Hi All,

I have a Trek 4300 Disc 2009 which has cable brakes.

I ride either once or twice a week and have gone through 3 sets of pads in the last 6 months and feel that I am constantly attempting to adjust my cables and re-position the pads.

I have been over to my local bike shop today as I was going to upgrade my cables to pre-stretched jobbies.  The chap in the shop however had other ideas.

He advised me to get hydraulic brakes saying that hydraulics will provide me with better performance and will slow down the amount of pads that I go through.

Firstly, is this correct ?

Secondly, he told me that the shop could upgrade my bike with 'Giant' hydraulics for £150.00. (I told him the make and model of my bike)

So my second question is, is this a good price ?  I was concerned that my gears and brakes were moulded together on my bars.  Does this mean that I would need then to buy seperate gear changes/brake leavers ?

Any advice would be welcome.  If I am to upgrade, £180ish would be my very, very top limit but would welcome any advice on what to do, brands, types and whether I could do the upgrade myself.

Thanks in advance.

Hydraulic brakes are better than cable disc brakes, no cable stretch for one and cable seizure is non existent.

As for pad wear that depends on pad compound and whether the pads are rubbing constantly on the rotor, cabledisc brakes usually have one fixed piston which means you may get slightly more rub than on a hydraulic system, with hydraulic brakes both pistons retract into the caliper when you release the lever. Technically the guy in the shop could be correct about the pad wear. Riding in wet muddy conditions will also speed up pad wear no matter what brake type you are using.

What brake/gear units are you using? If they are joined as a single unit then it will be more expenisve but worth it in the long run.

Personally I wouldn't go for Giant brakes,Merlin were doing some Avid Elixir R disc brakes for £160, nice brake and very easy to change pads too.