Hi,

I tried a bike with hydraulic disk brakes (Hayes Sole V6) yesterday
for the first time, and would appreciate your input on my impressions:

- On the first bike I tried, it was not possible to block the wheel
with the disk brake. I checked and found that the disk was oily. On
another bike (same brake) I was able to get the wheel to block, but
with application of extreme force to the brake handle, MUCH more than
required by any V brake I ever tried.

Question: Are Hydraulic Brakes really weaker than V brakes, or was this
bike just assembled by monkeys?

- I noticed that the hydraulic disc brakes have a much 'spongier' feel
than the cable actuated V brakes. This I guess was related to the
hydraulic hose / brake line expanding under pressure, because it was ok
on the front brake (1/2 of the brake lever way until full braking), and
not acceptable no the rear brake (had to pull the brake lever almost up
to the handle bar to get full breaking power)

Question: Is this again a problem of monkey assembly (not enough
fluid?, air in the lines?, what else? ...), or cheap brake lines, or
both? And are there better brake lines that expand less than the stock
ones?
Or ARE hydraulic disc brakes just spongier? If yes, that much
spongier??

- After playing with the brakes for a few minutes, I noticed that the
discs get noticeably warm, around 170F. Are there ever heating issues
with disc brakes on longer downhill segments? Seems a stupid question,
but they did get quite warm just by playing around on level ground for
about ten minutes.

Thanks a lot!

PS: All the monkey references are founded on an employee there telling
me that 'there are no electrical brakes' when I asked for differences
between hydraulic and cable actuated. When I asked her that about the
front fork maxing out, i.e. hitting the limit of it's travel hard, she
replied with 'many people like their forks soft'. (I found out how they
can be adjusted later.) When I showed her that the (later found to be
well oiled) disk didn't stop the bike, she said 'Oh. Eh? Uh?'
So monkeys or Neanderthals are definitely a possibility in that store.
But the bike is on sale, so I might still buy there. Uh. Uh. Uh. I

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