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It's wild that disc brakes are on his bad list (for home mechanics). Changing the brake pads and burping the lines are both trivial to do yourself. Changing d

It's wild that disc brakes are on his bad list (for home mechanics). Changing the brake pads and burping the lines are both trivial to do yourself. Changing disc pads might actually be easier than changing rim pads.

bamboozled 4y ago
It's wild? Disc brake maintenance absolutely sucks. I like them, they're critical to mountain biking, but to say they're trivial to service? Not sure I can agree with you at all?
- dharmab 4y ago
  Do you work on larger vehicles like cars, trucks or motorcycles? Compared to the brakes on my car the disc brakes on my bicycle are trivially easy.
  - diarmuidc 4y ago
    Why would you compare disc brakes to cars? Why not compare them to the rim brakes they are replacing. An order of magnitude more complicated to maintain
    - justinator 4y ago
      I've gone far into the depths of hell trying to properly set up a pair of cantilever brakes to be performative. Disk brakes any day.
      - jjav 4y ago
        > I've gone far into the depths of hell trying to properly set up a pair of cantilever brakes to be performative. This! I thought I'd never have to see cantilever brakes again until turns out they were used on kids bikes so had to deal with that. Luckily my child has now grown to a slightly larger bike with hydraulic disk brakes so life is back to being easy on that front.
  - cheeze 4y ago
    Bleeding brakes still sucks and requires specific tools. Cars are worse but bikes aren't particularly easy. You need more than a screwdrive and an allen wrench.
    - ehnto 4y ago
      If we really want to bring self-maintenance back we're going to have to have more gumption than this, and perhaps a special tool every now and then. The issue we're fighting isn't the battle against hard maintenance vs easy maintenance, it's against manufacturers deliberately making products that are expendable and not intended to be maintained. Hydraulic brakes are perfectly maintainable, you can even rebuild the whole system at home with a $6 pair of seal picks and a $12 seal kit, don't even need to be OEM seals.
- osigurdson 4y ago
  The easiest thing to maintain is cable actuated disc brakes. Changing the pads is trivial and no bleed kit is necessary. The performance is much better than v-brakes as well. Of course, if you want performance hydraulic disc brakes are necessary fo mountain biking.
freetime2 4y ago
Bleeding my SRAM brakes requires a special kit that costs $90 [1], working with toxic chemicals (DOT 5.1 fluid), and a procedure that isn't rocket science but I wouldn't call it trivial either [2]. I also find that disc brake pads wear much faster than rim brake pads (I'm on my 3rd set this year), and cost more to replace too. They also are prone to alignment issues and I find myself messing around with them at least once a month to correct rubbing or noise issues. And god forbid you do something really dumb like squeezing the brake while the wheel is detached (guilty) - causing the piston to pop out and fluid to leak everywhere. Compared to my other bike with rim brakes that I only had to change the brake pads once and turn the barrel adjuster a few times in several years, I would say that disc brakes are much more troublesome to maintain. I think they are worth it for riders who do a lot of descending, especially in the rain, but would definitely not recommend for someone just getting into cycling. [1] https://a.co/d/im4bOVh https://a.co/d/im4bOVh [2] https://youtu.be/8K4ADjuxEqc https://youtu.be/8K4ADjuxEqc
- soared 4y ago
  Sounds like you’ve got other issues, you shouldn’t need to replace pads or make adjustments that often.
  - freetime2 4y ago
    This source says: > You can generally expect to get 500-700 miles out of resin disc brake pads and 1,000-1,250 miles out of sintered metal disc brake pads. However, how much mileage you end up getting out of your disc brake pads will depend on the weather conditions you ride in, riding terrain, and your braking habits. That seems a little low to me, but roughly in line with what I have seen. What is your experience?
    - freetime2 4y ago
      Forgot to link the actual source of those estimates [1]. Also, in regards to the alignment issues, Chris Froome has also complained of similar issues [2] with disc brakes. He’s a seven time Grand Tour champion, is on the board of Factor bikes, has an army of professional mechanics to maintain his bikes for him - and he still runs into issues. So not just me. [1] https://prodifycycling.com/bike-disc-brake-guide/ https://prodifycycling.com/bike-disc-brake-guide/ [2] https://road.cc/content/tech-news/chris-froome-still-has-disc-brake-problems-291509 https://road.cc/content/tech-news/chris-froome-still-has-dis...

