[Closed] I'm sorry but I prefer old V-brakes over Disc

Fitted my Elixirs maybe 3 years ago and apart from pad changes and realigning after wheel removal (a matter of minutes) I haven't touched them.

no-one seems to feather the brakes any more.

What a ridiculous statement!

no one needs to true their wheels was more my thinking 😉
yes you are probably alone in this respect

*haven't touched them maintenance wise that is*

bikes take too much maintenance, I just run around with my hobby horse

You have badly set up disc brakes. Mine have always been razor sharp and zero maintenance apart from new pads on about 5 or 6 different bikes.

I've got a variety of xtr cantis kicking around and I'd take a disc brake every time. I don't think any of my disks are "soft squidge".

You haven't learned to feather the brakes you mean.

Feathering discs and feathering V-brakes take different techniques.

maybe not. But I have been riding for 17 years. perhaps it's a case of first love. With discs you can apply a constant amount of force to the brake and have a predictable gradient of braking. with V's you have to clench release a bit more. I prefer the latter especially with technical stuff as I seem to be able to anticipate the braking force better with V's as there is more tactile feedback.

I don't know. I mean I know it makes more sense with pretty much every aspect - mechanical efficiency, reliance on wheel trueness, etc but I just haven't got on with them.

anyway I'll just keep to myself on this then 🙂

oh and then there's the maintenance of discs. bleedin' hydraulics!

Feels weird using the mini-V's on my CX bike. Actually uses effort to brake.

Normally a bike forum is the perfect place to find Luddites espousing their anachronistic views on steel frames, rigid forks and singlespeeds, but I can't imagine you will find many people who will go as far as to say they prefer v-brakes to disc brakes. Disc brakes are much less hassle than V's, and offer much better performance. Would have to agree with others above, you must have something wrong with either your disc brakes or your technique, or both.

I have V's on my old steel Kona and Hope Tech 4's on my Enduro - I get on with both.

Properly set up V's are perfectly good enough in all but the wettest claggy conditions - I can lock both wheels easily.

Saying that, I do prefer discs (with the exception of the horrible Avid Juicy's I had on my old Enduro).

my v-brakes sent my braking surface concave from too much riding in the wet. New rims aren't cheap.
Never had that with discs. as others said, will be surprised if you find many agreeing with you.
And on the feathering, you're entitled to an opinion but surely it's just that - how do you have any evidence of anyone else's braking technique??

By 'feathering' are you referring to applying and releasing pressure (like a cars ABS), so as not to lock wheels - or applying the right pressure to slow you efficiently?

Personally the second method works fine for me, unless for some reason I have to grab a handful and then feather to ensure I don't lock up.

it is but my own humble opinion.

and yeah applying and releasing rather than applying a constant force.

Why would you actually 'want' to do that?

Serious question, not a dig.

maybe not. But I have been riding for 17 years. perhaps it's a case of first love. With discs you can apply a constant amount of force to the brake and have a predictable gradient of braking. with V's you have to clench release a bit more. I prefer the latter especially with technical stuff as I seem to be able to anticipate the braking force better with V's as there is more tactile feedback.

want to do what - cover the brakes and apply / release?

because I get more tactile feedback from the trails. pedalling alongside braking with this apply / release is more satisfying than applying constant force to brakes. when I used hydraulics I find that braking feedback is muted from the silky braking force that I get.

😐

Are you on crack?

I like the Vs on my commuter. Way more faff and tinkering though.

The XT discs on my mtb require zero effort to use/maintain. I did change pads once.

I was a very late starter when it came to discs too.

Are there really people who are pumping the brakes? This is madness.

I prefer mechanical disc brakes on my offroad tourer - purely because if (when) something goes wrong with them, it's a shitload easier to replace a cable than it is to carry a bleed kit and dot fluid.

Wouldn't go back to Vs though - I like being able to stop with one finger.

