Although I’ve never had brakes before, I will have brakes on my geared 36er and I am now also planning to have brakes on my steel-rim 36er that I will use primarily for Rolling Trials/Skatepark riding.
I will be using the 203mm Hope Rotor that was designed for the Schlumpf Hub on my geared 36er.
For my steel-rim 36er, I figured that I may as well go with the same Hope Tech 4 EVO TR4 brake that I’ll be using for my geared 36er so that I won’t have to get accustomed to two different brake set-ups. But now I need to select a rotor, so this is where I could use some help. These are the two options I found that seem worth considering:
It is available in 203mm, 205mm, 220mm, and 225mm. Since my geared 36er will have a 203mm disc, I figured I would also go with a 203mm disc if I choose this one, unless a larger size is doable and preferable.
This rotor is available in 200mm and 220mm. Would a 220mm fit on a 36er? Am I better off with this thicker rotor (assuming the thickness won’t pose any problems) rather than the standard thickness disc I am considering? If so, should I go with the 200mm or the 220mm (if it fits)?
It would fit, but I don’t think you need it for a ungeared 36er. You would have much more braking power than required. Plus, having the same rotor size on all your wheels means you can exchange them whenever you need.
I believe the custom-made Hope Schlumpf rotors are 2.3mm thick as well, which doesn’t pose any problems. Au contraire, it should make the rotor stiffer and last longer - so, a pretty good call if you don’t really care about the extra grams.
I just measured my Hope Schlumpf one and it is indeed 2.3mm (have the disc but no hub!).
Having the same size disc with the same brake calliper and lever should give you a consistent ‘feel’ and performance between the two, I don’t know if that is something which will be noticeable or not given the differences between the two with the heavier rim and the hub. Also, given you want to have the heavy rim for your skatepark uni, having the extra braking performance on it is probably a reasonable thing to have.