Disk Brakes? Yay or Nay!!
cbjohnson02
Posts: 3
Looking at buying my second road bike. Really liking the Specialized Secteur Sport Disc Compact 2013 however i've seen a lot of bad press about disc breaks on road bikes.
I'm wanting my bike to be a big investment and last me a good few years so i want something that will still be up-to-date in a few years time.
Just wanting to know if anyone has had any bad experiences with them of if anyone has any advice?
Cheers.
Chris
I'm wanting my bike to be a big investment and last me a good few years so i want something that will still be up-to-date in a few years time.
Just wanting to know if anyone has had any bad experiences with them of if anyone has any advice?
Cheers.
Chris
0
Posts
If you're just riding sportives, club runs and probably even club TTs then it's not an issue.
on long twisty descents you don't have to worry about overheating rims (but cooking the brakes is still possible)
for people with small hands or physical problems they need much less lever force than traditional rim brakes
otherwise for general road use i'm not convinced, wheel choice is limited, heavier wheels seem typical, and if you're riding in a group a potentially large difference in braking performance has it's own dangers
CX or mtb make sense. Road bike not soo much so.
I'm not really convinced by disk brakes for road bikes. My normal brakes can lock the wheel up just fine and I can cope with some rim wear.
I have them on my Croxi de Fer and the Next road bike will have disc brakes, that's for sure. I am not going back to rim brakes... I don't see the point for the sake of saving 300 grams or so for a product that is not suitable for winter use, it is inferior in every possible way and results in much higher maintenance costs
It will happen. Disk brakes and tubular tyres. Of course there will be a few traditionalists around.
http://paolocoppo.drupalgardens.com/con ... rry-london
Hubs DT Swiss 240 hub can take a 11 speed shimano road freehub on a disc hub but the OLD will change slightly from 135mm. I have ask madison what it will change to they are goig to get back to me. As the frame is going to be steel I can get the OLD set to whatever I specifiy. I may be the case that the OLD will be so close to 135mm that there will be no issue. I have no intension of building with cross disc hubs as there is less choice for those and I see more comprimises. Alternatively I will have to look into if a 11 speed freehub from dura ace hub can be fitted to an XTR hub. I suspect not but worth looking into.
M785 hydraulic disc brakes/caliper with ultegra 6870 di2 and the wheels I describe on a R853 frame and fork should make a christmas pressent for her (although it might be January unless I can get the brakes a bit eariler by sweet talking the rep). This is also an experiment to see what can be done.
Options are not as limited as you think. It will have 160mm rotors front and rear sintered pads and perhaps I will splash out of Kettle cycle discs (SiN I think), there will be no cooking those puppies.
As I have 8 bikes now I have to build her one and this will be it.
Of course I will have to do one for myself with carbon tubular rims, my nod to tradition.
Manufacturers have still not matched disc calipers with brake levers and frames. With few exceptions, cable pulls don't match. The ideal brake position is the rear chainstay, to free up the rear eyelets for their intended (non-racing) use. The cable enters the brake at the wrong angle, resulting in excessive cable strain and a cable open to ingress of water.
Once manufacturers admit that disc brakes for roadbikes are not for racing AND that lots of people don't race, then they may address these faults, but the cult of racing is holding back a useful winter option.
Outside of racing I can see loads of advantages for disc brakes, it's not about the power per se (as mentioned above, it's easy enough to lock up a wheel with calipers) but about the progressive feel, the performance in the wet and the preservation of the side wall of the rim.
Tourers, hybrids, CX, cargo bikes etc, all of these seem pretty ripe for disc brakes really. Race bikes, not so much I think.
TRP (tektro) have new offerrings too.
Race bikes for racing, yes, I do agree, race bikes for sunday rides, sportives and the likes, absolutely yes to disc brakes... and that's 90% + of the market
I don't think rim weight will necessarily fall by using disc brakes instead of rim brakes.
Clincher wheels will always require a heavier rim because extra material is required to withstand the tire pressure. The weight is not caused by the braking surface. Take a look at carbon tubular's compared to the clincher variation. Tubular is always lighter but they both have a braking surface.
That's what I meant, but really, are race bikes that large a sector of the road bike market? Would have thought hybrids and commuter bikes made up the bulk of sales?
In the UK they are a large chunk of the market, elsewhere not so. The Uk market has always been unrealistic in its expectations... look at convertible cars... biggest market in Europe with the least suitable climate... look at performance cars: lowest speed limits in Europe, yet largest market for sports cars... most likely the biggest market for outdoor garden furniture and BBQ equipment (as above), no surprise race bikes do well...
I think this point was that (as seen on MTB rims), that disk specific rims are lighter than the equiv rim with a breaking surface.
It's not necessarily just the weight of the braking surface, but it's the extra material required to withstand the rim being 'crushed'. The weight difference isn't huge...
XC 717 Disc 395 g vs XC 717 420g (25g per rim)
http://www.mavic.com/en/product/rims/mo ... isc#128176
http://www.mavic.com/en/product/rims/mo ... 717#128180
What is very noticeable is the difference in design of the rim in terms of it's cross section. Disc specific rims are considered to be stronger (which seems to be the case from experience).
I think what will be interesting on road bikes is what can be achieved using carbon, since the brake surface have always seem to have been an issue ( (e.g. heat and flaking issues)
Be interested to know what you think of them when you get chance to go for a spin.
Been out for the maiden ride today... front only, the rear is my trusty BB7 for MTB. 90 miles, most of them under a persistent light rain. Initially the Hayes CX5 was pants, but after 20 miles or so the pads started to bed in and it became better... not as good as the BB7 MTB, but the advantage is more clearance for the pad, hence no rubbing. I'll give it another few rides to decide if it's good or not and maybe get some organic pads, instead of the sintered ones, the BB7 improved a lot when I fitted organic pads. SO far not totally convinced by the stopping power, while the brake action is very good, return is fast and no sponginess detected... modulation is average
The braking is perfectly adequate, probably better than discs with decent calipers in dry conditions (the rim is after all one big disc) in the wet they aren't that bad either. Rim brakes are dead easy to set-up and maintain and are relatively cheap.
The problem is that Carbon is an unsuitable rim material for regular brake calipers and the perception is that carbon wheels are cool and make you faster.
The fact that disc brakes are less maintenance is also poppycock. Frankly thay are a total pain in the backside when they do need adjusting or bleeding, have a sticky piston or you want to refit your hydraulic brakes onto that new frame. That and the horrible sounds they make no matter how well adjusted they are. They weigh more, look ugly on a road bike and there will need to be a standard rotor size so wheels are interchangeable when racing. Oh and the rear drops generally need to be widened too, so possibly less aero and heel clearance. Cable discs are just a bit, pants. Wasn't really impressed with BB7.
For cross bikes, MTB and touring, great. Otherwise, no.
But the marketing machine will win eventually.
Oh and who ever mentioned about getting WD40 on their brake disk and it not working properly for ages. It's not the disk that's the issue its the pads will have absorbed it a bit