DISC BRAKES on ROAD BIKES..

[Fabobiker]

Disc Brakes or traditional's ..with these autumnal road conditions, wet leaves slippery roads, even an ABS system could be worth having..
What's your opinion about it, would you go for discs?
See what the Industry says in this video:

[youtubewww]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1JDcW7FYaQ[/youtubewww]

[Andrew G]

An unnecessary, ugly, and heavy addition to a road bike.
The industry will say what they think will get people to part with their cash. Their interest is financial.

[Paul H]

Could be dangerous on the cr

[Dombo]

My 105s with Salmon KoolStop pads work fine on wet mountain descents so i don't see the point of these. Fine on a mtb or possibly cross bikes where mud's a factor. As Andrew says, just an excuse to part us from our cash. 9-speed triple? No, we needed a 10-speed double on the mtb two years ago and now the simplicity of a single. 29er to replace the 26 in? So passé, 650 is the new 29.
Don't get me started on skis

[Elliot M]

Isn't part of the reason for disc brakes to mitigate the poorer braking of calipers on carbon rims?

(I am also happy to use Salmon (iron oxide based) Koolstops on Al rims myself)

[Roy Green]

I've been using caliper disc brakes (usually Campag) for over 60 years without problems, so see no reason for changing!

[Dominic]

Must be only me then. Next time I'm in the market for another commuter it will have discs. Sick and tired of going through rims in the crappy winter weather!

[Phil H]

I can kind of see it - no rim wear, possibility of lighter rims, no overheat blowouts on long descents. I'm not a luddite either - who would want to go back to downtube shifters and toeclips? Not sure it's totally necessary though. Also I've rented an MTB with hydraulic discs and compared to my V brakes, they are extraordinary.

Saying all that, I'm a fat git and yet had no problems in the Alps on rim brakes (well, no problems coming down anyway). For commuters, cross and MTB I can see it though.

[Andrew G]

I don't see rim wear as an issue, I commute on hand built wheels using open pro rims. Replace a rim every 18-24 months at £40 ish is hardly an expense. You braking a lot Dom .

Carbon rims are for racing so hardly a winter/commuting concern. Descending a mountain stage and having to adapt braking a little bit towards the bottom is not a reason to make what I think would be a retrograde step in practically all other respects.
Yellow Swiss stop on carbon rims are excellent, and wet weather braking on carbon rims is never going to be great. Use the right rim/wheel for the conditions not a major bike design change (as you'll have to reinforce the frame in places on a race bike to cope with the additional stresses) to fix a problem that doesn't exist.

In the video they bang on about car and motorbike racing and brakes, about as relevant as what you had for dinner, completely different with no valid comparison. On a push bike you can readily lock a wheel at any time if you don't ride properly or are ham-fisted, so there is more than enough power in the brakes.

Use them properly and you can stop.

[Roy Green]

[quote]Postby Phil the Pie » Sat Nov 09, 2013 6:02 pm

. I'm not a luddite either - who would want to go back to downtube shifters and toeclips?

[Dombo]

If you need discs on a road bike you're not looking far enough ahead

[Wal]

Has anyone who's actually tested road discs come away saying something along the lines of 'Meh, I don't see the point'?

As alluded to in the video and in many articles the point of discs on a road bike is not to have more braking power, but to have more control over your braking, regardless of the road conditions. I always thought I had plenty of braking power with my V brakes on my MTB, but since upgrading to hydraulic discs, rim brakes look and feel hopelessly agricultural.

MTB cross country racers are just as obsessed with the weight of their equipment as their road counterparts, yet the few extra grams of a disc setup is deemed a worthwhile tradeoff for the progressive, easily modulated and effortless braking in all conditions that it affords.

As for the looks, well obviously that's a matter of taste. Personally I like the look of a thoroughly engineered and beautifully executed rotor and caliper and don't think they detract at all from the overall aesthetic of a road bike. If anything I think they make it look way more technologically advanced and cool.

That leaves the rim wear issue. For me personally, having to replace rims on my commuting bike every 18-24 months is a pain in the arse and discs would be an absolute boon. The 1390g disc wheels on my MTB are 7 years old and still going strong!

[PeterR]

"A bloke I know ......

When I was chatting to the owner of road bike with cable discs last week, he said the performance, especially in the wet, was far superior to side pull brakes.

This reflects my own experience with the hydraulic discs I have had on my MTB for 5+ years, they are certainly much better than the cantilever and vee brakes on my previous/other bikes. Also, despite my initial concerns about maintenance, they have been virtually maintenance and problem free. (Perhaps I should have done more maintenance on them, change fluid? but I haven't and they still work fine ) I must confess though that I don't do much MTB stuff now.

On the issue of weight on road bikes, he was apparently told by one manufacturer that more widespread discs on road bikes was only a matter of time, the overall weight change can be made neutral, because disc brakes will be made lighter and as already mentioned, lighter rims can be used. We'll have to wait and see!

As an engineer they seem to be a logical improvement, eliminating rim wear seems to be a worthwhile bonus and I agree with one of the previous posts that a cable disc brake isn't terribly complicated. (However, given my luck with wrecking wheels, I'd love to own a set long enough to wear them out )