My bike currently has V brakes, but the wear on the blocks is tremendous, due to the amount of hills around here………
Currently wasting the fronts every 2 weeks……….
Front forks & hub do not support disc brakes……..
Solutions?
Cheers

New wheels and, new fork and shiny new disk brakes.

Thought so……… Cheers

Can you accommodate disks on the rear.?

Cheapest would be a new front hub and forks and rebuild the wheel, easier to get a new wheel, though, and not much more expensive. Front disk will make a big difference, do the rear later. If the fork doesn’t have disk tabs then its probably due for a change anyway.

No idea…….
It’s a mongoose nx 8.1

Shame to let the fork go coz it’s mint, but can see the logic

not trying to be funny but, tbh, having googled your bike you might be better trying to get hold of a harder wearing pad compound for your v’s than getting forks and wheels and stuff for your current bike.

for the price of fork, disks and wheels you coudl be lookign at an entry level hardtail (have a look at carrera @ halfords on offer) with a useable disks etc already fitted and the added bonus of new drivetrain etc as well.

Cheapest option is obviously to MTFU and stop braking so much on the steep hills. You might want to invest in some gum shields / life insurance or something though.

After every ride clean you rims and clean you brake blocks, looking in particular for and small abrasive bits stuck into the rubber. In theory this should increase the life of your pads by x amount. Never bothered doing this myself. Wilkinson do very cheap pads that are usable.

If you can’t fit Discs, which are the preferred option, Magura HS33’s are a good alternative over V-brakes. Have been running the Front Disc (Shimano LX/XT) & HS33 2011 model rear on rigid for the last few weeks in very muddy conditions, and the pad wear hasn’t been much worse on the HS33’s than on the disc.

Looking at the NX 8.1, realistically, your best option would be to either live with the brake wear, or save up and get a new bike, as putting money into the NX 8.1 will false economy.

Bikes have moved on since that was released. For the cost of replacing the fork & brakes with mid level ones, you could almost get a new (last years model) bike, take a look at places like Pauls Cycles for an idea of what there is around

If you’re burning through V brake pads, you’ll probabaly get through disc pads quite quickly too?

I’ve heard plenty of anecdotal stuff about people moving to discs and changing pads more regularly, not less. Although someone will be along in a minute to say that’s because they weren’t bedded in.

I went for new forks, brake and wheel on the front a little while ago. Pretty happy with everything. Back is still V, I’m stalled at the thought of 500+ for work on the frame(braze-on disc mounts, cable stops replace for hydro guides, canti mounts removed and stays made good, respray) new wheel and brake. Plus the bike seems to be working well as it is!

Have tried quite a few bikes out, including the carreras @ halfords & the boardman bike, but they don’t fit me…….. if that makes any sense….. Either the bar was too high to get on or the handle bars to close/far away…… Have been riding this bike without any of the usual back problems I get from riding normally(which has put me off).
Haven’t stepped on a bike under £1500 which has the same feel…..
Picked this up 2nd hand & have loved it, using it to commute & even do the weekly shop with a trailer…… It just needs a better braking system to be the perfect bike for me……..

Cheapest option would be to grab 2nd hand stuff off the classifieds. Disc ready wheel (£50max) basic disc fork (Dart etc £50max) and maybe a front mechanical disc caliper so you can keep your existing brake levers and cabling (halfords do one for around £25).

I reckon if you have the patience to wait around for a bargain, you’d get all 3 for less than £100 easily.

Been spotting a few on ebay going really cheap

If you’re burning through V brake pads, you’ll probabaly get through disc pads quite quickly too?

Not convinced by that.

I was in the same situation as the OP, burning through V-brake pads every other week. Put some disc brakes on and even now I’m going faster and being harder on the brakes I’m only buying new pads once or twice a year.

I would second MrTall’s idea of scrounging the classifieds for all the parts you need. You can get some cracking bargains if you look hard enough (or just whack a Wanted ad up)

If it’s any help I have a Ritchey disc-hub kicking about you can have for a fiver +P/P. It’s a cartridge hub so it’s easy to service. 135mm QR (e-mail in profile)

If you can’t fit Discs, which are the preferred option, Magura HS33’s are a good alternative over V-brakes. Have been running the Front Disc (Shimano LX/XT) & HS33 2011 model rear on rigid for the last few weeks in very muddy conditions, and the pad wear hasn’t been much worse on the HS33’s than on the disc.

Been using HS33s on the commuter due to lack of disc mounts (got them now due to frame/fork swap but still got the Mags.)
I find they eat pads at an alarming rate (especially if I change the tyres and venture off the tarmac) but are excellent in every other respect so I’ve stuck with them.
What pads do you have in yours that last so well?