how do you have any evidence of anyone else’s braking technique??

By ‘feathering’ are you referring to applying and releasing pressure (like a cars ABS), so as not to lock wheels – or applying the right pressure to slow you efficiently?

Personally the second method works fine for me, unless for some reason I have to grab a handful and then feather to ensure I don’t lock up.

it is but my own humble opinion.

and yeah applying and releasing rather than applying a constant force.

Why would you actually ‘want’ to do that?

Serious question, not a dig.

maybe not. But I have been riding for 17 years. perhaps it’s a case of first love. With discs you can apply a constant amount of force to the brake and have a predictable gradient of braking. with V’s you have to clench release a bit more. I prefer the latter especially with technical stuff as I seem to be able to anticipate the braking force better with V’s as there is more tactile feedback.

And I’ve been riding mountain bikes for twenty four years, and cycles for well over forty, and hell will freeze over before I go back to V’s. constantly having to tweak the pads to keep them aligned with the rim, trimming rubber off where they wear around the rim, digging bits of alloy and grit out of the pads to stop them scoring the rim…
I had to look at the rear disc on my SS on Monday, after the pad material came away from the backing plate on one piston, and the metal started rubbing against the rotor. When I took the other pads out another pad’s friction material came off. Took some time to force the piston back in, but once I got it in I put a spare set of pads in and it’s working fine.
Spent around and hour and a half in total. That’s the first time I’ve touched either brake since the bike was built up in 2007, and the brakes were first bought in 2003.
They are Hope M4’s, BTW, and the pads I had to replace were the original set from nine years ago. The front ones are still the originals, and there’s plenty of material left.
And I’m perfectly capable of feathering discs, even the cable ones on my old Kona Sutra.
You’re just not trying, and thinking up excuses.

want to do what – cover the brakes and apply / release?

because I get more tactile feedback from the trails. pedalling alongside braking with this apply / release is more satisfying than applying constant force to brakes. when I used hydraulics I find that braking feedback is muted from the silky braking force that I get.

😐

Are you on crack?

I like the Vs on my commuter. Way more faff and tinkering though.

The XT discs on my mtb require zero effort to use/maintain. I did change pads once.

I was a very late starter when it came to discs too.

Are there really people who are pumping the brakes? This is madness.

I prefer mechanical disc brakes on my offroad tourer – purely because if (when) something goes wrong with them, it’s a shitload easier to replace a cable than it is to carry a bleed kit and dot fluid.

Wouldn’t go back to Vs though – I like being able to stop with one finger.

I still run XTR V brakes on my summer race bike. No choice really, it’s that old. With cross max sl wheels they’re more than adequate in the dry. Can’t say I ever need to faff with them.
Also prefer BB7s because I like the feel of cable brakes.

My rigid bike has a bb7 at the front and a v brake at the back. The v brake is fine in this lovely dry weather and doesn’t need any more attention than the bb7 but when it’s wet and muddy it’s a whole different story. It either does very little to stop you or it stops you dead because it’s collected so much mud. My commute to work is 5 miles off road followed by a steep 1 mile downhill road section which was pretty scary when I had v brakes front and rear. I have hydraulic discs on my hardtail and never think that I’d want v brakes ever again. In fact in many ways I think the cantilevers I had when I started mountain biking were more practical than v brakes. They were a bit more faff to set up but I can’t ever recall them clogging up with mud and stopping the wheels turning.

There is something very nice about a proper parralelogram V brake like an XTR, with those hard thin pads, hitting a big straight vertical ceramic sidewall, like those on the original Crossmax wheels.

But I’d not to back to them.

+1 brant

I’m still wanting to build up a nice retro Kona with V’s and Project 2 etc. But there’s a time and place for them and that’s certainly not for my general riding.

I have XT parallel push V brakes with Avid levers on ceramic 517s on my Klein. Dry trails they are perfect for, easy to modulte and enough stopping power to bring me to a halt.
I rode for the last 12 months with just v brakes, having sold all my modern kit, and I’m not dead.
Recent back problems, frame breakages etc have lead to me getting a ‘modern’ bike again, with disc brakes. Nowt fancy, an old set of Hayes Nine picked up for £30 on the classifieds.
The difference in control is huge. Disc brakes are way better than v brakes in the same way as v brakes are way better than cantis. Not to say well set up canti or v brakes are rubbish as they aren’t but discs can be so much more controlled and relaxing to use it makes the whole experience better.
I remember the progression through them too, having started riding in the early 90s.

I’m still wanting to build up a nice retro Kona with V’s and Project 2

well thats basically my winter ss/Commuter and if I’m honest I’m pretty much over Vs now fortunately the P2 fork is a later model with a disc mount so it might be getting an old m525 from the spares box this weekend I think…

All I need to do now is get a rear disc mount and I’m laughing…

I don’t like the disc brakes on my car, I much prefer the drum brakes of old.

I miss the lack of stopping power, the absolute faff of changing brake shoes, and the brake fade due to overheating.

Yeah right 🙄

If you love V’s you can’t be riding much in winter/mud…

If you love V’s you can’t be riding much in winter/mud…

+1!

I certainly don’t miss having to carry spare pads and having change them mid-ride in when its lashing down with rain in the middle of winter!

Ah yes! That brings back memories of mid winter riding coming down a sketchy slope in thick mud and applying the old V brakes and nothing happening in the slowing down department. happy days! 😯

well, you are stupid. next!

Are you that Mattamomo kid/middle aged chap on an epic troll spree?

If not I suspect you may be a fair weather rolling hills kind of rider, not a muddy descent narrowly avoiding trees kind of person.

Which is fine, but you ‘re missing out!

I’m sorry but I prefer old V-brakes over Disc

Which is nice….

I think I can see where the OP is coming from. It’s a bit like saying that you’re not keen on power steering in a car because you get less feedback from the wheels.

Can’t say as I agree though. Slutchy rims + V-brakes = death. I’d take the slight drop in tactile feedback over the lack of ability to stop any day.

The OP might only weigh 7 stones, which would have some effect on how much they might/might not, appreciate the advantages of disc brakes. For me it’s the Dura-Ace brakes on my road bike which are a sheer delight to use, not the same thing I know, but I never cease to be amazed just how “ace” they are 🙂

The day my rim ‘exploded’ on the Marin trail due wear from grimey, gritty pads convinced me never to go back to Vs – sounded like a shotgun going off and could heve been very nasty.
I’d always wondered what those wear markers were for!