Jeremy None of the hydraulic brakes I've ever worked on have any way to change the pad to rotor spacing. I've only worked on like 20 bikes worth. For somebody like Patrick Moore who carefully and fastidiously sets up his mechanical disc brakes for maximum pad clearance, I would call that a major difference. From my perspective, hydraulic disc brakes are self-adjusting, and you better like how they self-adjust, because you can't meaningfully change them at the caliper, from any adjustment perspective. There are reach adjusters at the levers, but that just sizes the levers to your hand.
Am I missing out on some class of hydraulic calipers that allow you to adjust pad clearance? Bill On Thursday, June 22, 2017 at 8:04:46 AM UTC-7, Jeremy Till wrote: > > Pad/rotor clearance isn't really different between hydraulic and > mechanical disc brakes in my experience. Just like with rim brakes, it > depends more on the brake itself and the leverage ratio. SRAM/Avid brakes, > for instance, tend to be fairly high leverage for a light lever feel and > "modulation," and in my experience their pads run pretty close to the > rotor, just like high leverage rim brakes (V's, for instance) need to run > fairly close to the rim. At the opposite end of the spectrum would be some > of the Tektro hydraulics which are becoming commonplace on hybrids and city > bikes, and tend to have less leverage and a firmer lever feel, something > more like a high-profile cantilever (you have to squeeze harder to get the > same stopping power). Like the cantilevers, their pads have plenty of > clearance, which also makes setup easier, especially with looser caliper > mount alignment and rotor trueness tolerances. > > Basically, no matter the type of brake, their ain't no free lunch: high > leverage and more stopping power per unit of lever squeezing force comes at > the cost of tighter clearances. The only thing that changes are the > location and scale of those tolerances. > > It's been my experience that I've blown through pads faster on a disc > brake bike but that's not really fair since the disc brake bike was being > used for the most braking-intensive type of riding (mountain biking on > steep terrain). I've never had a disc brake bike that replicated a rim > brake bike in terms of use patterns so I can't really compare. > > On Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 8:09:11 PM UTC-7, Patrick Moore wrote: >> >> I'm putting this in a new thread, because I have some questions. Note: >> I'm not disagreeing, I'm asking because I want to know more. >> >> Clayton said, in the Rivs On Block thread: >> >> *- More margin betw. rim and brake to adjust for rub. Disc brakes usually >> have much tighter clearances and make it a much more fiddly affair to get >> rid of rub (applies mostly to hydros)* >> *- Typically lighter weight* >> *[...]* >> *- Pads tend to last longer* >> >> #1: I agree that this is very true for mechanical discs, but for >> hydraulics? I thought that pads for hydraulics allowed more gap than those >> for mechanicals, at least once-sided-pull mechanicals. For me, this isn't >> merely academic; it may influence my choice of mechanicals over hydraulics >> one day. >> >> #2: Yes, calipers are lighter, but then disc-specific rims can be much >> lighter than rim brake rims, at least in the wider sizes. >> >> #3: I've read that this is true; I've also read the opposite (recently, >> in a review of some disc setup -- Bike Radar? Which one is true? >> >> I do know that my Kool Stop salmons seem to last years if not decades. >> >> -- >> *30% Supply and Demand discount, listmembers only, on all resume, >> LinkedIn, and writing services, until Demand equals Supply! And there's >> more! 10% kickback for any referral resulting in fully paid, list-price >> contract. And still more! I am offering services in trade for a road bike, >> or frame and parts, that are period compatible with my AM hub, circa 1937 >> to 1961. See my website for what I do and what I charge; email for details.* >> >> Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews. >> By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching. >> Other professional writing services. >> http://www.resumespecialties.com/ >> www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/ >> Patrick Moore >> Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique, Vereinigte Staaten >> ************************************* >> *************************************************** >> >> >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
