Are disc brake's any ????

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ross59

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Sep 25, 2013
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Johnson City Tn
Better at stopping motorized bicycle's then other type's?

Why I asking is I got 2 HT MTB bicycle's with F & R disc brake's on then. I haven't even rode then yet so I don't know nothing about disc on bike's.

So what I would like to know is what's your feeling about disc brake's on a bicycle is???

So if you could leave some type of feed back I be glad for it??


So I know disc brake's been on bicycles like 5 years now give or take a few one way or another.

Thanks a lot. Ross .bf.
 
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O

oldtimer54

Member
May 15, 2010
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Re: Are are disc brake's any ????

I have f & r disks and I think they really make my motorized bicycle feel much safer. Try em youll like em.
 
maniac57

maniac57

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Oct 8, 2011
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They are better than caliper brakes or a coaster, and are slightly stronger than V-brakes.
I swapped a disc onto my Pig but since it needs new pads, I don't use it yet. The V-brakes work just as good on my bike so I'm in no hurry to replace the pads.
The one's I've seen wear pads MUCH faster than V-brakes and it's more hassle to keep them adjusted right.
Honestly, I plan to leave the front disc on the bike, but will probably not bother using it since the V-brake is easily capable of locking the wheel at any speed.
On my bike, they are just not that much better aside from looking great!
All this being said, I'd say use them if you have them, but don't spend a lot doing a conversion unless you have caliper or coaster brakes now.
Rear disc setups require special mounting for the sprocket too. (Top hat adapter)
 
racie35

racie35

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Nov 17, 2012
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I have two Whizzers....one 98lb bike with little drums and the other a 145lb bike with disc brakes.....the difference is drastic enough to give you worries when tooling around on the drums....its that different and my drum bike is adjusted fine.....disc brakes work
 
Ratt_Bones

Ratt_Bones

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Aug 2, 2013
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Disc are far superior to anything else. Also, bigger disc, more stopping power.
Another good tip is to run hydraulic if you can. motorized bicycles run at higher speeds, and discs heat up super fast. Mechanical disc brakes work great, but quickly fail under high heat. Hydraulics obviously have fluid in them. This helps to keep them slightly cooler.

Another bonus with disc brakes is that they are far easier to set up, adjust, and dial in than caliper, or V-brakes. No pad adjusting, messing with cable hangers, noodles, springs, etc. If you have a mechanical, it's just your cable tension, set the caliper over the disc loose, squeeze the lever, tighten the two bolts, and roll on. Disc brake pads last far longer than rubber rim pads, and so forth. No pad towing involved. Just simple, efficient, effective, powerful, and reliable stopping power.

Hope this helps.

*side note*
I've been running disc brakes on my bikes since the early/mid 90's. They've been around for quite some time.

 
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BarelyAWake

BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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maniac57 said:
...
Honestly, I plan to leave the front disc on the bike, but will probably not bother using it since the V-brake is easily capable of locking the wheel at any speed...
Click to expand...
You prolly know this but to dispel the inference for those that may not - "locking up" a wheel isn't the best example of applied stopping power as a vehicle in a skid isn't stopping as well as one w/an equal or greater amount of brake force applied yet with the tires still turning.

Sounds counter intuitive but think of the tire as "sliding" instead of stopping (the brake pads "bound" instead of working) and it's one of the main reasons discs replaced drums in cars as auto drums were well known for that (and heat fade), a good example would be emergency stops on wet surfaces.

Skidding is fun but it doesn't help anything ;)
 
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2door

2door

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Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
Ratt-Bones' rotor brings up a question. Has anyone every experimented with making a rotor from a circular saw blade? 203mm seems to be the biggest bicycle rotor available and as Ratt says, the bigger the rotor diameter the more stopping power it can provide.

I realize you'd need to relocate the caliper brackets to allow for the larger diameter and that the saw blade might be a hair thicker than a standard rotor but you could compensate for that in pad adjustment. I've made my own caliper brackets on two bikes and welded them to the forks. Moving them would be no big thing.

Actually if I try this I'd install it on the rear wheel on the sprocket side and the increased diameter would allow the caliper to mount outside of the sprocket/chain and not interfere with them as a 203 rotor does on a 40T or larger sprocket.

I'd probably leave the teeth on the blade too, just cause it would look so cool.
Comments?

Tom
 
2door

2door

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Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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That's big, almost 11". The price is a little steep but, hey, it's only money, right?

Thanks for the link, Gary. That would be the answer, if, you have a disc brake hub.

Tom
 
Ratt_Bones

Ratt_Bones

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Aug 2, 2013
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Appleton, Wi.
No problem, I found this while looking for alternative ways to run my sprocket, and run a disc brake. Easter bikes also used to make a hub that had a right side disc mount with the pedal chain on the same side. I ran it for a while when I rode for them.
 
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