As per title I’m after some cheap discs. Got an old inbred that’s been to visit the powder coaters and whose days of ragging about trails on are sadly behind him (or rather behind ME). It will be used mainly for bimbling to the shops on and maybe taking the little one out on (if I get a weeride or somesuch).

Anyway, it needs some brakes. Don’t want to spend much as it’s not exactly an expensive bike and found some very cheap Clarks brakes on Chain Reaction. £40 ish quid for a full set of hydraulic brakes seems a bit daft so what am I missing? How bad can they be? Gotta be worth a punt at that price, surely? Or so you folks have any real world experiences of them or any other recommendations?

Ebay. I had full set of deores with rotors for £38 the other month. virtually brand new, the hoses not even cut. Get a set, bleed em, get em in.

Whoa, that sounds spot on. Thanks a lot!

If eBay fails I’ve got a set of deore M615 and 160mm avid rotors you can have for £35 posted?

double post

My brother had clarks a while back. They were fine especially for the kind of use you describe but he sold the bike after a year or so can’t honestly comment on longevity. But would look at them. However deore can be picked up cheap – I got a full set from on one I believe for £50 around 2 years ago

I’ve got a set of the clarks on my HT and they seem fine(not had them long enough to comment on longevity), they are a copy of the shimano acera but the calliper design has been amended ever so slightly so that the pads can be removed from the top rather than underneath.

At 40 quid that seems to be a bargain, even if they start to fail you can use them for practice bleeding or rebuild or spares

Bough the alivio for my kids bike as i wanted disc brake that was not too powerful
I was genuinely impressed by how good they were and would happily ride XC on them

£16 an end but you will need to swap hoses over or just suffer on the aesthetics front
I doubt you will find anythign better new for the price

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-alivio-m445-disc-brake/rp-prod105779

I’ve got the Clarkes in one of my bikes and they are surprisingly good. One thing to consider over Shimano is that Clarkes sell all of the spares to rebuild them, whereas I understand that with Shimano this isn’t the case, mind you not sure you’d bother for what they cost new.

I put the clarkes on my shopper/gym old merlin malt
Fantastic value and work fine

Bough the alivio for my kids bike as i wanted disc brake that was not too powerful
I was genuinely impressed by how good they were and would happily ride XC on them

£16 an end but you will need to swap hoses over or just suffer on the aesthetics front
I doubt you will find anythign better new for the price

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-alivio-m445-disc-brake/rp-prod105779

These look good for a kid’s build, particularly as I have a couple of better levers from knackered shimano calipers which could go with them.

they have reach adjust – dont think it ever said on the adverts but i checked the shimano diagrams- mini allen key in nipple bit but enough to adjust reach

Perfect for kids as no OTB and they can skid easily

Thanks for the replies. I think I’ll go with the Clarks as I want a “full” set, rotors the lot. Also they are IS mount and in the size I want/need so don’t need to bother sourcing adapters if I went down the Shimano route.

Gonna hijack my own thread though and ask “What ratios for Pootling”? It’s still running the ratios I used to use round Cannock, 33 front and 16 rear. What do you reckon would be good for a bike that will be mainly ridden on the flat but also ridden with a small load and (maybe) a small child?

I’m running 44/16 on my 26in station bike. Quite stiff on a proper hill but not too spinny on the flat

Just another recommendation for the clarks, I bought mine in September and have tried to get out twice a week all winter in all sorts of filthy weather. They’ve been faultless even the rotors are still straight!

I wa going to buy those Clarks for my similar build. A little aluminium hardtail that I’m using for commuting / playing on a local pump track.

However browsing eBay threw up a pair of Deore discs complete with pads and rotors new in their boxes for £30 delivered. Had an adaptor to attach via an is mount at both ends of the bike too. Seem powerful enough etc – just needs the rear hose shortening.