I still run XTR V brakes on my summer race bike. No choice really, it's that old. With cross max sl wheels they're more than adequate in the dry. Can't say I ever need to faff with them.
Also prefer BB7s because I like the feel of cable brakes.

My rigid bike has a bb7 at the front and a v brake at the back. The v brake is fine in this lovely dry weather and doesn't need any more attention than the bb7 but when it's wet and muddy it's a whole different story. It either does very little to stop you or it stops you dead because it's collected so much mud. My commute to work is 5 miles off road followed by a steep 1 mile downhill road section which was pretty scary when I had v brakes front and rear. I have hydraulic discs on my hardtail and never think that I'd want v brakes ever again. In fact in many ways I think the cantilevers I had when I started mountain biking were more practical than v brakes. They were a bit more faff to set up but I can't ever recall them clogging up with mud and stopping the wheels turning.

There is something very nice about a proper parralelogram V brake like an XTR, with those hard thin pads, hitting a big straight vertical ceramic sidewall, like those on the original Crossmax wheels.

But I'd not to back to them.

+1 brant

I'm still wanting to build up a nice retro Kona with V's and Project 2 etc. But there's a time and place for them and that's certainly not for my general riding.

I have XT parallel push V brakes with Avid levers on ceramic 517s on my Klein. Dry trails they are perfect for, easy to modulte and enough stopping power to bring me to a halt.
I rode for the last 12 months with just v brakes, having sold all my modern kit, and I'm not dead.
Recent back problems, frame breakages etc have lead to me getting a 'modern' bike again, with disc brakes. Nowt fancy, an old set of Hayes Nine picked up for £30 on the classifieds.
The difference in control is huge. Disc brakes are way better than v brakes in the same way as v brakes are way better than cantis. Not to say well set up canti or v brakes are rubbish as they aren't but discs can be so much more controlled and relaxing to use it makes the whole experience better.
I remember the progression through them too, having started riding in the early 90s.

I'm still wanting to build up a nice retro Kona with V's and Project 2

well thats basically my winter ss/Commuter and if I'm honest I'm pretty much over Vs now fortunately the P2 fork is a later model with a disc mount so it might be getting an old m525 from the spares box this weekend I think...

All I need to do now is get a rear disc mount and I'm laughing...

I don't like the disc brakes on my car, I much prefer the drum brakes of old.

I miss the lack of stopping power, the absolute faff of changing brake shoes, and the brake fade due to overheating.

Yeah right 🙄

If you love V's you can't be riding much in winter/mud...

If you love V's you can't be riding much in winter/mud...

+1!

I certainly don't miss having to carry spare pads and having change them mid-ride in when its lashing down with rain in the middle of winter!

Ah yes! That brings back memories of mid winter riding coming down a sketchy slope in thick mud and applying the old V brakes and nothing happening in the slowing down department. happy days! 😯

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well, you are stupid. next!

Are you that Mattamomo kid/middle aged chap on an epic troll spree?

If not I suspect you may be a fair weather rolling hills kind of rider, not a muddy descent narrowly avoiding trees kind of person.

Which is fine, but you 're missing out!

I'm sorry but I prefer old V-brakes over Disc

I think I can see where the OP is coming from. It's a bit like saying that you're not keen on power steering in a car because you get less feedback from the wheels.

Can't say as I agree though. Slutchy rims + V-brakes = death. I'd take the slight drop in tactile feedback over the lack of ability to stop any day.

The OP might only weigh 7 stones, which would have some effect on how much they might/might not, appreciate the advantages of disc brakes. For me it's the Dura-Ace brakes on my road bike which are a sheer delight to use, not the same thing I know, but I never cease to be amazed just how "ace" they are 🙂

The day my rim 'exploded' on the Marin trail due wear from grimey, gritty pads convinced me never to go back to Vs - sounded like a shotgun going off and could heve been very nasty.
I'd always wondered what those wear markers were for!

