Cable or hydraulic disc brake

[andrewjlennon]

This has been debated ad nauseum online, but I was wondering what most of you on here used on your bikes? Guessing that most of you will plump for cable brakes in the interests of simplicity and reliability.

[whitestone]

Cable (Avid BB7s) on my commuter and hydraulic (Shimano M785) on my mountain bike.

Did over 3000Km on the MTB before I needed to bleed one (the rear) of the units. I've found that the Avids need fairly regular tweeking.

[Solo]

I've got a one mtb to cover all bases and run XT hydro brakes.

I might be tempted to go cable if I had specific bikepacking bike. My daughter runs cable discs and so does a friend of mine who chose them over hydros as he does trips with lots of fishing equipment and didn't want a hydro hose getting caught up etc.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I've got bikes fitted with both, neither have ever caused me problems apart from some old and very cheap Shimano (sub Deore) hydraulics that have been known to fade badly when hot. There is something to be said for the ability of mechanical discs to be field repaired but I think on most UK trips forgetting to put new pads in / carry spares is likely to be the biggest issue effecting riders ... and obviously that's not altered by the type of brake you use

[Solo]

I should have added. Avid hydros can be a bit...erm...annoying at times!

Hence why my son's bike now has deore.

[jay91]

Cable shimano on cx bike brilliant brakes
Avid on the mtb there not to grate.
Tekro on other mtb rubbish!

[JohnClimber]

BB7's on all bikes apart from
BB5's on the mtb tandem and
Hope M4's on my full susser

[HopeValleyPaul]

I severed a hydraulic XT cable 2 days ago, (runs under BB) half way around a 100km loop I was doing. Quite annoying, I love my bb7s on my cross bike.
I will now only run mechanical discs on future bikes that I build. ( 'twas the final straw) I've been let down by hydraulics too many time now, but that is probably a greater reflection on me and my technical skills than hydraulic systems.

[Ben98]

I have trp spykes on my MTB, they are a bit of a faff to setup and aren't the most powerful (really not bad though). They are NOT fit and forget, they do need adjusting periodically but the lever feel for me is amazing and they are very simple and easy to fix plus I can carry a spare everything for them so could fix virtually any issue with them anywhere (apart from when my lever pivot bolt fell out )
I like cable brakes.

[Ian]

I think on most UK trips forgetting to put new pads in / carry spares is likely to be the biggest issue effecting riders

As our very own johnnystorm will testify

[johnnystorm]

I think on most UK trips forgetting to put new pads in / carry spares is likely to be the biggest issue effecting riders

As our very own johnnystorm will testify

[Charliecres]

I have run only hydraulic discs since the days of V brakes. I have only ever had one problem. I severed a hose on the first day of a five-day bikepacking trip in Scotland, miles from the nearest bike shop. Carried on with no back brake for the rest of the trip. Not ideal but I still had a great time. Don't worry about it.

[benp1]

Hydraulic

XT on my mountain bike
TRP hydraulics on my arkose 2

[Ray Young]

Ran an Avid elixir r front (never had to do any maintenance on it ever) and an old deore mechanical rear for three years. Now run bb7's which are simple to keep adjusted, I got the calipers cheap from China and already had levers. If I was building a bike with weight in mind then I'd go hydraulic.

[Richard G]

Hydraulics. Once you get past the fear of bleeding them, they're basically as good as you'll ever need.

I tend to stick to the sort that use mineral oil as bleeding with DOT5 takes forever.

[HaYWiRe]

I've only ever used mechanicals, a good set of side pulls and a cheap set of V brakes, both very easy to maintain and adjust, and the side pulls are just amazing on fast asphalt descents

I'm looking to replace my mtb and the one bike that really takes my fancy has Avid Hydraulics fitted, but the comments here make me worry

My partner has the model down from what I'm looking at and they're fitted with Tektro, and uses mineral oil, modulation is sensitive but reliable so far

What are my options? Are Avids really a nightmare or just a long term niggle?

