Disc brakes

stevie_90210

I've seen this bike, which doesn't appear to be for sale:

http://www.canyon.com/_en/technology/project68.html

Can you buy road bikes with disc brakes anywhere? There seem to be a lot of good reasons to have them.

bompington

Very nice... except it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist: I can lock up both wheels on a dry road with cheap dual pivot brakes, why on earth would I want more powerful ones?

Pokerface

As disc brakes are currently illegal on road races bikes - no you can't buy them anywhere.


You can rig something up if you want to just have them for riding around, but you won't be able to race with them.

stevie_90210

There are a few advantages as explained in the link I posted. My brakes don't lock up, and I think I'd possibly benefit from something more powerful. On long, steep descents my brakes don't seem powerful enough. It's not the setup. Perhaps I need to try a different pad material.

Pokerface

bompington wrote:

Very nice... except it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist: I can lock up both wheels on a dry road with cheap dual pivot brakes, why on earth would I want more powerful ones?

The write up with the bike actually makes a good point in that disc brakes would be more useful on long descents or in the wet. You wouldn't have to worry about the rim overheating from riding the brakes and causing a tyre to blow out. And often - braking with carbon rims in the wet is tricky.

But when I'm riding in a bunch - I actually like the fact that my brakes don't 'grab' quickly. otherwise I'd constantly having the rider behind crashing into me or I'd always be having to accelerate to catch up again!

Monty Dog

What discs provide is modulation and far more predictable handling through turns - I'll quite happily brake mid-turn with discs on a road bike, whereas I know that with caliper brakes, the same manoeuvre could make it all go horribly wrong. With it being very easy to meet the UCIs weight limit these days, the weight penalty of discs is far less relevant.

mididoctors

Monty Dog wrote:

What discs provide is modulation and far more predictable handling through turns - I'll quite happily brake mid-turn with discs on a road bike, whereas I know that with caliper brakes, the same manoeuvre could make it all go horribly wrong. With it being very easy to meet the UCIs weight limit these days, the weight penalty of discs is far less relevant.

extra rotating weight of the disc thou.... i suppose you can thin out the rim or somefink

andrewgturnbull

Monty Dog wrote:

What discs provide is modulation and far more predictable handling through turns - I'll quite happily brake mid-turn with discs on a road bike, whereas I know that with caliper brakes, the same manoeuvre could make it all go horribly wrong. With it being very easy to meet the UCIs weight limit these days, the weight penalty of discs is far less relevant.

Re: weight penalty - I'm thinking thats why the bike is called project 6.8.

I agree - modulation is everything, especially on carbon rims.

Cheers, Andy

ebkid

I use a marin cyclocross bike with disc to train and comute. Breaks great in all conditions and the rims will last a lot longer. The weight doesn't bother me cause when I get on my race bike I feel like I'm flying. I'd recommend to everyone
.

ynyswen24

Orbea do the Carpe Diem (I think I remember that right...)

Petromyzon

Levi Leipheimer's rain bike

http://commutebybike.com/2009/03/02/a-f ... appy-bike/

I too would be worried about having better brakes than everyone else on a wet group ride. As for riding solo, I'm sure everyone has had that feeling when coming down a descent in the wet and knowing that your stopping distance is 30m+. Apparently the metal:metal interface of disc brakes is far superior in the wet.

rick_chasey

bompington wrote:

Very nice... except it's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist: I can lock up both wheels on a dry road with cheap dual pivot brakes, why on earth would I want more powerful ones?

This.

It takes barely any time to work out how the brakes on your bike work with regard to modulation etc. You can feel it instantly.

fast as fupp

imagine all those spinning discs in a large, fast chute?

likewoah

What cute little discs!

synchronicity

Installing disc brakes on road bikes have one big disadvantage though... small discs (eg 140mm) aren't really all that powerful. Properly set up dual pivots are stronger, 'cause you're effectively using a giant sized 700mm alloy rotor.

This coming from a guy that uses up to 9" discs on his MTBs.

Kléber

mididoctors wrote:

Monty Dog wrote:

What discs provide is modulation and far more predictable handling through turns - I'll quite happily brake mid-turn with discs on a road bike, whereas I know that with caliper brakes, the same manoeuvre could make it all go horribly wrong. With it being very easy to meet the UCIs weight limit these days, the weight penalty of discs is far less relevant.

extra rotating weight of the disc thou.... i suppose you can thin out the rim or somefink

I'm with Monty here. Yes you can lock the wheel with calipers but not with the precision that comes from the vice-like grip of a disc. With good modulation you would get very precise braking with plenty of feel too.

...and midicoctors, yes you can use the rim as a structural component only, rather than an abrasive braking track too. So you'd get lighter rims. But you'd have to look at adding a bit of weight to the forks and seat stays as the braking forces here are strong.

Perhaps its the future but they are not permitted by the UCI.