I’ve just got a nice hardtail frame and want to build up as a lightweight ‘general purpose/winter’ bike. I’m thinking of running v-brakes (poss rear only) and was wondering what people recommend.

I’ve not used v’s for a long, long time and I see Shimano are still making XT/XTR etc brakes..any good?
What’s your thoughts?

I have XT’s on my commuter, loads of power, just watch them with grit.

they seem bloody expensive compared to disc brakes. and replacement brake pads are not cheap.

I’d go with disc’s every time.

Maybe his frame doesn’t ave disc mounts?

V’s are fine, discs are better. If you’re able to, go disc.

i have a immaculate set of xt v levers 6 months commuting use only last year?

Have had Avid Single Digit 7 on my hybrid/commuter for the last five years and can’t fault them. Stainless components don’t rust like the lower level ones.

do it, v brakes only seem poor when compared to a good disc setup.
i used v brakes for about 10 years, and they were cheap sram ones, absolutely fine, never failed to stop me.
xtr stuff is superb . . .

I remember when V brakes were the future having only canti brakes on my rigid 7 speed bike.

Later, I had a nice hardtail without disc mounts and just ran a front disc and I didn’t die.

‘V-brakes’ and ‘winter’… 😳

do it, v brakes only seem poor when compared to a good disc setup.

Which he presumably has… v-brakes on a winter bike seems an inherently daft idea!

I’d be wary of spending a load on the calipers and levers.

Avid SD7s are fine, as are the Deore ones if you can get hold of them still. I generally think choice of pads, correct setup and decent cables is more important than the brakes themselves with V brakes.

The Aztec cartridge pads with the metal carrier are really effective and worth an upgrade from the standard pads whichever brake you get.

Also be prepared for a high level of rim wear if using over the winter!

XTR V-Brakes are excellent, especially the M952 version (still my favourite XTR groupset), very light as well.

I have V brake rear and bb7 front rigid bike. The bb7 makes it usable all year round off road, as far as stopping goes. The rear still clogs with mud in very bad conditions though .

cyclist – they seem bloody expensive compared to disc brakes.

what are you talking about?

XT v brakes inc pads ~£25, deore are only ~£15

My last commuter had V brakes, and I think I was changing the pads about once every two weeks.

I can not imagine using anything but discs for commuting, if only for the convenience.

XTR V-brakes are sensational, literally off the scale. There’d be no need for disc brakes if all v-brakes were XTR

Use the severe conditions pads they’re top banana

I use V’s on my commuter no issues at all, providing they are set up correctly….just cant stand wearing the rims out! Going to upgrade to a set of Deore discs asap!

Magura HS33 for the non disc win, pick a rear up on eBay.

Qwerty beat me to it. For winter use HS33s would be great for avoiding crapped up cables and pivots all the time

Magura rim brakes are my favourite stoppers of all time.
All the power you’ll ever need with amazing feel.
Don’t forget (as rotor size seems like one of the many must have “upgrades” at the moment) that they are essentially a disc brake with a whopping 600mm+ rotor.
The only downsides are that the “rotor” is closer to the filth and you’d have to back them off if you pringled your wheel.

I have Vees on my old hardtail and they’re surprisingly good. Their main weakness, funily enough, is in winter when the pads get worn down in one ride and the rims get a battering.

HS33’s over disks for manualling!

HS33 well worth looking into.

I missed the whole V-brake thing out back in the day, i went from canti’s straight to Magura Julies.

Bought a 2011 Karate Monkey frame because it had canti studs and disc mounts, i already had a set of rim brake wheels so cheapest option was to go V-brakes.
Went with DC MX2 V’s and levers, stock pads suffered a bit from flex and caning the bike down the motorway at fort william did overwhelm them a bit, wore the pads down to the internal backing plate and scored the rims racing the MacAvalanche down Glencoe, bit worrying at times, snow, ice, mud, bog mud all laced with granite particles, but was never too out of control.
Swapped out to Aztec cartridge pads….. instant gain in sharpness and stopping power over the stock non-cartridge pads.

For weight weenism check out weights, the XTRs are a bit porky but counter that with extra power over standard V’s.

To balance things out wear wise, i have gone through rear disc pads on 3.5 runs down Cwm Carn on a wet day, front lasted into the 6th run.

There was a debate ages ago about how many pro-level xc riders would still use V-brakes if there equipment sponsors allowed them to 🙂

Half decent set of brakes, some quality cartridge pads and away you go.

If a well cheap pair of XTR’s came my way and the pivots weren’t worn out and sloppy i would whack them on and have a go.

🙂

Thanks for the replies guys 🙂

I’ve got v and disc mounts on the frame. I never had any problems with v’s on my old bikes and really like my Tech 4’s on my Intense. Also never thought, in winter, that my v’s weren’t up to the job.
Hadn’t thought about the Magura hydraulic v’s before..they could be worth a look.
I guess I’ll be scanning the For Sales to see what comes along as I’m in no major rush to get it built up.
Cheers

v-brakes on a winter bike seems an inherently daft idea!

+1

Go discs, without a shadow of a doubt.