Disc brakes - Cyclo cross

Mark1889

Hi - first post here, please redirect me if I'm interested wrong place!

I'm considering an upgrade from my entry level cyclocross bike (Halfords own brand), which has served me well over the years but after a few chain breakages I'm starting to realise that the cassette also needs replacing... so, whilst I will keep that and do that bike up for fun (if I get round to it) I want to upgrade my day to day bike.

Since I ride off road, road and canal I love my cyclocross style but would like disc brekes. What's the maintenance like? Is it hard to change a tyre by the side of road owing to the disc brakes? Any bikes In the region of £650 recommended?

The Rookie

It's slightly fiddly to reinsert the wheel as you have to slide the disc back between the pads, at the front its really not an issue at all but at the rear with the rear mech interfering as well it can be slightly fiddly but not in any way difficult (just DON'T pull the lever with the wheel out!). Hydraulics need minimal maintenance, cable disc need adjusting about once a month for me (but it takes less than 2 minutes so not really a hardship).

Have a look at Evan's Pinnacle Arkose range, also consider the new 'gravel/adventure' bikes which are similar to CX just slightly less racy of riding position such as the Planet-X London Road (a bit over your budget unless it's on offer but a superb bike, I now know 4 owners...including myself).

fat daddy

as Rookie said, the only difference you will notice with taking the wheel on and off is

(1) you don't need to release a caliper / v-brake to get the wheel out and remember to do it back up again (easier)
(2) as you re-seat the wheel you need o make sure you put the rotor into the caliper (harder)

but seriously no (2) is not hard .. at least no harder than making sure the axel goes between the drops

For a CX / off road bike disks are a no brainer, they are just plain better in the last year the only maintanence I have done is replace worn out pads .... in comparison on the Single speed CX bike that has a front disk and rear rim .. I have spent many hours dicking about with the rim brakes trying to keep hem working well as they just get gunked up with mud and censored all the time and the rims need cleaning so they don't get won down with braking using dirty rim blocks.

seriously, get discs

bendertherobot

As a guide, if you shift into the smallest ring at the back to remove the wheel, then make sure the chain is attached to the smallest cog when you reinsert, that guides it in quite well.

Mark1889

Thanks very much!
I made the plunge and so far enjoying it but discovered another problem (bought the bike second hand) that I will post about separately!