Upgrade from Mechanical to Hydraulic Brakes

Equipment
1

I just purchased a new hybrid bike that has mechanical disk brakes and would like to upgrade the front/left to hydraulic. I was wondering if a good brand and model could be recommended.

I haven’t had a bike for about four years since my mtb was stolen which had hydraulic front and back. I took my new bike for a ride yesterday for the first time and it seemed to need a lot more force to stop than my did my mtb. I don’t plan on doing the same trails that I was doing with my mtb but I will take this one on some hills and would like a bit more control slowing and stopping.

The reason I only want to upgrade the front is the rear is routed through the frame so I would probably have to use a hybrid for the rear. I want to use full hydraulic for the front to get all the benefits.

So, anyone have any suggestions on makes and models? I’m in Canada near Toronto

2

Before forking over money on new brakes, do you know for certain that the brakes have been properly “bedded-in”? If they weren’t, that is step #1 IMO and then you can see if they improve. This should be done for all disc brakes, mechanical and hydraulic.

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3

Yup…this was my first reaction. When I set-up my daughter’s gravel bike w/ mechanical discs, I forgot to properly bed the rotors and pads. Bike would barely stop…

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4

Thanks. I’ll try that out before upgrading and see how well that works.

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5

When you say hybrid bike, you mean a bike with flat bars, right? In that case, upgrading will be easy and relatively inexpensive. A good choice are Shimano Deore (plain Deore) brakes, they offer a lot of performance and are relatively inexpensive.

Seconded. Make sure they are bedded in properly.

6

Thanks Oreo for the brake suggestion. Yes, flat bars. I’ll look into them and I’ll for sure bed in those brakes.

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7

An alternative is cable-actuated hydraulic. I am satisfied with my TRP HY/RDs as being as good as 105 hydraulic and are considerably more adjustable actually. TRP HY/RDs or Juin Tech with compression less cable housing is a solid setup.

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8

Which brakes? My wifes bike came with TRP Spyre ( I think there are a couple of names) https://trpcycling.com/product/spyre-2/ and theyre excellent. If you can’t stop, in general, it’s not the caliper’s fault it’s the pad or adjustment. It should only require two fingers tops to fully lock your brakes up.
Hydraulic give you better adjustment maintenance, cable routing flexibility, you trade lever pull for pad clearance, and a single finger leverage over the caliper. Ability to stop and stopping force are not on that list.

9

On flat bars, I don’t that’s worth it. You can get proper hydraulic brakes for relatively little money.