HP FAQs


	FAQs Why disc brakes? Hydraulic vs. Cable actuated DOT fluid vs. mineral oil Why go to a bigger diameter disc? Materials Laser cut vs. stamping Why the wave pattern? What about the other companies making Wave style rotors? Do holes in discs help? Why not a choice of pad compounds? Will Galfer products work on my system? Does Galfer Make brake calipers and levers? Who does the testing on Galfer products? Why disc brakes? People said the same thing about V-brakes 10 years ago when they first came out! Discs are far more powerful and have better modulation and lever feel than v-brakes while hydraulic systems are much more simplified. The hydraulic calipers require almost no maintenance other than bleeding them on a yearly basis. While they are not quite as light as V-brakes yet (several companies are getting really close with the use of exotic metals like magnesium in the calipers) their performance advantage more than makes up for it. Everyone complained about v-brakes and suspension forks being heavier but riders won’t be without them now. Hydraulic vs. Cable actuated Although both systems provide performance advantages over V-brakes both cable and hydraulic have their place. Hydraulic brakes are usually more expensive, require a dedicated brake lever and are not as familiar to work on to many mechanics, but they provide more power, better lever feel and require less maintenance. Plus, today’s lightest hydraulic systems are approaching v-brake weight. Cable systems, on the other hand, are a little heavier and don’t have as good a lever feel or as much power due to the constant stretching of the cable. But they are cheaper and are designed to work with any V-brake compatible brake lever. At this point, cable actuated discs are available stock on bikes ranging in price from $400 to about $1000. Hydraulic brakes are available on bikes with a price range from $900 on up. DOT fluid vs. mineral oil The issue between these two items is not necessarily that one is better than the other but that you need to use whatever the manufacturer recommends. This is because mineral oil seals are designed for mineral oil and if you put DOT fluid in the system it will have an adverse affect on the life of the internal seals. And vice versa. In terms of what fluid has better properties…. DOT fluid does have better heat and consistency characteristics to go along with the fact that it is really toxic, destroys paint and doesn’t keep long term but you still MUST use the type of fluid your manufacturer recommends. Why go to a bigger diameter disc? Bigger is better! Right?!?!? Not necessarily. A bigger diameter disc does provide more power and better cooling (because any particular point on the disc spends more time in the cool air dissipating heat buildup) you do end up with less modulation (brake control). Traditionally, downhillers, free riders, and tandem riders can all benefit from larger diameter discs. However, riders who spend more time in technical situations need to be aware that the larger diameter disc (like a lower bottom bracket) has a better chance of being struck and damaged by a boulder, tree stump or similar object. Take a look at motorcycles and the diameter of their brakes. Most motorcycles run a larger (or dual) front brake rotor setup Materials Galfer uses only 420 or 410 stainless steel for all of our brake rotors and it’s all about the memory! What do we mean by that? Metals have memory which means that when you heat up a piece of metal and it expands, good memory characteristics allow it to go back to its original shape without much deformation from the original shape. It’s as simple as this: It goes back to it’s original shape and specs faster. Laser cut vs. stamping Stamping is great when you are doing mass production of tens of thousands of rotors. This is because the stamp itself is VERY expensive to make, but after the initial expense, it can quickly produce rotors that are relatively good quality. On the other hand, laser cutting requires minimal initial expense other than a few hours programming time to make sure the laser follows the desired pattern. This allows you to easily and cheaply change the design after testing if the need arises. Because the programming time is all that is required for a completely new prototype, Galfer has the ability to do small batches of custom rotors to meet the needs of our clients. Galfer can do an infinite number of combinations of diameter, bolt fixing pattern and wave pattern. We can even cut your company logo or name into a rotor design. Laser cutting provides the most consistent cut quality and leaves the rotor substantially flatter than stamping. Why the wave pattern? Admit it! You’re interested in Galfer waves because they look cool! We like the way they look as well but believe it or not, there is quite a bit of thought that went into our patented technology. On a normal round rotor, the leading edge (think toe-in) of the brake pad is in contact with the entire height of the blade as the pressure is applied. Because the contact covers the entire height of the blade heat buildup takes much less time to occur and you end up with heat related problems like brake fade, thermal lockup, and