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If anybody has used both of these could you answer three little questions?
Is the M4 a lot more powerful than the original Mini?
Is it overkill or too heavy for the front of a trail bike?
Which is nicer?
The question of power really depends on how heavy you are and how fast you ride down hill. The M4 has a larger surface area so it will give you more stopping friction than one with a smaller surface area.
But dont forget to take into account the size of your disc. A larger disc has a greater surface area and therefore better stopping ability.
Its all physics really.
Oh, you wont notice the weight diff. You can sweat that amount of weight.
But dont forget to take into account the size of your disc. A larger disc has a greater surface area and therefore better stopping ability.
I'd understood it was exactly the opposite: if you recall all the hoohah about QR wheels being ejected under braking forces, the gist I got was that smaller disc has greater stopping power as it's got a smaller angle of momentum. The advantage of a bigger disc is increased heat dissipation. I may of course be 100% wrong 🙂
Indeeed you are wrong, nbt (about the forces. You're right about the heat dissipation). The issue with QRs was quite different and to do with treating the brake pads as the pivoting point if/when the QR was loose so that the force from the wheel against the ground, transferred to the bike at the hub had more leverage with a bigger rotor.
A larger disc has greater stopping power because of great leverage. The caliper will produce the same force but on a larger disc this force acts closer to the rim thus giving greater leverage
As for the original question. M4s are more powerful but not by a huge amount IME