Hydraulic vs cable disc brakes I finally made the switch

After years of fighting with cable actuated disc brakes on my commuter bike I finally swapped to a set of Shimano MT200 hydraulics last month. Cost me about $90 for the whole setup and honestly I should have done this back in 2021. The stopping power is night and day especially in wet Portland weather. Any other mechanics out there still running cables or am I late to the party?

2 comments

2 Comments

sam_anderson26d ago

Actually val is right about the price range for MT200s. I just checked and a full set is usually around $50 if you know where to look. The $90 tag might have been from a local shop that tacked on markup or included something extra. But even at $90 its still a solid upgrade over cables. I ran cables for years on my old Kona and switching to hydro was the best thing I did for that bike. The feel at the lever is so much better especially in wet conditions where cable drag gets real bad. Youre not late to the party though, a lot of people still stick with cables because they think hydros are expensive to maintain. Theyre wrong but they still do it.

val22326d ago

Actually the MT200s are more like $45-50 for a full set, not $90. You kind of overpaid unless that included rotors and adapters.