bamboozled 4y ago

It's wild? Disc brake maintenance absolutely sucks. I like them, they're critical to mountain biking, but to say they're trivial to service? Not sure I can agree with you at all?

dharmab 4y ago
Do you work on larger vehicles like cars, trucks or motorcycles? Compared to the brakes on my car the disc brakes on my bicycle are trivially easy.
- diarmuidc 4y ago
  Why would you compare disc brakes to cars? Why not compare them to the rim brakes they are replacing. An order of magnitude more complicated to maintain
  - justinator 4y ago
    I've gone far into the depths of hell trying to properly set up a pair of cantilever brakes to be performative. Disk brakes any day.
    - jjav 4y ago
      > I've gone far into the depths of hell trying to properly set up a pair of cantilever brakes to be performative. This! I thought I'd never have to see cantilever brakes again until turns out they were used on kids bikes so had to deal with that. Luckily my child has now grown to a slightly larger bike with hydraulic disk brakes so life is back to being easy on that front.
- cheeze 4y ago
  Bleeding brakes still sucks and requires specific tools. Cars are worse but bikes aren't particularly easy. You need more than a screwdrive and an allen wrench.
  - ehnto 4y ago
    If we really want to bring self-maintenance back we're going to have to have more gumption than this, and perhaps a special tool every now and then. The issue we're fighting isn't the battle against hard maintenance vs easy maintenance, it's against manufacturers deliberately making products that are expendable and not intended to be maintained. Hydraulic brakes are perfectly maintainable, you can even rebuild the whole system at home with a $6 pair of seal picks and a $12 seal kit, don't even need to be OEM seals.
osigurdson 4y ago
The easiest thing to maintain is cable actuated disc brakes. Changing the pads is trivial and no bleed kit is necessary. The performance is much better than v-brakes as well. Of course, if you want performance hydraulic disc brakes are necessary fo mountain biking.

freetime2 4y ago

Bleeding my SRAM brakes requires a special kit that costs $90 [1], working with toxic chemicals (DOT 5.1 fluid), and a procedure that isn't rocket science but I wouldn't call it trivial either [2]. I also find that disc brake pads wear much faster than rim brake pads (I'm on my 3rd set this year), and cost more to replace too. They also are prone to alignment issues and I find myself messing around with them at least once a month to correct rubbing or noise issues. And god forbid you do something really dumb like squeezing the brake while the wheel is detached (guilty) - causing the piston to pop out and fluid to leak everywhere. Compared to my other bike with rim brakes that I only had to change the brake pads once and turn the barrel adjuster a few times in several years, I would say that disc brakes are much more troublesome to maintain. I think they are worth it for riders who do a lot of descending, especially in the rain, but would definitely not recommend for someone just getting into cycling. [1] https://a.co/d/im4bOVh https://a.co/d/im4bOVh [2] https://youtu.be/8K4ADjuxEqc https://youtu.be/8K4ADjuxEqc

soared 4y ago
Sounds like you’ve got other issues, you shouldn’t need to replace pads or make adjustments that often.
- freetime2 4y ago
  This source says: > You can generally expect to get 500-700 miles out of resin disc brake pads and 1,000-1,250 miles out of sintered metal disc brake pads. However, how much mileage you end up getting out of your disc brake pads will depend on the weather conditions you ride in, riding terrain, and your braking habits. That seems a little low to me, but roughly in line with what I have seen. What is your experience?
  - freetime2 4y ago
    Forgot to link the actual source of those estimates [1]. Also, in regards to the alignment issues, Chris Froome has also complained of similar issues [2] with disc brakes. He’s a seven time Grand Tour champion, is on the board of Factor bikes, has an army of professional mechanics to maintain his bikes for him - and he still runs into issues. So not just me. [1] https://prodifycycling.com/bike-disc-brake-guide/ https://prodifycycling.com/bike-disc-brake-guide/ [2] https://road.cc/content/tech-news/chris-froome-still-has-disc-brake-problems-291509 https://road.cc/content/tech-news/chris-froome-still-has-dis...