Hydraulic vs Mechanical Bike Disk Brakes - Which is Better?

Many bikes come with disk brakes now. The cheaper ones have mechanical disc brakes, and the more expensive ones come with hydraulic disc brake systems. Which one is better? Are hydraulic disc brakes on a bicycle better than mechanical disc brakes? In this video I tell you the pros and cons of each type of brake, and you can decide whether hydraulic disc brakes are best for your bike, or if you want to put mechanical disc brakes on your bicycle. I found that mechanical disc brakes are much more reliable and lower maintenance than hydraulic disc brakes, but the lever effort is higher when you are stopping your bike. Hydraulic disc brakes can get spongy and stop working, and they require regular maintenance and bleeding to keep them working properly. Because of this, I prefer mechanical disc brakes over hydraulic disc brakes on my mountain bike. In this video you get to see hydraulic brakes and mechanical disc brakes on two mountain bikes, and hear me compare them so you can decide which one is better.

Here is where you can get a Shimano brake bleeding kit with mineral oil if you have hydraulic disc brakes like the bike in the video.

[albertgarcia]

The best brakes is the Tree in front off you.

[GBritt]

You definitely did not bleed the hydraulic brakes right, they should feel consistent all the way through the pull and make sure you use the right fluid

[creepergamingboy]

Hydraulic brakes are less work and mechanical are more work I think the problem you had with hydraulic was because they were old and not well looked after I have use both types and I have to say hydraulic brakes are better and any mtb that has used hydraulic brakes will probable say they are better too

[mobius-]

Iv never had issue with mech brakes or their power. I run az deserts xc trails weekly. 60 mile treks in flagstaff/sedona. Brutal terrain and have neever had an issue. They are very reliable and strong systems. Its all on proper adjusment on the cables and thats it with standard single finger braking. And carrying a 6ft spool of cable in ur tool kit for out in the field repair is instant. I dont understand whats all the hate. Everyone here claims hydro systems like your running a formula 1 down the muslanne. Pretty pathetic really. Hype of carbon, brain on the dereilluer. Unreal what mtb has become lol. Waiting for umbrellas and frappacino machine on them next..

[ytubesucksazznow]

the ones that stop you before a crash are the best brakes. ^^

[cracka]

When you become more experienced as a mountainbiker and ride more than one pair of cheap hydraulic You'll realise how invalid every one of your arguments were.

[jdjhfyeetlolblueye]

You know nothing about mountain biking. Like really who says mechanical disc brakes are better. No decent rider would chose to have mechanical brakes. There is a reason why every top pro and every reasonable mountain biker used hydraulic disc brakes over mechanical discs. Hydraulic brakes have smoother modulation, way more stoping power and when maintained and well looked after they work no matter the conditions.

[chrisk]

So, you compare the cheapest brakes against each other and then claim that i should "save my money" and go with the mechanical? Call me an idiot, but I am going to stick with my mid-level Shimano SLX brakeset that works flawlessly. I have had these brakes for about 2 years and have had to perform very little maintenance on them. Once a year i change the mineral fluid, the brake pads and ride. My next door neighbor has the mechanical brakes on an entry level Mongoose and they require a lot more maintenance and I can stop in half the distance. Of course there is a weight difference between my neighbor and myself, I weigh 200 lbs. with a 24 lb. bike and he weighs 145 lbs. with a 32 lb. bike.

[johngta]

Hydraulic brakes are 20% better than wire brakes, but also 1000% more expensive and 500% more headaches

[avi.d]

I ride mechanical on the rear and hydraulic on the front, don't ask why I just like to have the actual feel when power sliding down a hill.

[mtbboy]

I have never had issues with mechanical brakes jamming up, but they have seals.

[plsniper]

Finally a straight forward answer. Thank you! Bleeding brakes, spungy... yep, I'm going with the mechanical ones.

[ethankeadle]

Overall, though, valid points in support of mechanical brakes were made here.

[johnm]

How often do you slam on the brakes fully? Hydrolic brakes require much less force in normal use than cable ones, especially if you don't use the worst possible ones to use in your comparison

[Ark_Fenix]

For how I ride (road mostly) and for lower maintenance I'd go with the mechs. Thanks for the comparison.

[Shyzah]

Imo v brakes are the best they get me the most girls

[ak_nolan]

Look up a video on how hydrolics work. You might also like to know that good mountain bikers don’t need to “lock out the brakes”. It is more effective to have a smooth stop rather than skidding (you will stop quicker without skidding)

[jcabslovesu]

I am new to biking. I just learned to bike using my husbands' childhood old trek mountain bike. I finally bought my first bike from REI because I really like their return policy + free 1 yr maintenance. I decided to go with a hybrid as my first bike, mechanical breaks. All my biking friends keep saying get an hydraulic breaks but I really need something that's low maintenance. Thank you for this review.

[charlielewis]

those are the lowest end hydraulic brakes you can get and nearly cost the same as the mechanical ones

[MrMccurley]

Am building an E-fatbike, set up as a land crawler. Made the mistake of buying a Juin Tech DB-1 hydraulic system. After watching several videos on how to bleed Shimano and SRAM/Avid systems, I've decided to eat that cost and go with something that does not require the most idiotic bleeding procedures I've ever seen. This video clinched it for me. Thank you...