Cyclo cross bike disk brakes or not

skinnydog1973
skinnydog1973 Posts: 114
edited September 2013 in Road general
Hi I am going to buy a cyclo cross bike for the winter but only want to spend about £700, i have seen some with disk brakes and some without for about the same price,should i go for the one with the disk brakes or does it not really matter.cheers

Comments

  • monkimark
    monkimark Posts: 1,943
    It'd be a no brainer for me - disks every time.
    Being able to brake consistently in the wet trumps any downsides I've ever heard mentioned (i don't really see any downsides to disks myself)
  • meesterbond
    meesterbond Posts: 1,240
    I think it depends what the bike is to be used for - if it's genuinely for CX racing, then I'm not sure it matters... I've got a bike with Cantis and they're not great, but I'm not sure that's ever really been a problem racing. On most of the twisty courses I've ridden slowing down hasn't been a problem (and frankly, provided you've got enough grip, something you want to avoid).

    If you're going to be using it as a winter bike / tourer / whatever then I'd definitely go for disks. I'm sure it is possible to make Canti brake effectively, but despite endless fiddling and new Swisstop pads I can't get mine any more than vaguely respectable. Consequently I'm debating selling mine to get one with disk brakes!
  • skinnydog1973
    skinnydog1973 Posts: 114
    it will be mostly for winter and cycle tracks but i fancy giving the cx racing a go
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    One reason my CX is Cantis is because it means I can swap a wheel out with the road bike with no problems. I have 2 wheelsets for my CX - one with CX tyres and the other with road tyres and I can swap wheels about if one has a problem - like it did in Feb when the front hub bearings were shot....

    For £700 are you going to get decent disk brakes? Are you prepared to upgrade if necessary? Can you fit racks & mudguards (do you want to?!).

    Sometimes I'd like disk brakes - but I prefer the ability to swap around wheels!
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,853
    If you're riding in winter on roads I'd go disc without a shadow of doubt. The only downsides for me are that discs can be a bit noisy in the wet and they certainly highlight any lack of grip from the tyres. Being able to brake whatever the weather easily outweighs these.
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  • rubertoe
    rubertoe Posts: 3,994
    Slowbike wrote:
    One reason my CX is Cantis is because it means I can swap a wheel out with the road bike with no problems. I have 2 wheelsets for my CX - one with CX tyres and the other with road tyres and I can swap wheels about if one has a problem - like it did in Feb when the front hub bearings were shot....

    For £700 are you going to get decent disk brakes? Are you prepared to upgrade if necessary? Can you fit racks & mudguards (do you want to?!).

    Sometimes I'd like disk brakes - but I prefer the ability to swap around wheels!

    :roll:

    You can have more than one set of wheels for discs, I do.
    "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

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  • MichaelW
    MichaelW Posts: 2,164
    You need a reason to not use disc brakes. If you don't have a good reason, go with discs.
    You should be able to find BB7 brakes.
    My Shimano cable discs have proven to be reliable, trouble free stoppers in all conditions.
    Take care to select a frame and brake mount with rack and mudguard compatibility
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    rubertoe wrote:
    :roll:

    You can have more than one set of wheels for discs, I do.
    but can you swap them onto the roadbike?

    When I enter the bike den (or garage as some like to call it) I can choose which machine to take - and if one has a flat then I can just swap a wheel out from one of the others or one of the spares ...

    that is the ONLY reason I stayed away from disc brakes ... I don't think I could've got away with a second set of decent wheels ... ;)
  • mattrixdesign2
    mattrixdesign2 Posts: 644
    True, but he is talking swapping his road/cx wheels, i.e. both the road bike and CX bike have rim brakes. Also I guess there is a premium for 700c disc wheels, over "normal" wheels.

    I have just bought a CX, its a Spesh Tricross, 105 + Cantis. I bought it second hand, and TBH the brakes have so far been fine, but if I was in the market for a brand new CX I would definitely go for disc, but would up my budget accordingly.

