For the discussion Rim vs Disc Brakes please see my other list here.

Generally speaking hydraulic disc brakes out perform mechanical activated disc brakes however it really depends on the style of bike and where you’re riding it to answer this question properly.

Mountain Biking

In muddy conditions you want all the breaking power you can get, so in MTB terrain and if you’re hitting serious downhills you really want hydraulic disc brakes. When disc brakes first appeared I did have mechanical actuated disc brakes on a multi day ride in the Barrington Tops and all was well until we hit the first serious downhill and my brakes started fading, not much fun!

If you have mechanical actuated disc brakes on your bike and you’re, using it for serious mountain bike riding then you really want to upgrade to a hydraulic system. You can get us or your local bike shop to do this or indeed you might want to tackle this yourself. Nothing wrong with using used brakes here as long as hey have new pads and fresh hydraulic fluid. To see what hydraulic brakes we have available follow this link.

Gravel, Road and Triathlon Riding

For a while I was riding a Marin Gestalt gravel bike with mechanical actuated disc brakes, in the hinterland around Dungog and I must say it felt fine. A lot of the the budget level gravel bikes have mechanical actuated disc brakes and there’s no need to shy away from them unless you’re going to encounter really long downhill runs.

If your bike has drop handles than replacing the levers with ones that operate hydraulic brakes is really, really expensive however the other thing that can be done is to replace the mechanical actuators with mechanical actuated hydraulic calipers, which give you practically the same break power as full hydraulic brakes. This is a relatively easy job to do or you can get us or your local bike shop to install this upgrade for you. See this link to find parts or this link if you want us to do this upgrade for you.

The same essentially applies in the same manner to road and triathlon riding conditions.

Ok so let’s have a look at the pros and cons of each system:

Mechanical Actuation Pros:

A simpler and very reliable system, cheaper to manufacture and easy to maintain

Cons:

Requires higher hand pressure for more braking power, so not a one finger solution, will fade on long and steep down hills, generally only one caliper is actuated, which pushes the rotor to one side and doesn’t generate the same braking power when both are pushed at the same time.