In this article I’m going to cover the best mechanical disc brakes for mountain bikes. It’s an interesting subject to say the least, since mechanical disc brakes on mountain bikes are somewhat of a rare bird.
The reason you almost never see them on a mountain bike is because there are great, low-priced hydraulic disc brakes that kind of remove the budget-friendliness argument of mechanical disc brakes on the table. Hydraulic brakes (in general) also tend to offer better modulation and braking power.
Although, as you will find out on this list, some mechanical options can be considered extremely affordable. More so than your cheapest hydraulic setup.
So that might still be one reason to pick them. Another one is of course the ability to use mechanical brake levers. So just for the sheer purposes of bike building, having the option to combine retro-looking levers with a braking power that trumps your average v-brake setup is an enticing perspective, especially from a restoration perspective.
In another article I’ve covered the benefits from a maintenance perspective, although you do have to nuance the more simplistic maintenance when looking at individual options. Especially hybrid brakes, where a cable-actuated brake still holds an oil reservoir moving the pistons, will need an occasional bleed. Something I consider to be more complex than tightening a brake cable.
That being said, riding a mountain bike and braking is more about awareness of your riding environment than about sheer power. It’s nice that there are a lot of online videos depicting how long it takes to brake on a flat surface in a straight line, but accidents simply don’t happen that way. So take the necessity of huge amounts of braking power with a grain of salt.
What’s probably more important is that mechanical disc brakes are obviously operated by mechanical brake levers, and there’s a very different feel to the transfer of power from operating the lever and your brakes braking. For one, it takes more effort, which is one of the reasons why I would not recommend mechanical disc brakes for heavy duty trail riding.
So with all that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the options I put in my overview of the best mechanical disc brakes for mountain bikes.
TRP Spyre SLC
TRP has a number of excellent mechanical disc brakes in their lineup and the TRP Spyre SLC is their most premium dual-piston short-pull version, which operates purely mechanical (the HY/RD is a hybrid).
There are a number of reasons why you should want this as your go-to mechanical disc brake option for short-pull levers, e.g. road bikes. And there’s a good reason why you should want this more expensive one, over the cheaper TRP Spyre.
The first reason to choose a rather expensive brake, is that it feels very similar to your average hydraulic brake, yet is easier to set up, and easier to maintain. The dual piston action is similar to those found in every other hydraulic brake, and combined with compressionless housing, a necessity for these brakes, offers fantastic stopping power.
Though not the lightest out there, they are indeed very light at 146 grams, courtesy of a carbon fiber brake arm. Yet the brake also includes protective housing for the adjustment bolt that holds the brake pads, which are compatible with standard Shimano ones, in place.
A great feature that decreases the risk of debris, sand, and mud from being sprayed onto and into an area where you definitely do not want it to go. It also means less wear and tear on both pads and rotors, with increased stopping power.
While previously, the inclusion of the carbon brake arm alone couldn’t really justify the increase in price, this added piece of tech in a package which stills weighs less does in my mind, because it improves the brake’s functionality significantly in less than ideal conditions.
When compared to Shimano, and SRAM, these TRP brakes are being offered in a much less in-your-face package, which helps prevent incompatibility that might occur with certain frames.
Even pad wear is the promise of a dual-piston setup, and adjusting the pad alignment is made easier with a barrel adjuster sitting at the lever arm. The adjuster is bigger than where it sits at the arm, and it’s also made out of plastic. So it’s probably not the most long-lasting part of the brake, but barrel adjusters can be had separately.
All in all these disc brakes are probably the best dual-piston disc brakes money can buy.
- Fantastic dual-piston mechanical disc brakes providing long-term control and modulation in less than ideal conditions.
- Compressionless housing needed may make these fairly costly
TRP HY/RD
The TRP HY/RD is a hybrid mechanical disc brake, using a cable operated brake lever to move an oil operated dual-piston setup. These brakes were introduced years ago, when disc brakes on road bikes were just getting started. I’m not entirely sure, but I believe HY/RD stands for “hybrid/road”.
At the time these brakes made using disc brakes easier, since you didn’t need a very expensive brake lever overhaul. However, disc brakes on road bikes have replaced mechanically operated calipers as the go-to standard, so that particular requirement has become almost entirely obsolete.
It begs the question, whether or not these brakes are still relevant and whether you should consider them over the alternatives listed here. Especially since they are very expensive.
There is no doubt that these brakes are absolutely top-notch. Incredible braking power is held up with a forged aluminum body and bakelite pistons, which prevent excessive heat buildup and brake fading on long descents.
People often claim that hydraulic disc brakes always have superior braking power. That may be the case for a well-bled system, but you can’t brake any harder than locking up your wheels, and these brakes can do that and then some.
Dual pistons are easy to adjust and set up, as well as having a hydraulic braking feel to them.
Since these brakes have oil reservoirs, there’s a bleeding process involved. One of the key benefits of pure mechanical disc brakes is that you don’t have to bleed them. So at least the bleeding process for these ones have to be available in terms of tutorials, and easy to perform.
Easy is a relative concept, but at least I can objectively state that it’s much more involved and takes longer. If you’re familiar with bleeding brakes, you’ll know how these work and know what to do. That’s because you’ll need the exact same tools for the exact same steps, from syringes, to allen keys, to bleed blocks. If you don’t, and don’t want to learn, you should want to pay your LBS for it, or simply don’t buy these.
