Hydraulic vs mechanical disc brakes

[Jojoface]

Can any one explain the differences and advantages?

[Goldstar78i]

Hydraulic brakes use fluid in the brake line. When you squeeze your lever, the fluid is compressed and pushes the pistons that give you braking power. Mechanical brakes use a brake cable ( like normal MTB brakes) to do the same thing.

Hydraulic brakes are usually more powerful, with higher control over the amount of power your giving to the pistons. The downside is they can be a real nightmare to setup if you are new at the sport. Once they are good to go, quality hydros won't need anything else for a long time.

Mechanical are easier to setup, the have better braking power than linear pull brakes, but don't have the smooth power of hydros.

In general they are both good for biking, both will give you confidence on steep terrain. I have hydros and have ridden mechanical and the only difference I felt was how easy the lever was to pull.

[truckboy]

I had mech and just upgraded to Avid hydro. Setup was E-freeekin-Z!!

The mechs needed to be adjusted every so often, especially the one that I somehow broke the little red adjuster off the inside of. It sucked having to jam my fingers through the spokes to turn a little metal tab the size of a screwdriver head.

I hear the new Avid BB (ball bearing) mechs are great though.

Hydros can fail when downhilling I've been told, due to the heat generated by the disc. That heat BOILS the hydrolic fluid and it must contract or something so it won't move enough to close the caliper when you pull the lever. Like when your car brakes spring a leak and the pedal hits the floor! But that's not going to happen on a regular ride. That's why downhill bikes have giant rotors, for cooling.

Both have the advantage over V-brakes that if you warp your rim, your brakes still work and won't rub. but if you warp your rotor....

[bike187]

i have 7" avid cable disc brakes on my i-drive and 8" hayes hfx 9 on my bighit. the first time i used disc brakes alot, the avids, i thought they were very powerful. after trying the hayes though, i notice a big increase in power for stopping. the stopping power on the avids was adequate though. i never wished for more power riding them. i weigh 250 and like going fast downhill, so stopping power was a big concern, hence the reason i got 7" over 6" (i don't like the idea of 8" on qr). also, with most hydros pushing in both caliper sides at teh same time, it's a bit easier to setup without drag even with a wardped rotor. the avids use a stationary pad and one moving one (the advantage with avid over alot of other cable disc brakes is the ability to adjust both the fixed and moving pads with the dials on the caliper, after the caliper has been bolted down. this makes it easier to setup nicely as well as compensate for pad wear) just like most cable disc brakes. i have seen ads for dual moving pads but have heard no reviews. also, if you're a amgnet for bracnches ripping on housing/cables or just have bad routing on your bike, the cables disc brakes are much easier to do repairs on the trail. overall, i feel as though my hayes ahve better modulation and more stopping power, but the avids are extremely close as far as modulation. key with cable disc brakes is nice smooth levers and really good cable and housing (oddyssey dual teflon sets = sweetness) as well as good routing. overall, i like my setup with avid cable discs on my trailbike and hayes hydros on my bighit bike. jsut don't get any other cable disc brakes besides avid. i know from experience that the hayes ones from a couple years ago are horrible.