Disc Brakes for Road?

So BR has run a feature that disc brakes are the future for road bikes, but are they? I cannot personally see the point in reducing weight to a road bike in order to add to rotating masses ( Not to mention the additional strengthening required at each fork mounting), to each wheel to impede acceleration. We are not reaching 60kmh on the flat and have to brake late into bends like motorcycles. Also the weight on hills is restrictive; plus watching Cancellara descend in the 2009 TdF on normal rim brakes at real speed and being in control means I am one of those who will more than likely never see the need for disc brakes on the road.
What do you all think?
What do you all think?
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we are the proud, the few, Descendents.
Panama - finally putting a nail in the economic theory of the trickle down effect.
we are the proud, the few, Descendents.
Panama - finally putting a nail in the economic theory of the trickle down effect.
Disc Brakes are going to happen on road bikes and are a true performance upgrade. 43 votes
I agree
72%
31 votes
No, disc brakes are superfluous to a low weight road bike ridden by someone with a minimal ammount of skill.
27%
12 votes
0
Posts
Then again eBay may fill up with quite a few nice bike that aren't disc compatible!
2015 Specialized Roubaix Sport sl4
2014 Specialized Allez Sport
Weight will not be an issue as the addition will be minimum and even on a fairly modest budget it is possible to build a bike that is under the UCI minimum. In any case wheel rims could also be made lighter and more aerodynamically profiled without the need for a braking surface, with the added bonus of having their working life extended multiple times.
All the arguments against disc brakes on bicycles were put forward when they first appeared on motorcycles, yet no one would touch a motorbike without discs now.
Probably a good thing on commuter bikes but probably a more of a gimmick on weekend posh bikes. Your posh bike is mainly ridden on quieter roads, in the dry when the braking distances aren't actually that different (I have compared and contrasted!). Rims wearing out isn't really an issue on a bike ridden mainly in the dry - particularly given that most people on here probably like rim wear as an excuse to buy new wheels (that is if their rim gets anywhere near enough worn for this to be a legit excuse!). Aerodynamics is a bit of a nonsense for most of us as well. Give me a shallow rim anyway but I defy anyone here to be able to claim that Zipps latest profile has had the slightest impact on their performance outside of the posing arena. Reduced rim weight on the other hand seems useful though, if that bothered you, whether you'd be able to make most of those savings just by switching to tubs is another matter.
And, tbh, I like the simplicity of rim brakes and I hate the squeaky, rubbing and dragging of the disc brakes on my MTB.
Disk brakes on MTBs were an inevitable and welcome performance advantage and I woudln't want to go bck. But I rarely wish my Cylocross bike had better brakes (but I would like better traction in the mud) and I have never wished my road bike had better brakes.
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
Weight on the hills certainly isn't an argument against them for pro riders, given the minimum weight limit that so many of them have to add ballast to meet.
The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.
My mate was talkig to a Shimano development engineer a couple of weeks ago, and Shimano are way into the development cycle for hydraulic disc brakes for road bikes.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
However, whilst the UCI insist on keeping weight limits, then there will be no effective weight penalty and actually making braking in the wet with carbon rims a far better prospect. However, one downside could be an increase in crashes during higher-speed descents - human psychology is that riders will compensate for 'better' brakes by increasing speeds.
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What do I ride? Now that's an Enigma!
Do I want disk brakes, yes, but then I also want electronic shifting. Will it make me quicker/safer/more efficient, no I don't think so. There might be 1 time that they shave a few feet off my braking distance, but I don't think they will make a significant impact on the inexperienced, ameteur cyclist like me. But then I'm not an expert.
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For getting dirty - Moda Canon
You very rarely hear a car skid these days and they are all fited with front discs, yet in the time of drum brakes the screech of tortured tyres was quite common sound because at anything more than a gentle stop you had to bury your foot to the floor and all sense of feel was lost.
Now there's a thought...bikes with antilock disc brakes :shock:
Cannondale CAAD9
Kinesis Pro 5 cross bike
Lots of bits
Spot on.
Surely that's the issue with any braking system. In an emergency you're hardly likely to apply a sensitive touch...more like panic full on grab both levers with all your might :shock:
So with more powerful disc brakes (and skinny slick tyres) the lock up will occur sooner and at higher speed...skid city!
I've never had a problem with modulation on my calipers and once set they hardly need to be fiddled with at all. More than enough to stop me from 40mph plus down some pretty steep hills and I can still lock them up if I want/need to. I guess effectiveness may vary dependant on pads and from brand to brand and bike to bike etc.
The disc brakes on my MTB on the other hand are a PITA...squeaky, scratchy, rub rub squeal squeal and you need to mess around with nasty brake fluid and hope you don't drip any on your paintwork
Must admit they are good in mud though and you don't wear a pair of (rim) pads out in one ride.
I do try and avoid mud on my road bike though
Cannondale CAAD9
Kinesis Pro 5 cross bike
Lots of bits
If you've not had the ABS before - then how would you know ?
FWIW I dont think we'll get disk brakes to be common on road bikes until they're used in pro races.
SRAM and Shimano are global companies and they dont make groupsets for riding in the cold and wet because over in Ad-land, all riding takes place in eternally dry, sunny California. I think we will be very fortunate to ever see an affordable road hydro lever.
The pros ride what they are given so unless discs are actually a disadvantage I can't see them having a problem with them.
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
Being able to lock the wheel isn't a good measure of the effectiveness of a braking system. As mentioned above, it's all about modulation. In fact, a locked wheel is a useless wheel. Discs give me far more confidence to push harder on downhill sections as I can modulate the much higher forces much easier and get closer to the limits of adhesion much more predictably. I'm using exactly the same tyres as I'd use on my carbon road bike in the wet. The biggest difference is when I swap back to the road bike - the brakes feel really horrible.
I think I can reasonably confidently predict that in 10 years, discs will be the norm on road bikes. The bike industry is slow to respond (even finding CXers with discs isn't as common as you'd expect). I agree too that the top end isn't the place to start - light bikes with light pro riders ridden on stages with less braking than us mortals do, isn't the place to prove out better braking systems. The real world with heavy riders, heavy bikes, traffic, weather, red lights etc is where they really count.
This isn't a bad thing,pros are probably the best people to help fault find and develop.
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Off Road: FCN 11
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it's a hard life if you don't weaken.
the arguments against are ideological, on the whole.
this said I would guess that Dual Pivots due to there ease of setup and maintenance, would remain much more so than V brakes have.
How about:
Consistant all weather braking.
Consistant braking despite rim material.
Better brake modulation.
Lighter weight rims (therefore lower rotational mass) as the rims don't need to handle the wear.
No over heating issues on long descents.
Ease of maintenance.
Anyone want to add any more ?
The weight argument isn't really an issue either as most Pro bikes come in under the UCI weight limits, so there ballast wouldn't be needed to bring the bikes up to the minimum weight limit.
The whole point of disc brakes for the road isn't to get more powerful braking, after all the amount 'power' that the brakes have is limited by the grip of the tyre, it's to get better, more controlled braking.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved
All the same arguments were used against clipless pedals, indexed gears, computers, each new sprocket addition, integrated shifters, aluminium, carbon fibre, sealed bottom brackets, A-headsets, electronic shifting and no doubt pneumatic tyres back in the nineteenth century.
Cycling does attract it's share of luddites.