- Superior braking power in a hybrid mechanical disc brake package
- Lost the no-brainer maintenance with the introduction of the oil reservoir. Already expensive brakes need rotors and compressionless housing as well
Shimano Altus BR-M375
The Shimano Altus BR-M375 is perfect for people who want to upgrade to disc brakes in general or mechanical disc brakes specifically. They offer remarkable stopping power in the cheapest package available from the Japanese giant component manufacturer.
The disc brake is compatible with your standard long-pull v-brake lever, which is already on your bike or can be had for basically nothing in your local parts bin.
The aluminum body offers a single spring-loaded piston to move the rotor against the standard Shimano brake pads. The fixed side can be adjusted using a standard 3.5mm allen key, and putting in a new pair of pads is as easy as removing the retaining pin, pushing the old pads out, and doing a bit of cleaning before you insert the new ones.
The omnipresence of Shimano and their design philosophy may be a bit bland at times if you want to really spruce up your bike. But aesthetics aside, the value-for-money when looking at a pair of mechanical disc brakes is undeniable.
It can be considered a joke that the compressionless housing needed to get the most out of these brakes is more expensive than the brakes themselves.
The Shimano Altus BR-M375 is the entry-level disc brake that still beats the far majority of other mechanically operated non-disc brakes, while still leaving more than enough money on the table to buy yourself a cup of coffee on your next round.
- Incredible value-for-money for entry-level mechanical disc brakes
- None
SRAM BB7 Mountain S
The SRAM BB7 Mountain S is the long-pull version of the SRAM BB7 Road S. Except for the brake arm they are similar.
- See SRAM BB7 Road S
- See SRAM BB7 Road S
Paul Component Post Mount Klamper
The Paul Component Klamper is another instance of a single-piston mechanical disc brake. And the obvious standout feature is the price, if you can call that a feature in the first place.
So what can you say about disc brakes that are almost 3 times as expensive as some excellent alternatives. Not that the return of investment in terms of braking functionality is increased.
Every single item in the Paul Component catalog is way more expensive than similar alternatives. So exactly because these are so expensive do they demand our attention.
If you buy these, you buy them because of their aesthetics and to make a certain statement. Paul Component is sort of an oddity in the bike industry, in that they survived the nineties MTB era, where a lot of other really good component manufacturers died against the Shimano onslaught. Paul Component Engineering almost did the same, but survived nonetheless and has a likable David vs Goliath attitude because of it.
Paul himself states that one of the core advantages of his mechanical disk brakes is that they will outlast every other hydraulic disk brake out there, and judging from the way he manufactured the bulky body, he’s probably right. Adjustment is easy, with smoothly rotating huge dials, which is detented.
Another thing is, that the single-piston setup is indeed the most simple and hardy design for a mechanical disc brake. So these brakes are very easy to pull apart entirely if you wanted to. clean, re-lube, and put back together. There are no plastic components in this brake, which is another sign that the thing is built to last.
The Paul Component Klamper is the biggest, heaviest mechanical disc brake on the market, and its bulky body only houses a single piston. This means that all the moving parts of the piston are larger, more durable, and can offer finer modulation than comparative products. There’s simply more room to move within the piston. From a design perspective I would say this is the biggest benefit of these brakes, and besides its design, would be the key factor when deciding between brakes.
Another big pro is that you do not need compressionless cable housing for these brakes. In fact, Paul Component actually recommends against using them, because they bend less easily and are harder to fit with these brakes. And compressionless housing is very expensive to obtain, so it just made these brakes a bit cheaper to use.
You can buy the brake arm separately, should you be the type of person who’s into swapping out parts. And because Paul Component also supports Campagnolo brakes, you can use these brakes with every brake lever known to man (probably).
The brakes use SRAM Elixir pads, which are probably the most commonly used disc brake pads in the world, which ensures a high degree of compatibility, should you find yourself wanting a pair in the wild.
Besides the price, there’s a lot to love about the Paul Component Klampers, which might make you decide to shell out the extra cash to obtain them.
- No compressionless cable housing needed. Most durable mechanical disc brakes with supreme build quality and aesthetics. Available in many colors
- Very expensive. Bulky body may not fit every frame
Juin Tech GT-P
The Juin Tech GT-P is the post-mount version of the Juin Tech GT-F
- See Juin Tech GT-F
- See Juin Tech GT-F
Specifications mechanical disc brakes for mountain bikes
Name | Price | brake type | mount type | pistons | caliper weight | oil | rotor size | actuation | buy at Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TRP Spyre SLC | 104.99 USD | mechanical disc brake | flat-mount, post mount | 2 | 146 | short-pull | |||
TRP HY/RD | 149.99 USD | mechanical disc brake | flat-mount, post mount | 2 | 205 | mineral oil | 140-160mm | short-pull | |
Shimano Altus BR-M375 | 25.98 USD | mechanical disc brake | post mount | 1 | 160-203mm | long-pull | |||
SRAM BB7 Mountain S | 67.39 USD | mechanical disc brake | post mount | 1 | 197 | long-pull | |||
Paul Component Post Mount Klamper | 244.5 USD | mechanical disc brake | post mount | 1 | 211 | short-pull, long-pull, campy | |||
Juin Tech GT-P | 398 USD | mechanical disc brake | post mount | 4 | 135 | mineral oil | 160mm | short-pull |
Johan van Seijen
FoundeR Restoration.bike
Johan van Seijen is the founder of restoration.bike. His passion for cycling in general, and restoring older bikes turned into a website to share his knowledge with a broader audience. Starting out on his father’s road bike and riding classics as the Amstel Gold Race and Liege Bastogne Liege he has shifted his attention to trail, XC, and gravel riding since. No matter how much he loves writing about everything related to cycling, nothing beats actually using his ever-expanding bicycle collection.
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