I am thinking of upgrading from normal v brakes to these on my commuter bike. Only £60 on CRC. Are they worth the upgrade from normal v brakes (Avid single digit)? I am also considering disc brakes on the front but would like to keep the same wheel rather than upgrading to a disc wheel set.

No, they will not be significantly better than a decent v-brake setup. Spend your money on new cables and pads if you must. Commuters = minimal fuss so hydraulic isn’t the best option.

Commuters = minimal fuss so a sealed fit and forget system is perfect

They are a bit pricey and not as good as discs but they are much better than vs

As above, fit and forget. Pad changes take less than a minute, other than that I haven’t touched mine since i fitted them (about 1998 I think!). When I bought new forks I fitted a front disc and this combo is perfectly useable off road and in pretty muddy/damp conditions. I don’t notice much difference between that and my FS bike with discs front and rear.

They are very good. In the dry I would say they are as good as discs, probably a bit more immediate (or grabby depending how you look at it) than some discs and always better than V’s.

I’ve had the same set across various bikes over 10 years and haven’t had to bleed them once. The paint finish is flaking now though.

Its a bit of a faff every time you need to take a wheel out though cos you normally need to flip the quick release on one side of the caliper and take it off the brake boss. (definitely if its an knobbly, maybe not if its a narrow slick)

I’m a little confused- just looked at crc and they are £70.99. Do you have a voucher?

I used to use a Maguras a lot before the rise of disc brakes and I have to disagree that they are more powerful than Vs. They are however fit and forget items which tend not te be affected so much by bad weather. Make sure you get the quick release levers too or you won’t be able to get your wheels out without unscrewing the brakes off the bosses. They are also a real pain to set up.

On a side note Avid BB7’s are a good price right now- about £40.00 each…

Shermer75 – I’m shipping to Japan, so I guess they took the VAT off.

One more question – how easy are they to fit straight from the box? Do you need to buy the bleed kit to fit them from the box?

You won’t need to bleed them unless you have to shorten the hoses, they come pre bled. HS33s are really easy to bleed, i also bleed mine with water, you can get away with this for a faster response as the water is less viscous than mineral oil, but i use them for trials.

Dom

Thanks Dom, how long are the hoses from the box? I’ll be fitting on the front so I guess I’ll need to cut the hose?

Looking at the CRC website, it looks like they come specced with rear length cables so the front will need cutting down, bleeding is easy and cheap, you just need one of THESE and a couple of THESE along with your chosen fluid, magura recommend royal blood mineral oil.

I’ve got HS33’s on a road bike. Not any better that a properly set up set of V’s IMO. They can exert an immense amount of force onto the rims & conversely the frame. I can make the frame flex if I pull hard enough on the lever. A brake booster in these circumstances is desirable. I can’t think of any reason not to fit them if they’re going for the “right” price though. Mine are more than ten years old & although not in regular use have never needed anything other than pads. I guess that makes them “maintenance free” IE no cables to replace.

D.

Excellent brakes. Discs are better but if you don’t have disc ready hubs the HS33’s will be cheaper and MUCH better than V’s. There’s a reason lots of trials riders still use an HS33 on the back.

If I lived somewhere completely dry, I’d rather run HS33s than discs.