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I've just bought a cheap giant xtc 4.5 for a friends son. Its got hydraulic brakes (giant ones) but I'm thinking of replacing them before handing it over.
budget is non-existent as it will all be coming out of my pocket but I've seen cheap Alivio/Acera brakes for about £40 for a set but set up wrong way round.
Does anyone know if the bleed and cable swap procedure is the same or different to the M785 series Deore XT brakes?
Or does anyone have any other recommendations for cheap brakes?
Cheers,
Clark’s M2 Brakes are meant to be ok and very cheap. Like £40 or so a set including rotors - go with the 180’s and they should be alright.
As above, Clarks M2. Infact I ordered a set this morning (already have them on my commuter).
£34.99 was cheapest I could find with the 180mm front...
Deore (well actually 500 series which is sub deore, but it's basically the same), avoid anything from shimano with a T in the name as it's the horrible 2-finger trekking/touring lever.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-deore-m506-disc-brake-2017/rp-prod174433
I've got 615's on my bike which is the same lever I think but with the slightly newer calliper that takes SLX/XT pads.
But, is thee anything wrong with the giant brakes, if they work just leave them.
ermmmm what's wrong with the Giant Hydraulic brakes?
I had an XTC with Giant Hydraulic brakes (2004'ish) and they worked very well until I fell off and snapped the front brake lever 😀
Its got hydraulic brakes (giant ones) but I’m thinking of replacing them before handing it over.
Why?
I've swapped levers round on several sets of hydros (Magura and Shimano) without needing bleeding. Trick is to extend the pistons as far as you can so the calipers are full of fluid, then carefully remove both levers. Tape the hoses to something so the open end is pointing up and immediately flip each lever over as you remove it to keep the open end upwards. Then refit the levers and push the pistons right back into the calipers. This will force fluid back into the master cylinder reservoir and take any air bubbles with it.
Why?
ermmmm what’s wrong with the Giant Hydraulic brakes?
just because I think they'll be rubbish. You are right though, I should wait and see what they are actually like first - I havent' picked the bike up yet.
The fork will probably be pretty rubbish too, as well as the crankset, shifters, deraillers, cassette, hubs, rims, spokes, bars, stem, seatpost, and saddle. Better to buy him a high-end bike from the beginning than replace all the rubbish components, surely. Or you could try riding it and check that everything's as functional as you would expect from an entry level bike then give it to him.
Clarks M2 brakes are really food value for money, bought a set and impressed with the value for money.
The cable swap if you're lucky will be a simple swap with no bleed required, worst case yeah it's similar to XT's etc.
I've used a couple of sets of those for years, with no complaints.