[Solo]

My personal experience of Avid is from 3 pairs of Elixir. These were the 1, 3 and 5. All suffered from the same thing. When the temperature went up (ie summer) the brakes would either rub or stick on.

The only cure was either a full bleed or in the case of the elixir 3's on my son's bike they needed some fluid to be let out during the middle of a ride to free the front wheel and let us get home. It completely ruined a planned big ride as they still were dragging terribly.

Now he has deore.

My father had the elixir 1s and likewise got fed up with them feeling wooden (the Tektro my wife's bike has had better feel) and now he has SLX.

I'm selling the bike with the elixir 5s but if I wasn't they'd be getting replaced for sure.

[HaYWiRe]

I'm worried one component would put me off what would otherwise be a good deal and good specs all round

Should I be looking to replace or would that be overkill for a brand new bike?
After all they'll probably be better than what my mtb has now


You know you're too nerdy when you're looking at problems, upgrades and replacements for a bike you haven't bought yet...

[Mariner]

Simple answer is both and to that I would add vee brakes provided that:
They do not howl like a banshee
Start rubbing randomly and for no apparent reason
You do not have to buy expensive/exotic materials to service them or pay to dispose of used items.
Can be repaired in the field or at least jury-rigged.
Might give you a hint of impending failure rather than just giving up
Operate progressively and above all do actually stop you.
My experience with vee brakes is limited to one bike over three years. I rode this mainly in Scotland with a mud more like grinding paste. Cant remember ever replacing pads although rims were as rough as a bears bottom by the time I sold it. Never had any problems on descents although seem to remember the occasional shriek from the brakes. The other problem was forgetting to hook the cable back up after repairing a puncture. I only did this a couple of times.
Have had two bikes with hydraulic brakes one Hayes one Tektro. Both howled and would start rubbing randomly. I found a thread on the Hayes that had been running for four years with still no resolution. The same comments apply to the Tektro. Is this because they are considered entry level and I need to upgrade to get a decent level of acceptable performance? The current hack was on free service from LBS and they were always commenting on the state of the rear pads and having to replace them. This brake has now totally failed although to be fair it did give me plenty of warning I just didn’t understand what it was trying to tell me. I gave up pinging pedestrians on shared paths and just touched the rear brake that made them jump.
A couple of questions here: do brake manufacturers actually build lifetime rigs and test their products to destruction? Why does my car service schedule require brake fluid replacement on mileage and or time elapsed but to my knowledge I have never seem any recommendation for replacement of bike hydraulics.
Hydraulics are in the end a complicated way of braking in that there are a larger number of precision items required to make the system work. Again I have never seen any MTBF figures which could suggest a preventative maintenance schedule. When was the last time you woke up one morning and decided to drain and replace the hydraulic fluid in your brakes because its been some time? I assume mass production makes them so cheap that they are almost regarded as disposable replacement parts rather than serviceable. My first reaction to the current failure is to replace with mechanical not because the hydraulic cant be repaired or even just replaced like for like but because my long term experience although limited to two different manufactures is that the product supplied was over all not good enough. Even when its working its howling.
I briefly owned a bike with BB7’s and there was no noticeable difference between the hydro and mech over my regular route.
Hydraulics when they are working fantastic. Mechanical and vee brakes the same its just the long term costs and the absence of long term problems that would make me choose mechanical.
I feel better now.

[Zippy]

I tend to stick to the sort that use mineral oil as bleeding with DOT5 takes forever.

Why?

[Richard G]

Degassing the fluid. Even without that aspect I much prefer the Shimano way of bleeding, where you can do a ghetto bleed in about 2 minutes flat.

[tommid]

I have BB7s on both of my bikes now. I don't have any other reason than that the are so easy to maintain and have never caused me any problems.
I don't really ride anything too gnarly, so I have never had a power issue. I can carry spare pads and a cable, which takes up no space and I can fix most issues trailside.
If I were going back to hydros, they would be Shimano. I have had Hope, Avids, Formulas and Shimano and Shimanos are bomb proof and work great. No need to go any better than SLX.