Disc or Rim brake for a new bike ?

angrod

gt8374uh9jiodpo wrote:

What is the above based on?

It's not based on a test made on a good bike. Not even and endurance/race bike, but a city bike. So it's not really accurate though.

By the way, from the replies you guys gave me, I'm thinking more and more about buying a bike with rim brakes. It sounds way less terrible than I thought it was, and most importantly, it saves about 300€, which would allow me to buy a Garmin Edge 520.

kajjal

Angrod wrote:

gt8374uh9jiodpo wrote:

What is the above based on?

It's not based on a test made on a good bike. Not even and endurance/race bike, but a city bike. So it's not really accurate though.

By the way, from the replies you guys gave me, I'm thinking more and more about buying a bike with rim brakes. It sounds way less terrible than I thought it was, and most importantly, it saves about 300€, which would allow me to buy a Garmin Edge 520.

Try some test rides to compare, if you try both at the same time you can see if the difference is worth it for you.

cougie

Rim brakes certainly seem a lot easier to set up and maintain.

keef66

Angrod wrote:

gt8374uh9jiodpo wrote:

What is the above based on?

It's not based on a test made on a good bike. Not even and endurance/race bike, but a city bike. So it's not really accurate though.

By the way, from the replies you guys gave me, I'm thinking more and more about buying a bike with rim brakes. It sounds way less terrible than I thought it was, and most importantly, it saves about 300€, which would allow me to buy a Garmin Edge 520.

Get the Edge 530 instead...

angrod

Kajjal wrote:

Try some test rides to compare, if you try both at the same time you can see if the difference is worth it for you.

That'll be comlpicated, I don't have many stores around, and most of them don't allow to try the bikes. ( and I'll probably buy my bike online )

cougie wrote:

Rim brakes certainly seem a lot easier to set up and maintain.

Yeah, maintenance is also what makes me wanna take rim brakes.

keef66 wrote:

Get the Edge 530 instead...

Oh yeah, I meant 530 not 520, my bad

Wayne Plunger

Angrod wrote:

gt8374uh9jiodpo wrote:

What is the above based on?

It's not based on a test made on a good bike. Not even and endurance/race bike, but a city bike. So it's not really accurate though.

By the way, from the replies you guys gave me, I'm thinking more and more about buying a bike with rim brakes. It sounds way less terrible than I thought it was, and most importantly, it saves about 300€, which would allow me to buy a Garmin Edge 520.

What type of brakes are on the Garmin Edge?

yellowv2

Alejandrosdog wrote:

this is a good example of marketing twaddle meets internet numpties and creates confusing tosh that drives people to spend a ton of money they dont need.

to the OP Buy what you want....
Disc or rimbrake it makes no odds unless you have a very very narrow performance advantage for either. Generally good rim brakes are excellent, so are good disc brakes. I prefer the asthetics of rim brakes plus I have a load of wheels. Ive noticed that in the real world i brake much later than my club mates going into corners down hill I stop just as quickly, even in the wet and i dont get brake fade when Im in the Pyrenees.

of course there may be an element of skill and experience but none the less my personal experience has been i just dont see what the hype is about. My race bike is a few years old, its not aero and i dont get dropped. It only has room for 23mm tyres, yet i feel quite comfortable. I dont use a a garmin mapping device but i dont get lost, I havent had a bike fit and my knees havent exploded.

Despite mocking power for an amateur for years I have to concede that training and power is a revalation. no need to race with it, I prefer to do what needs to be done.

This is spot on^

furrag

While Alejandrosdog post is generally correct, you have to consider performance. If you're racing, whether it be road bike TT's or road racing, you will want to use deep section wheels. That said, it seems to be commonplace now for everyone to turn up to club runs and training rides on deep wheels now, ever since the rise of Strava.

Either way, rim brakes limit you to aluminium braking surfaces such as Mavic Cosmics, or the dreaded carbon clinchers. The latter are absolutely diabolical in the wet, and also have the issue of overheating and delaminating a carbon rim on long descents, should you ever wish to go overseas.

If you don't think you'll need deep wheels or will use alu rims, go rim brakes. Maintenance is very easy, and even in the dry or wet, there's little in it against a good hydraulic disc.

Deep carbon rims that are combined with discs solve a lot of potential problems.

isotonik

If you are overweight or live in shitty England then disks are the way to go.
Given the choice pro riders will take calipers.

Some people say direct mounts are the future.

imposter2.0

Furrag wrote:

Either way, rim brakes limit you to aluminium braking surfaces such as Mavic Cosmics, or the dreaded carbon clinchers.

