I've always liked the dry weather performance and simplicity of XTR v-brakes. A 10 year drought meant that wet weather performance was not an issue. That is until last year when we had the wettest year in 100 years. This resulted in many many rides in the wet. Riding offroad in torrential rain and deep mud is really beyond even the best v-brake setup. As a result, after 16 years on v-brakes I decided to build myself a new disc specific wheelset and switch to some Hygia SLP disc brakes.
What are the weight repurcussions of switching from v-brakes to disc brakes?
Let me say at the outset that if you have a super light v-brake wheelset and super light v-brakes (like the KCNC or extralite v-brakes) it will be impossible to save weight switching to disc brakes. The most you can do is minimise the weight gain.
However, if you use XTR v-brakes and levers and have a light, but not uber-light wheelset, then it is possible to switch to disc brakes without siginificant weight gain - and possibly even some weight savings.
Here's a before and after weight comparison of my switch from XTR v-brakes and Fulcrum Red Metal Zero wheels to A2Z/Crest/DT Supercomp wheelset with Hygia SLP brakes:
| V-brake Component | Weight (g) | Weight (g) | Disc Brake Component |
| XTR Shifter/V-brake Levers | 394 | 247 | XT Shifter Pods (tuned) |
| Brakes | 398 | 634 | Hygia SLP complete system (tuned) |
| Fulcrum Red Metal Zero | 1552 | 1420 | A2Z/Crest/DT Supercomp |
| Brake Bosses | 20 | ||
| Brake Cables | 100 | ||
| V-brake Brake adapter | 100 | ||
| Totals | 2564 | 2301 |
So for me, I lost about 260g by switching from v-brakes to disc brakes although 100g of that was because I was using a custom made v-brake adapter to give me rear brake mounts on my Anthem X.