UKC

Bear with my dilemma thus,

I have a rockhopper 2010 thereabouts, it's had a hope headset and some hayes stroker ryde hydraulic brakes, mavic wheels and rear rub since I first got it

I've not used it much recently but Physio now tells me to get on my bike to help sort my knee out, however brakes levers are rattling away and rear brake very weak, tried to bleed - I'm no mech - but didn't really work

so do I persist with sorting the rockhopper, maybe getting new brake set or simply get a new cheap but ok spec hardtail? 

 

In reply to ste_d:

Stick with the bike. Find a local bike shop and ask how much to sort out the brakes. If it's less than new ones then get them fixed. Then you have a usable bike for not much cash at all.  If you end up cycling a lot then you could consider getting a nicer bike in the future and can sell your current one as running rather than needing fixed.

In reply to ste_d:

The brake issue is unlikely to be terminal. Bleed again, get new pads and clean the rotors with meths really well then give them a really harsh bedding in - go fast and brake hard. Don't know why the levers would rattlee but if every bolt is tight then just ignore it.

I've got the same era hayes stroker ryde hydraulic brakes. 

The levers do rattle but that has no bearing on the performance. As said before, clean rotor, replace pads (diskobrakes sintered) and bed in.  They will be fine. Note that the travel on the brake levers is adjustable (tiny allen key grub screw connecting the lever to the cylinder).

The rear brakes is likely weak simply because of oil overspill from lubricating the rest of the bike.  Carefully clean the disk with IPA or meths and also the pads until the cleaning cloth comes away clean but if the contamination is bad new pads are a simple fix.

A shop will charge about the same to bleed them as a cheap new set but it's easy to bleed them and I like the levers.

In reply to ste_d:

What do you hope to get out of getting a new bike? The one you have just needs a service. I'm still riding my 1998 GT avalanche with period Rockshox SID's and it's fun as hell! 8 years and your rockhopper has only just been broken in!

In reply to gravy: thanks, I'm going to have another go at bleeding see where we go from there

The comments about changing bike were more related to getting a bike with v brakes I can fettle with more easily  - the current mavic rims being disc only

 

In reply to ste_d:

New MTB with v-brakes.  That's niche.  You'll be saying you want 26" wheels next!

For sub £500 you could get this:

http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/27-5-hardtail-bikes/vitus-nucleus-275-vr

In reply to ChrisJD:

yes i'd spotted that, i realise its abit weird to want v brakes but unless i can get up to speed with discs it might be easier in the long run

hence original question about whether to faff with my old bike and possibly change the rims back to being v brake compatible or would be vitus at chainreaction make more sense...

lol I'll try and bleed the current ones first!

In reply to ste_d: given that you're doing this to help rehabilitate an injury your number one question is does the bike for me? Will a newer, more stretched out bike for me better?

 

The brakes are just noise

 

In reply to wbo:

for/fit?

In reply to ste_d:

Brakes can be a pain to bleed - look on YouTube for "how to" video for yours. Try forcing a full measure of fluid in from the caliper and/or keep doing the "pull quick/release slow" trick on the brake lever until no more air bubbles appear. Failing that, take the bike to a bike shop to get it done for you.

You can get a full set of pre-bled Clarkes ones from Chain Reaction Cycles/Wiggle/Halfords for just over £40, for example, if you can fit them yourself. Other options available on eBay.

Alternative would be replacing the hydraulics for a set of mechanical disc brakes if you want something really low-maintenance.

By now, you might also want to think about getting the bottom bracket serviced/replaced if it's rough, replacing the gear cables if they're rusty and replacing the tyres if they're perished.

In reply to LastBoyScout:

 

But making sure you get the right disk mount etc can be a right pain

In reply to ste_d:aesj - should have said ''does the bike fit me?'

 

In reply to LastBoyScout:

When i built up my bike avid bb7s were good mechanical discs.

In reply to ste_d: 

Modern hydraulic disc brakes are really easy to serviceset up etc. 

In reply to RX-78:

Agreed,  I would recommend cable actuated mechanical disc brakes, in my experience my Avid BB5s are even easier to maintain and adjust than V-brakes, require a similar skillset to maintain and without the mess of hydraulic fluid.

 

In reply to ste_d:

Err. New bike. Yes, a shiny new bike is what you need. 

In reply to ste_d:

Another vote for changing your calipers to mechanical. BB7's are great. You could also look at TRP Spyke's which have a double sided pad movement rather than the single side most others have - they are supposed to be another step up again from the BB7.

In reply to Jon Greengrass:

The main downside being they're not that good! I've got BB5s on my CX which I have ridden many thousands of kms on over the last 6 years. A great bike but the BB5s are the worse thing about it. I rode my road bike recently for the first time in a year and came to the conclusion the trekto rim brakes on it (with decent pads) worked as well as the BB5s. I've put fresh pads in the BB5s last week and they are better again but still nothing like hydraulics. I'm currently very seriously considering replacing the CX and my next everything bike will definitely have hydraulic brakes. I know BB7s and Spyres are better than BB5s, it still seems they aren't as good as hydraulics.

 

In reply to beardy mike:

Do you mean Spryres or are Spykes a new model? Anyway, I think I've picked what bike I'm going for next, and its basically this one http://road.cc/content/review/243904-boardman-adv-88 but the next build up with Tiagra including the newish Tiagra hydraulic brakes. It's interesting what they have to say about the Spyres in the review - I know everyone says they are the best cable discs, but he still notes they are not good compared to hydraulics. This has sort of confirmed for me that hydraulic brakes are really important for what I want! Hopefully no more trying to adjust the BB5s with frozen fingers when they are either rubbing all the time or not tight enough to be able to lock the back up. The perfect point is hard to find and does last long when riding it regularly!

 

In reply to TobyA:

 mean Spykes as those are the long pull MTB flavour of the same thing. I think it just depends on how much money you have and want to spend and the sort of riding you want to do. At the moment my Avid BB7 MTN's are absolutely fine for all my gravel riding - I went for a bar end shifter so that I get the larger pad area of the MTN version with long pull levers - much better than the Shimano's I had previously to that. That said, I've built myself an old Marin Pine Mountain into a v-brake equipped gravel grinder using travel agents to convert the standard pull Sora sifters I'm using and they are superb - really no worse than a mechanical disc... even though it's a compromised system! 

In reply to ste_d:

If you want a new bike, go for it, the last year or two’s evolution of geometry has produced some big improvements ( although my ‘95 Kona Cindercone is still longer in overall reach than last years Whyte T130 - it’s just that half of that is in the stem!)

but you could get an annual service for your Spesh for quite a few years for the cost of a new bike...