Garage Chats with Shop Mum 'Brakes; whose idea was it to go hydraulic I ask you?'
Hello everyone and welcome to Garage Chats. Some of you may know me as the pleasant voiced older lady in the Sales and Admin Department (S.A.D).
Well yesterday I was out having a little bike ride around the neighbourhood and who should I see out on his bike; none other than my favourite colleague the Humble Jellyfish. Of course I had to yell at him to get his attention (absent minded professor) but once he pulled over at a safe distance we were able to continue our ongoing debate on the cons and cons of hydraulic disc brakes for the average rider.
Disc brakes come in two flavours:
- Mechanical -these have a simple cable, can be tinkered with easily at home or out and about, and just need a visit to Revolution Bikes when the pads need a change every now and then.
- Hydraulic – these have oil in them! No tinkering at home unless you really know what you are doing and have the equipment. These need to be ‘bled’ on a regular basis by a mechanic and are known to do something called ‘my brakes failed’ on occasion.
My bike came with hydraulic brakes and I can’t sleep at night for thinking about the oil boiling, bleeding and failing.
The Humble Jellyfish, so often the voice of reason at Revolution Bikes, points out that hydraulic brakes have better stopping power and are more precise which is a benefit to mountain bikers on difficult or steep descents. So they are clearly better in some circumstances.
I have noticed from my enviable position on the SAD desk that hydraulic brakes seem to becoming more usual so perhaps they will become the standard in the future. Stink, because in my opinion they are a non-essential expense for most riders. Now the Humble Jellyfish agrees with me on this too, but as he agrees with everything I say it is probably safer to say: one vote for cable brakes and one vote for hydraulic brakes.
Until next time – keep your distance
Shop Mum