8" or 6" rear Rotors?

[Huck!]

Hay dudes
I'm in the market for some new brakes, due to problems with my hayes mags.
I was just wondering if it is really necessary to have a 8" rear rotor or if 6" would work well enough. Any sugestions of what brakes other than hayse I could get for a reasonable price woud be sweet.

[wtr]

I started riding with Armor/Dice/Diatech 7"front, 6"rear. Reasonably cheap yet still works, and worked well. But they have fluid expansion problems....not good to ride on hot days...

Now I'm really happy with my 8" mags...the stopping power's just...incredible... As with modulations,try not to use the brake for manualling and you'll be alright.

[Daver]

I run Hope M4s with 205/185 rotors and its sweet, any more power on the rear would be excessive.

[H8SV8S]

I even run an 8" on the back of my BSX bike. If the brake modulates well like an XT or something, you can't have too much power IMO. Definately need the bigger rotor on a DH bike

[cam-o]

Depends on the bike and your riding style.
For XC on light bikes, stay on 6".
An 8" rotor on the back on a light bike can lead to chainstay snappage.
I've you've got something beefier, the more the merrier.
A good rule of thumb would be whatever the factory specced is probably the right size for your bike.

I went from 7" Armor to 8" saint on the rear and the difference was massive.

[H8SV8S]

Sorry to hi-jack.... but what are the saint discs like? I'm tossing up between these and the new 6-pot hopes...

[cam-o]

Never ridden Hopes but I reckon Saint brakes are cheating, they are that good!

[H8SV8S]

sounds promising... I just don't like the new shifter mech.... I wonder if the saints would run w/ XT levers :rolleyes:

[cam-o]

You can get them without the shifter. I run them with SRAM X9 Gripshift.

[dj jedijunglesnow]

But they have fluid expansion problems....not good to ride on hot days...


Thanks mate.

That explains alot!

[scblack]

I don't know what you weigh, but that was an issue for a mate of mine who weights 95-100kgs. He had been running 6 inch rears, but changed to 8 inch, and it helped him a great deal.

Less finger effort required, more modulation, it helped him greatly being a bigger guy.

I'm not the smallest - 85-90kg, but I find no problem running 6 inch rears on my Bullit.

It's one issue to consider.

[udi]

An 8" rear rotor does make it easier on your fingers on the long downhill runs. I think the longest day I spent downhilling, the only thing that hurt was my braking finger, so it definately is something to consider. (Although that might just indicate that im a wuss that uses the brakes too much and hold onto them like a grandma would a walking stick...)

That was back in the 6" days, switching to 8" did make it a bit easier for sure, but honestly, you can upgrade later if you are on a tight budget now. It's not a huge deal.

And when you do upgrade, dhdirect.com.au has decent rotors for 25 bucks, and adaptors are reasonably priced too.

As for what brake, lets not start that one again. Try a bunch for yourself, look for prices yourself, and decide what suits you best yourself. Oh and keep and eye on the for-sale sections for good second hand options. That's my best advice.

[vwtyp2]

sounds promising... I just don't like the new shifter mech.... I wonder if the saints would run w/ XT levers :rolleyes:

sure can.
I beleive saint even have their own seperate shifter for '05 and a front derailleur.

[Huck!]

Thanx Guys big help I was thinking of getting dice whiplash but i don't know if they come in 8". Thay would be good enough for my stinky D

[LordNikon]

I moved from running Hayes Mag 8" front / 6" rear to Avid Juicy Five 8" both ends and have noticed a huge improvement.

8" rear is definitely the go, and for the price you can't go past theJuicy 5, although they're not quite as cheap as the Whiplash.

[cam-o]

Thanx Guys big help I was thinking of getting dice whiplash but i don't know if they come in 8". Thay would be good enough for my stinky D
All you need is an aftermarket Rotor and adapter and they will go to 8" no worries. the caliper is identical.

[bazza]

I started riding with Armor/Dice/Diatech 7"front, 6"rear. Reasonably cheap yet still works, and worked well. But they have fluid expansion problems....not good to ride on hot days...



thats the biggest load of crap. you must of had shagged brakes. we are riding in 30+ degree heats here regularily and i have not heard of this problem occuring (living in north queensland).

[LordNikon]

Fluid expansion issues will occur when there is a large variance in temperature, not necessarily when it's hot.

So if you have constant hot temperatures, or long gradual changes, you wont experience this issue. Or you will but it will be unnoticable. The times whe you will see this kind of thing happen is when you have very cold temperatures one day and then very hot the next.

:cool:

[Rik]

thats the biggest load of crapA: a bit of politeness goes a long way.
B: Don't shoot other people down unless you know you're 100% correct.
C: Read what LordNikon has said.

As for rotor size, I run a 6" on the rear for clearance issues (my chainstays are hammered, yay for rocks), and have never found a situation where I've run out of braking power before I've broken traction... but it all depends on your setup and preference.

[ran]

I think the Armors\Dice would be good with 8" rotors as the 7"\6" take a bit of pulling up when they get hot

[Fallsrider]

I'm running 6 inch front and rear at the moment on my hardtail, did consider upgrading the front to 8, can't do the rear due to clearance issues, but I'm doing fine with 6 at the moment, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[Mugger]

I run 6" rear and 8" front, its all good no need to upgrade because the bike stops when instructed.

[protecon]

I think with the small difference in price, one has to ask - what's the advantage of running a 6" rotor?

[Rik]

Frame + rock clearance is important to me, hence 6". Aesthetics too I guess ;)

[milne]

hey sorry to hijack but,
is there such thing as a 7inch/180mm hays disk?