    The bike the OP wants is to be used for Winter and CX, both if which are conditions that don't lend themselves well to rubbing primitive pads on a metal surface whilst adding mud, grit and water :lol:

    Worth bearing in mind a £700 budget, the combination of cheaper disc calipers, disc wheels and discs may add some heft, compared to a similar priced canti version. Lots of pro and cons to take into account, but overall discs make sense.

    Personally buying 2nd hand could be the way to go, £300 got me the above 2010 bike in an almost pristine condition + new 105 group set. :mrgreen: The wheels weighed a tonne, wacked in my old road Aksiums and its pretty light.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Jammy git - my CX is a Spec TriCross - but it's a 2011 model with Tiagra - not 105 !

    Braking isn't much cop - but then I don't need to brake much - and it has been improved by the Koolstop dual compound pads - just need to look at the cabling and possibly the cantis themselves ... :)

    Stock wheels are rubbish - so they've got the CX tyres on - I've got some FR5's with road tyres on for the usual commute - it's not significantly slower than the Tarmac roadbike!
  • skinnydog1973
    skinnydog1973 Posts: 114
    The 2 bikes i have looked at are the cannondale caadx and the norco threshold a3 both from evans, i am not too bothered about weight because i will only use for a winter bike and this will not be my main bike
  • mattrixdesign2
    mattrixdesign2 Posts: 644
    skinnydog1973 wrote:
    The 2 bikes i have looked at are the cannondale caadx and the norco threshold a3 both from evans, i am not too bothered about weight because i will only use for a winter bike and this will not be my main bike

    The reason I mentioned weight was because you mentioned CX, and when shouldering a bike a lot it may be a concern? I agree weight is not vital for a winter road bike!

    Slowbike - it was quite a lucky Ebay buy, a standard Tricross (Tiagra) sold for £270/280 before it with lots of bids, this one had a start bid of £299, and not a single person went for it, I bid the £299 and it was mine. The bike was perfect, a few very minor cable marks and oddly a brand new 105 black group set, inc shifters with plastic protection still in place :D , my only gripe is it has a triple chainset, but going to try a few CX races before deciding to ditch it
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    jammy git! ;)

    From what I've read I think you don't bother with changing the front in a CX race ...
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,545
    Slowbike wrote:
    One reason my CX is Cantis is because it means I can swap a wheel out with the road bike with no problems. I have 2 wheelsets for my CX - one with CX tyres and the other with road tyres and I can swap wheels about if one has a problem - like it did in Feb when the front hub bearings were shot....

    For £700 are you going to get decent disk brakes? Are you prepared to upgrade if necessary? Can you fit racks & mudguards (do you want to?!).

    Sometimes I'd like disk brakes - but I prefer the ability to swap around wheels!

    This is exactly the reason I have just ordered with cantilevers plus if you want to change wheels in a race due to conditions or a puncture it is far quicker than faffing about with a disk. Add to that I'm not sure the cable operated disk brakes you get on sub £1k bikes offer sufficiently improved braking to make up for the hassle.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    Pross wrote:
    plus if you want to change wheels in a race due to conditions or a puncture it is far quicker than faffing about with a disk
    I did wonder what it was like changing - it's a small gap to get your disk into - even worse on the rear where you've got to faff about with the chain as well!
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    If you are mainly using the bike for training, bit of trail riding etc then discs are the way to go, but the wheels on a £700 bike are going to be pretty heavy in the first place. Going to lighter, tubeless wheels would be a good upgrade.

    The use of discs in CX racing is yet to be proven - grip is far more important than stopping and since I have 3 pairs of CX wheels with tubs for different conditions, plus my canti-shod CX race bike only weighs 17lbs, the net result was I sold my CX disc bike as I couldn't justify keeping 3 CX bikes. Many people bemoan cantis, but mainly because they're cr@p brakes set-up badly.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,321
    What Monty says... for winter bike, go for discs for a racing CX, stick to the old system.

    Disc wheels don't have to be heavy, a 1700 grams set is perfectly feasible without bending the building rules, especailly as disc specific rims can be a lot lighter
    left the forum March 2023

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