Philadelphia Mountain Biking Association - Forums

I need brakes. Have not bought any new ones in a while becuase my Hayes are pretty reliable. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on some of the newer brake systems? Thanks in advance.

TC

I just got a pair of Shimano Saints off ebay for 320 for the pair with disks - fully assembled.  That included shipping as well.  The Saints are really nice, I upgraded from the Hayes as well.

Thanks.

Do you need the Shimano center lock hubs or can I just run different rotors?

TC

The retailer I ordered from sent me the rotors I wanted for my hubs.  They do make a center block shimano rotor, but I believe you can use any 203mm hub, just whichever retailer you're going to order from, you might want to contact them in advance to be sure they send you the proper hub.  I actually got mine from a retailer in taiwan I believe, I ordered them right after xmas and I had them within about 9 days.

I've been a V-brake hold out till last July. I got myself 160mm Hope Mono Mini's. Couldn't be happier with them. Quiet, reliable, powerful, easy to maintain, light, and not too expensive.
They run about $300 for a pair, levers, hoses, disks, calipers, all included. Not as light as lets say Magura Marthas, but pretty close. I have somewhere the exact weights, but IIRC they were about 350-ish gramm for each, with the levers, hoses, disks, and the fluid in them.

dz

Yoooo Tom! Dude I run Shimano Saint levers with XT calpiers, the four piston ones. My first set of hydraulic discs were Shimano XT's. They are bullet-proof, have awesome stopping power and modulation, use environmentally friendly mineral oil, and I can fully service them myself. I bought a Gemini which had Hayes HFX-9's and they were nothing but problems. I had to take them to the shop for any little problem, and I had a LOT of problems. Next I bought Avid Mechaincal Discs (sold my Shimanos to my buddy, mistake!) and they were super easy to set up. But I was not happy with the power and feel at all so I eBayed a set of XT four piston calipers and bought the new Saint levers. I LOVE these brakes, I want to marry them!

and i use the saint brakes with xt levers.

although they are on the freeride bike which doesn't see much use, whenever i hop on they are a joy to use.

they stop my 40 pound pig with one finger every-single-time....

this summer we need to organize a PHILLYMTB trip or 2 up to diablo. my BIG bike feels very angry with me for constantly riding my singlspeed intead.  ;D

I guess I'm the only one that feels that a matching pair is best!

chris,

any reasons you'd think a matching set would work better? i would think all the sh!tamno stuff is compatible (just like how you can run lx shifters with an xtr derailleur).

this is just how they came setup on my bike. i have never tried any other combos.

it really doesn't matter, I was just being facetious