Disk Brake Help Please

[Olicf]

I recently bought a 26" M.A.D Phase trials bike from ebay and the Tektro front disk brakes (Tektro IO) Are absolutely useless even compared to the basic Avid single digits rims I'm running on my MTB. The finger strength you have to put into these Tektro brakes to make the bike stop is stupid compared to the single digits which I could easily use to stop the bike with one finger!

After doing some research I think I am going to purchase an avid BB7 Mechanical disk brake from chainreaction which I found for a cracking £55.

Please let me know what you think about these brakes and also what size should I go for as the160mm disks are the same price as the 185mm disks. I would of thought the bigger the better but is there any reason that this might not be the case in trials?

Also anything I know about that could magically make the Tektro IO brakes a bit less embarrassing?

( I have tried adjusting everything I can think of)

Thanks

Edited February 16, 2010 by Olicf

[Oli P]

When I had my phase the standard front disc was ok and would allow me to do basic front wheel moves but as soon as I tried to do a gap to front it would slip. Try beding in the disc before you go for a new disc by just dragging the brake going do a hill and then soak in water and then repeat this and it should get better than what you are saying.

I did go to a BB7 and still have it on my current bike and it is the best. I went for the 203mm version and after beding it in I could not fault it, I would recomend going for the lager disc sizes due to this will give you better braking performance but try to aviod the 160mm on a stock due to it will not give you very good braking power.

Hope this helps you out.

Oli

[Olicf]

When I had my phase the standard front disc was ok and would allow me to do basic front wheel moves but as soon as I tried to do a gap to front it would slip. Try beding in the disc before you go for a new disc by just dragging the brake going do a hill and then soak in water and then repeat this and it should get better than what you are saying.

I did go to a BB7 and still have it on my current bike and it is the best. I went for the 203mm version and after beding it in I could not fault it, I would recomend going for the lager disc sizes due to this will give you better braking performance but try to aviod the 160mm on a stock due to it will not give you very good braking power.

Hope this helps you out.

Oli

Great to hear from another Oli that has/had a phase. I will definitely give that a shot before biting the bullet and getting the BB7's and thanks for the info on sizes. Also with the phase are there any stock parts you would recommend as a must upgrade? Everything else seems good enough to me at the moment but I'm very much a beginner so please let me know.

Thanks for the reply, helped a lot!

Edited February 17, 2010 by Olicf

[Oli P]

The main part that I would recommend replacing is the rear brake pads but if you are just sratrting the standard pads will be fine but as soon as it starts to fail replace them for pads such as Rock CNC pads or TNN CRM pads. I have the Rock pads on a light grind but the CRM pads may be better on a smooth rim.

Apart from that there are no other parts that need to be changed. You may find as you learn more about the sport you will find things that you will want to upgrade such as converting to single speed. There are a couple of things you should check on the bike as often as possible, first is the wheels to make sure that the cones are nice and tight as they tend to come loss with trials use and if they do they can cause a lot more damage due to the greater pressure put on the wheel than normal use. The other thing is the drive side chainstay is a lot thinner than the non drive side and those frames do tend to brake at this point but they can last a long time with heavy riding. It should be fine as you are just starting but if you find yourself doing large things just keep an eye on it for cracks.

Apart from that it is a great bike you have there to learn on and you should have a lot of fun on it.

[Olicf]

The main part that I would recommend replacing is the rear brake pads but if you are just sratrting the standard pads will be fine but as soon as it starts to fail replace them for pads such as Rock CNC pads or TNN CRM pads. I have the Rock pads on a light grind but the CRM pads may be better on a smooth rim.

Apart from that there are no other parts that need to be changed. You may find as you learn more about the sport you will find things that you will want to upgrade such as converting to single speed. There are a couple of things you should check on the bike as often as possible, first is the wheels to make sure that the cones are nice and tight as they tend to come loss with trials use and if they do they can cause a lot more damage due to the greater pressure put on the wheel than normal use. The other thing is the drive side chainstay is a lot thinner than the non drive side and those frames do tend to brake at this point but they can last a long time with heavy riding. It should be fine as you are just starting but if you find yourself doing large things just keep an eye on it for cracks.

Apart from that it is a great bike you have there to learn on and you should have a lot of fun on it.

Cheers again Oli. very helpfull! Going to try and bed my disk brakes in properly next week. If that fails I'm going to go for some BB7's.

Thanks again

Oli