[Closed] Rotors! What's good?

I bought some Clarks... they came pre-warped... Meh....

Uberbike are lovely...

Hadn't thought of Uberbike, those new flatout ones look ace but they are out of stock. they only have radiator ones in stock which are, erm... a bit marmite let's say

I use the shimano ice techs on mosteverything and they're great.

Icetech +1

After years of experimenting, vanity and weight weenieing I've concluded that Shimano just works well. They don't pulse like SRAM, they don't have the issues cheap disks have, they're not expensive like Formula and Hope. They just work.

My theory is that most disks have too much cut out of them. What you need is big flat bits of metal with just enough cut-outs to let any gas escape from the pad surface. The Uberbike XL look like a better option to the standard flatout ones by that hypothesis.

Hope are actually cheaper than IceTech. Not that that is an issue

Good to hear some good stuff on them though, I'd discounted them based on my google searching. But I suppose the only people writing about rotors are unhappy people. A bit like stems and suchlike

using galfer discs and shimano ice tech.

I just got some of the Magura floating rotors, they look very nice. Unfortunately they don't play nicely with my Guide REs which I believe are designed for metric rotors, the Maguras are 203. The pads don't sit over the braking track in the right place and they feel graunchy and horrible as they don't sit over the inner edges of the track cut outs, can't get them closer as the rotor will foul the caliper body. Not really logical as the SRAM caliper would be further in on the rotor than they should be for a 200/203 mismatch but they're further out. Guess they just don't play nicely. Obviously the cost effective solution to this was to buy some MT7s which turned up today, hurrah! Thought I'd post up in case it saves someone else some 200/203 flavoured ballache.

I had a theory a few years ago that all plain stainless steel rotors must be pretty damn similar as long as they look decent. I replaced my worn out Hope rotors with the cheapest, unbranded ebay versions that I liked the look of.

I was fully prepared to admit I was wrong and replace them if they were crap but they're still on there. They've been to the Alps twice. No issues whatsoever. I think they were about £9 each. Used with Hope pads.

I've got hope discs on one bike and any slight wobble could normally be sorted with a quick press with my hand, my new bike wheels are centrelock though which the hope discs aren't compatible with, so went with ice tech rotors.

One was fairly warped and needed a decent bit of adjustment with a makeshift truing stand. The other needed a slight adjustment too.

Formula & Magura on my bikes, all came straight and have stayed straight.

Hope floating seem to come pre bent and needed tweaking, not good considering how much they are !

Care to give a summary? I CBA watching a 13 min video to find out it’s not relevant to the discussion.

I had a theory a few years ago that all plain stainless steel rotors must be pretty damn similar as long as they look decent. I replaced my worn out Hope rotors with the cheapest, unbranded ebay versions that I liked the look of.

I was fully prepared to admit I was wrong and replace them if they were crap but they’re still on there. They’ve been to the Alps twice. No issues whatsoever. I think they were about £9 each. Used with Hope pads.

No doubt you are absolutely right, but I want floaty ones because they look nicer. Plus I saved 900 quid buying a secondhand frame so I have to spend that on bling to make up for it right?

I like these.

My only 2p on this is that rotors with lots of metal work well and stay working well for a decent length of time. Shimano, sram, avid, formula - can't tell the difference. But alligator and the like with a skeletal appearance - well they overheat very easily and wear fast. Just not worth it unless you are building a superlight xc race bike.

I had a theory a few years ago that all plain stainless steel rotors must be pretty damn similar as long as they look decent.

I share your theory, and my go to cheap rotors have been Avid HS1s from eBay.
Can be had for between £6-10 depending on size, normally come with the torx bolts too.

Had zero issues running them with all sorts of brakes.

If it has to be floating, then I'd go with Hope. They are nice.

Bike-magazin (German) covered rotors in their 2017 test - https://www.bike-magazin.de/komponenten/bremsen/test-mountainbike-bremsbelaege-2017/page/4

Only used Shimano never had any problems. Obviously they get hit by things and need slight adjustment every now and again!

Utilitarian things, gimmicky designs often don't equal better performance.

But alligator and the like with a skeletal appearance – well they overheat very easily and wear fast. Just not worth it unless you are building a superlight xc race bike.

On that basis I’ve been using the Quaxar Axim floating rotors for years on my Xc bike, no issues. Except now that you mention it, it’s been so many years perhaps I should look at buying a new pair...

The bog standard Shimano RT66 rotors (non-floating) have been the best I've ever used in terms of reliability, quietness, and cost to performance ratio. I've never had one of them go out of true and they seem to last indefinitely.

My current bike came with RT86s and yes, they do look nicer, but I've had all sorts of problems with the rear one going out of true and constantly needing fettling. I bought one of those Park Tool rotor trueing tools which really helps in this regard but I'd prefer not having to do it at all. I'm an XC / light trail rider so its not getting whacked by rocks or stacking regularly.

I recently went to Magura MDR-P rotors in 220 front and rear and really dig them, not sure if its the extra thickness of them or the design but they were noticeably quieter then my Shimano Ice Techs in the winter. Before the Icetechs I had SRAM Centrelines which howled the minute any rain fell from the sky.