Which disc brakes?

The Mad Rapper

The Mad Rapper

The Mad Rapper

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I have an '06 Carrera Kraken which I use for the 5 mile commute to the station and back each day.

I've owned it roughly 6 months now, and I have been completely unimpressed with the cable discs since I bought it.

I took it back to Halfords after the first two months because TBH they were less effective then the rubber block brakes I had on my older bike. They adjusted the callipers and cables but nothing much has changed.

I am thinking about swapping the cable disc brakes for some hydraulic disc brakes but have no idea which to buy.

I am never going to do anything serious with the bike, just going to and from the station and the odd ride in the woods with my family.

What would you guys recommend?

Do I keep the current discs themselves and just replace the callipers etc?

Will I notice much difference going from cable discs to hydraulic discs?

TIA.
 
Shimano Deore is a good entry level hydraulic brake. You could pick up a set of front and rear for £100. Although from the riding you have described I think you would be better with a set of V brakes.

On your question of discs they tend to be specific to the caliper.
 
Hydraulics are more effective than cable although I believe cable disks have improved in recent years. Back when I used to pay attention to mountain bikes Hope Minis were well thought of (any Hope disks in fact) but they aren't all that cheap and probably overkill for your uses.

It might be worth taking your bike to a specialist bike shop and asking them for advice, Halfords can be very variable in the knowledge displayed by their staff. :)
 
Thanks to both for the replies.

I can't afford to spend a fortune on these, I just want to be able to stop far better then I do now. I weigh 15 stone, which I don't think is massive, but the current cable discs really don't slow me down anywhere quick enough.

How easy would it be for me to fit the Shimano (or any brand for that matter)hydraulic brakes myself?

As I understand it, my Carrerra Kraken has a good aluminium frame, but the components, while functional, aren't the best. Ideally I'd like to buy new bits for it as I go along and improve it over time.

The brakes definately need some love first though ;)
 
Hydraulic Brakes are easy to fit if they come pre bled which most do. What brakes do you currently have? If your brake levers are integrated with the gear shifter then you may have to buy a new gear shifter as well as the brake.

Also brake calipers come in two different type of mounts. Post mount and international standard. you can see the two types of mounthere. You will need to check your fork to see which type it is then you will know which type of brake caliper you need. Rear brakes always use the IS mount although you can get adaptors to fit a Post mount brake. I prefer Post mount myself as it's easier to set up. If your on a small budget I would just upgrade the front brake as that does most of the braking anyway.
 
The shimano deores are £60 an end and are supposed to be pretty good,as far as i can remember(way back when i wanted to buy hydraulics) the deore M525 was better then the 556 but the 525 is hard to get as a pair since they are quite old.

Personally i would go with a pair of hfx 9 Xc's...they have the feel of a brick but an stop you in about 0.0001seconds. Damn...just noticed the pair for £140 doesnt exist on CRC anymore.

If you ask in your local halfords you can order in the hydraulics that come on the carrera fury,tektro auriga i think.....i cant remember how much they were though.

OR you could buy the bikehut hydraulic disks....looks like a hayes hfx9 but lacks a feel of quality. I think they are £50 an end.

Dont buy hayes soles.....you will want to die. The levers on the kraken are seperate from the shifters and the fork has an IS mount.
 
The shifters are indeed seperate from the levers. The shifters are Tektro trigger shifts I think.

Budget is up to £100.

What are wrong with Hayes soles? By soles you mean pads right?
 
How much of a difference will there be between my current cable discs and new hydraulic ones? In terms of stopping ability? When I go down a steep hill near home bu current cable discs really suck :(
 
the small deore hydros on my brothers bike seem to work better than the hfx9dh with 8" rotors on my bike :eek: :(


id definetly consider the deores


you should stop much much quicker/easier/better than with the cable discs
 
You could always look at getting a decent hydraulic disc for the front i.e. Hope Mono M4 etc. and a reasonable V-brake for the back.

I've got a hydraulic m4 on the front of my bike and it's superb. :D
 
"andy" are you sure that your brakes are setup correctly? I've got a pair of Hope C2s (ancient now) and when properly setup and bled they can almost throw me off the bike if I set the bite point too sharply.

The Mad Rapper, there should be a world of difference between good hydraulic brakes and cable discs. Cable discs appear to be on a par or slightly better than good V-Brakes although obviously better in the wet, hydraulic discs are another level entirely but they do need to be set up right and bedded in.

Actually that could be the problem with your current discs, you do need to make sure that the brakes are bedded in properly. One way to do this is to get up to around 30mph and then brake hard from there. Repeat that a few times and they should be as good as they will get. :)
 
I am never going to do anything serious with the bike, just going to and from the station and the odd ride in the woods with my family.
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he does not need an m4 lol ,



id even call a hope mini overkill when for the half the price he can get something that will do just as good a job IMO (deore) my brothers deores honestly work amazing , i couldn't believe how cheap they are
 
semi-pro waster said:
"andy" are you sure that your brakes are setup correctly? I've got a pair of Hope C2s (ancient now) and when properly setup and bled they can almost throw me off the bike if I set the bite point too sharply.
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oh mine work enough to throw me about if the tyre is gripping but so do his deores (admittedly on a lightweight bike used for XC , not a kona stinky like mine)

i and mates where just shocked at how powerful the deores felt considering the price , must admit i havent tried them on a big descent or anyhing but ive never heard him complain about them
 
semi-pro waster said:
Actually that could be the problem with your current discs, you do need to make sure that the brakes are bedded in properly. One way to do this is to get up to around 30mph and then brake hard from there. Repeat that a few times and they should be as good as they will get. :)
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30mph :eek: :eek: u'll be wanting reconstructive dentistry, just do about 20 hard stops on each wheel from a fast not ridiculous pace. people say throwing water on the disk after each stop helps, and it wont warp ** disk becuase its not red hot lol :p
 
I just hate hayes soles because they are a single piston hydraulic brake so you have one pad basically rubbing on the disc slightly and IMO they just feel *****.

My mate has just got his new commencial and he got Formula brakes for it and is quite surprised at how good they are,he used to run hope mono M4s aswell.
 
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