Mountain Bike Brakes Explained: Braking the Confusion

V-Brakes
With the advent of disc brakes, and the quickly changing mountain bike world, V-brakes are coming out of style. Nevertheless even these still have a place in the MTB world. V-brakes are much cheaper and still a little bit lighter than disc brakes. They are very simple to install, repair and maintain. The downside is they do not offer a lot of stopping power. For heavier bikes and technical terrain, they just can’t deliver enough.

Mechanical Disc Brakes
Mechanical disc brakes have a disc rotor but use a cable to transfer the braking energy. These offer a lot of the stopping power of hydraulic disc brakes but not the modulation, which I’ll go over in a second. Disc brakes, in general, function better in wet conditions than rim brakes, and rim true will not affect their performance. From experience and talking to fellow riders, mechanical disc brakes require frequent adjustment for good performance, yet unlike hydros, you do not have to bleed the brake system or worry about pinched lines.

Hydraulic Disc Brakes
Hydros are the premier choice and what everybody goes for. They require little maintenance, but they do have to be bled every year or so. You can use them with one finger, and they have more modulation than any of the other brake options. Modulation is the amount of control you have over your stopping power. Mechanical discs and V-brakes feel like they are either on or off while with hydraulics you can really control the pressure on the rotor. This is a great thing for technical descents. The last thing you want to do is lock your wheels up. When your wheels are locked all you do is slide and your control is gone. Modulation is the key to this. 

Read more

Magura Mountain Bike Brakes and Suspension

Believe it or not there was a time when Mountain biking was in its infancy that several of the luxuries we take for granted today were not available. Indeed the first mountain bikes were little more than ten speeds with heavier and more durable frames and wheels. In those early days taking a rough path was a whole new experience in back and knee pain. Well as with everything else over time, mountain biking has addressed many of the comfort and injury issues that plagued the sport in its earliest days. Now almost everyone has specialized forks, shocks, frames and tires all designed to make a ride more comfortable and reduce the amount of wear and tear on our joints.

While many companies offer great products, one of the best is Magura. Magura offers a wide range of products ranging from brake sets to rearshocks, and while these products kick butt, where Magura really kicks butt is in their offering of front forks. Somehow these guys manage to offer not only a couple of high quality forks, but they manage to offer forks for almost any riding style. If you are into going a little crazy freestyle, than you want to check out their 2008 Wotan suspension forks. If you are a just more of a functional rider than Odur style is something you want to look into. It really doesn’t matter what kind of riding style you have Magura bike parts certainly offer something for everyone. However their forks are really only the beginning.

Among the many offerings from Magura are some of the best brake sets you will find on the planet. With a combination of unique design and high quality materials, Magura has managed to create both disc and rim brakes. While true you can only do so much with a rim brake, going anywhere else but Magura for disc brakes is a waste of time. The disc brakes that Magura offer have two ideas in mind, that they work, and that they are easy to remove when you need to get to the tire. Overall they just plain rock.

So what is it that makes Magura so special? They have a passion that is almost unmatched in the field. The people at Magura want to make the best product not just for the sake of making a few bucks, but because they want the best ride they can get. This fierce dedication and passion to making bike parts has truly allowed Magura to rise above the rest of the crowd. If only all parts and bike manufacturers approached their craft in the same way.

Pay with:

Call today for pricing and place your Magura order, 770.676.6289!