inconsistent braking performance. What the wave pattern does is take that leading edge of contact between the blade and pad and constantly move it up and down, thus minimizing heat build up and its inherent problems. Cool air is also introduced in greater amounts. In addition, through centrifugal force, any foreign matter is thrown clear of the outer rim of the blade and doesn’t get lodged in the pad material What about the other companies making Wave style rotors? Galfer has patented the “non round” rotors. We have USA patent #6,386,340 and European patent #99500110.4 At the time of this writing, Magura AND Stan’s No-tubes are the only companies which have an official license of our patents. No one else! There are other companies who are in production of “Wave” style rotors who are in negotiations with us to license the design and there are a few that are just trying to get away with ignoring the patent. Not very Kosher if you ask us. And then there are companies producing rotors that look somewhat “wave-like” but they don’t have any of the technical merit of a true wave design. Do holes in discs help? Well, it depends what you mean by “help”. Holes in the “blade” of a disc (the part that the brake pad sweeps over as it is in motion) will save a bit of weight but contrary to public opinion, they do not help to cool a braking system. Notice on MotoGP motorcycles and most race cars, there are no holes on the rotors. There are actually situations where holes can be detrimental to your braking. In muddy conditions, dirt gets trapped in these holes and proceeds to chew up pads that, in turn will chew up rotors because of the constant uneven abrasion between the pads (which have the dirt imbedded in their surface) and the rotors, which get gouged to heck by that dirt. If you’ll notice, if there are holes in a Galfer rotor, they are never round. They are usually oval, teardrop or cylindrical in shape so that foreign debris is directed away from the rotor via centrifugal force. Why not a choice of pad compounds? Unlike many of our competitors who use the same compound on every application whether it is a Hope Mini cross country pad or a Magura Gustav downhill pad and then offer “wet weather” options, Galfer prefers to take a different route. At our manufacturing facility in Spain, Galfer has unique computer software that factors in many different variables when making a compound. Variables like rider weight, what type of riding, pad area, fluid capacity, hydraulic pressure by a particular lever and about 15 other variables are fed into the computer to come up with a pad compound that is totally individual to that application. Thus, our Shimano XT compound is completely different than our Avid cable actuated compound than our Hope downhill compound. All of our compounds are semi-metallic in nature. Will Galfer products work on my system? Galfer makes brake pads for over 20 different applications including Hayes, Hope, Formula, Magura Shimano and Avid. (as well as for several calipers that are made in Europe and aren’t sold in the United States.) Whenever a new caliper comes out, we get an example as soon as possible and proceed to make a batch of samples that we can put through our world class testing program (i.e. we go out and ride the heck out of the samples!) Usually we have new pads in the bike shops within a few months of our getting initial caliper and pad samples. Galfer rotors are available in the most common sizes, 160mm, 185mm and 203mm diameters and are designed to fit the universal standard 6 bolt pattern and we are currently working on a prototype spline fixing pattern to work on the new Shimano XTR.Stainless Steel vs. Nylon or rubber line. If there is one item you can get that will make an instant, noticeable improvement to your brake feel and performance, switching to a stainless steel braided line is it! When you squeeze your brake lever and force fluid through the hydraulic line to the caliper, the line expands under pressure. This means that a good portion of the effort you put forth from your hand DOESN’T get to the caliper! It makes the line expand. By switching to a stainless steel braided brake line, you restrict the lines expansion characteristics. This means that your hand pressure goes directly to the caliper. Does Galfer Make brake calipers and levers? Not for bicycles. In the past, Galfer has made billet aluminum calipers for a few motorcycle observed trials applications but that is about it. Galfer products are specifically designed to make your current braking system better, regardless of their manufacturer. Who does the testing on Galfer products? We do! At Galfer we like to joke that we are world-class riders, but we know what the truth is! We’re slow compared to some of our sponsored athletes. That’s why we sponsor some of the finest riders on earth before releasing our brake products to the general public. Teams like Maxxis Racing and Santana Tandems for our bicycle products, Yoshimura Suzuki superbike team for our road motorcycle products, and AGP racing for motocross, and World Trials champion Dougie Lampkin thrash our stuff on a regular basis. And we feel that if those guys love our stuff, then you will too!