After some advice as per the title, first proper DH build , I do drag the rear bad habit 😀

I’d go 203, weight less of an issue for DH than heat is, and I’d rather have the extra power than not.

If you’re not a heavy biffer, you could get away with 180. What type of brakes are they? Saint/formulas are powerful enough to let you fun smaller if you fancy.

Cure that brake dragging habit by not fitting one for a few rides. Just take it easy(ish).

^^ that fun should be run, but it works, so i’m not changing it.

180 Rear 203 Front, 60% of your stopping power comes from the front so don’t worry about the rear, you could even run a 160mm but run the risk of cooking them 180 is more than enough, 203 rear is overkill.

Depends on you and your brakes, and where you ride tbh- are you massive, are you a brake dragger, are your brakes weak or strong? Are your runs 30 seconds or 10 minutes?

I could get away with 180/160 on mine- I’m light, my brakes are mighty and I don’t overburden them with heat. But I still use 203/180 because it makes no real difference and gives me a bit more margin. I managed to turn a 180/160 set on my Hemlock some very pretty colours at fort william but that was a very brake-draggy run

Downside of big rotors- weight, which isn’t that big a deal on a dh bike. Impact resistance- they stick out more and they’re easier to bend. And can be a bit less subtle/harder to modulate. Downsides of too small rotors- you cook your brakes, ruin your pads, and crash into a tree at the speed of light.

I’m 15 stone, 2013 XT brakes with cooling fins on the pads, XT rotors , I have a 203mm and a 180mm , but would buy another 203mm if it was advised, never done DH before so will probably be using them alot , with plenty of butt twitching :D, will be riding Llangollen, Antur Stiniog and a couple of other local tracks, never ridden any of them so its going to be a good year for learning, hoping to book a coaching lesson with Neil Donoghue then hopefully have a good time, I’m not racing its just for fun. 😀

Just get 203mm rotors no worrying cooking it.

Quick update , bought some 2nd user Hope Tech V2’s with 203mm rotors, so hopefully will be able to stop quickly when my bottle goes 😀