Drilled rotors on bikes??

[F1GT]

What are the advantages of those "drilled" rotor brakes as oppose to the traditional style brakes on a bicycle??

I saw a blue w/black 24 spd K2 mountain bike with coil over rr shocks and frt fork shocks with the regular brakes at REI for $450. Not sure if this is a good deal. Any advice on how to pick out a bike. I think my main roads are just concrete/asphalt/dirt paths/rocky paths/trails kind of roads and budget will be ~$500. I like the above mentioned k2 but disc brakes would make it perfect.

[RallyRed 98]

depends on what kind of disc brakes they are... typically if you bend your rim up slightly you lose just about all the effectiveness of your brakes, but if you have a disc hub you might be able to make it back to the head without walking your bike the whole way.

cable actuated disc brakes don't offer the stopping power of typical rim brakes. the hyrdaulic versions are a little better but a lot more complicated and a lot more expensive.

[Nicklz]

I bought a mongoose at walmart last year. I think it was like $150 or something, I just ride through the park and some trail riding nothing real extreme and it does fine. It has the traditional brakes. I don't think you need anything real expensive unless your doing some of the extreme stuff. It had the most uncomfortable seat ever though. It was just metal wrapped in two tone leather, no cushioning at all.

[V6Maniac]

I locked up my brakes all the time with my normal bicycle brakes. I'd hate to see how easy it would be to do it with disk brakes lol.