It's all about set up and appropriate parts choice- the OP doesn't know how to set up a good troll, and he's chosen terrible material to do it with.

yeah bleeding hydraulics is such a nightmare.... especially when you compare it to the simplicity of keeping a wheel true... and then having to replace a whole rim cos the braking surface has gone....its an absolute nightmare having to push a syringe of brake fluid once every 5 yrs 🙄
i mean who want to brake it the wet anyway???

😆 @ Northwind

Discs, maintenance ?my basic Deore discs have served me for 8 years with nothing being done to them and they work fine

I was lucky enough back in the late 90's to have a bike with Ceramic rims and a full XTR brake setup, including XTR sealed brake cables. It was head and shoulders above pretty much anything else (possible exception Avid Ultimates, but they couldn't get any bigger than a 1.9" tyre in with any mud clearance!). I could stop pretty much as I wanted, lock either wheel up if required, and because of the ceramic rims they even (just about) worked of sorts in the wet. They were tonnes better than most generic V brakes that most people will remember.

Didn't stop them clogging up in thick mud, requiring 2 fingers worth of pressure on the brake levers to get the stopping power I required, and being totally dependent on a perfectly dead straight and true wheel at all times.

Looking back on things with rose tinted specs is great, but ultimately I'm much better off with the powerful and easily modulated disc brakes I run now that I can stop in a perfectly controlled manner at any time using just one finger on each lever. And at the end of the day, I sold probably my favourite bike of all time back in 2002 (having owned it for over 5 years already) simply because I couldn't fit a disc brake on the back of it. I know that sounds stupid, but even though it had XTR V's I had become spoilt by discs already and it had to go because of this...

I'm with mboy - ceramic rims and parallelogram cantis made a huge difference over your bog-standard M600 LX clone, and were actually even pretty good in the wet.

But disks (again, with the exception of fudging Avid Juicys) just work, end of. I'd forgotten that feeling of 'uh-oh, i'm not stopping' you almost always got with Vs in the wet until I was caught out in the rain on my roadie with callipers the other week.

I've still got some XTR V's on a retro bike, they are shit compared to disc's. In fact even mechanical discs make them feel useless.

Magura HS33s for the win!

If you like buying new rims all the time then yes.

lol.. i love the trolls on hear.. U brakes were the best..

I struggle with long sentences! If you prefer v brakes then you've clearly got mental health issues. Good luck with that.

I have xtr on ceramics which are fine.................till it rains, then they are a joke.
Discs for me please.

I absolutely love the reliability and one-finger power of disk brakes. Except currently my back brake resonates and makes my willy feel weird.

Are you crazy!!!!

I'd give up suspension before i gave up my hydro discs!

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Rodbrake FTW!

I'm still riding with v-brakes.... and a quill stem.

I'm a relic, basically.

So what v-brake pads can you recommend for Fort William then?

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Nothing like the useful brace on a rear HS33 to liven up your day, as you mess a landing up, land on your rear knobbly and get driven forwards like a wacky races conveyor belt to hell, sucking a testicle under and feeling a pop as it releases it again. That drove my shift to discs.

I like V brakes too, have them on a couple of bikes. Light, cheap, simple. Generally capable of locking a wheel too. Useless in deep mud and willy waving competitions but just dandy at slowing a bike down in most situations.

Now caliper brakes.... that's a different kettle of bottom feeding fish....

haha
alright alright. thanks for all your wonderful statements 🙂

maybe I am looking at things with rose tinted specs. perhaps it is time to try out another set of discs. I do still like V brakes and always will mainly due to the tactile stuff as mentioned and also ease of maintenance. but of course I have fallen to the mud every now and then.

but they'll have to go on another and as yet unmaterialised bike as I don't have mounts for them on my current fleet. and I ain't selling the litespeed or the attitude for this!

anyway it's interesting to get opinions.

Buzz play in your rear hub? Mine did the same traced it back to play in the cones. One new cone kit later and the brakes are fine.