Did you completely forget about tubulars?

Furrag wrote:

The latter are absolutely diabolical in the wet, and also have the issue of overheating and delaminating a carbon rim on long descents, should you ever wish to go overseas.

And yet a good majority of pro/elite riders seem to use carbon tubular rims with calipers in the mountains with no issue.

Matthewfalle

Imposter wrote:

Furrag wrote:

Either way, rim brakes limit you to aluminium braking surfaces such as Mavic Cosmics, or the dreaded carbon clinchers.

Did you completely forget about tubulars?

Furrag wrote:

The latter are absolutely diabolical in the wet, and also have the issue of overheating and delaminating a carbon rim on long descents, should you ever wish to go overseas.

And yet a good majority of pro/elite riders seem to use carbon tubular rims with calipers in the mountains with no issue.

furrag is spouting right bollox there.

methinks he is new to a club.

impister is correct on both counts.

Matthewfalle

i've just - literally - got off my c/x bike that has discs after two days mtb instructing.

count me in for rims please

Wayne Plunger

Matthewfalle wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Furrag wrote:

Either way, rim brakes limit you to aluminium braking surfaces such as Mavic Cosmics, or the dreaded carbon clinchers.

Did you completely forget about tubulars?

Furrag wrote:

The latter are absolutely diabolical in the wet, and also have the issue of overheating and delaminating a carbon rim on long descents, should you ever wish to go overseas.

And yet a good majority of pro/elite riders seem to use carbon tubular rims with calipers in the mountains with no issue.

furrag is spouting right bollox there.

methinks he is new to a club.

impister is correct on both counts.

I am now worried about my "dreaded carbon clinchers"

Alejandrosdog

SurferCyclist wrote:

cougie wrote:

If discs were an advantage worth having do you not think that someone like Sky/Ineos would make sure they were all using them ? Marginal gains and all that.

Good point, only thing maybe is the extra weight of disc brakes? Watching Tour de Yorkshire I noticed that more teams are using disc brakes these days but plenty riders still on rims.

More teams like trek and Specialized who needed to reinvigorate their market. Which is fine by the way.

Other teams as well for the same reason want to give consumers options.

We’ve also seen a change in race support to reflect
The use of discs. It’s now easier just to give your rider a new £10,000 bike than it is a replace a wheel.

OnTheRopes

Wayne Plunger wrote:

I am now worried about my "dreaded carbon clinchers"

You should be, just as I was worried all the way from Puig Major to Soller on my 50mm Bora One carbon clinchers. I'm surprised Campagnolo haven't issued a recall. Just as I was worried last year when test riding a set of lightweight carbon clinchers for a manufacturer on the same roads with the instruction to "Give 'em hell"

I am now thinking of cancelling my planned visit to the Alps this summer until I can afford a new bike with disc brakes.

Alejandrosdog

OnTheRopes wrote:

Wayne Plunger wrote:

I am now worried about my "dreaded carbon clinchers"

You should be, just as I was worried all the way from Puig Major to Soller on my 50mm Bora One carbon clinchers. I'm surprised Campagnolo haven't issued a recall. Just as I was worried last year when test riding a set of lightweight carbon clinchers for a manufacturer on the same roads with the instruction to "Give 'em hell"

I am now thinking of cancelling my planned visit to the Alps this summer until I can afford a new bike with disc brakes.

I hope you dont ruin the ride by getting a disc brake bike and not running 28mm tubeless.

OnTheRopes

Alejandrosdog wrote:

I hope you dont ruin the ride by getting a disc brake bike and not running 28mm tubeless.

Good point, that will add another grand to the order but has to be worth it. Clinchers are so yesterday.

lettingthedaysgoby

Alejandrosdog wrote:

We’ve also seen a change in race support to reflect
The use of discs. It’s now easier just to give your rider a new £10,000 bike than it is a replace a wheel.

Faster to change bikes, not easier. Which counts in a race. For the rest of us, who cares if it takes a few seconds more to get a wheel in and out?

secretsam

cougie wrote:

Rim or disc makes no difference. Lots of pros are still on rim brakes and they don't pay for their bikes - so ignore the marketing hype. They just want to sell new bikes.

Frankly, this is tosh. Disc and rim in the dry, fine, no difference.

In the wet, it's like night and day. The pros use what they are told to. Ignore any comment about their choices, they're irrelevant. This is about you.

Personally, as a 50 year old who's been on rim brakes all my life, I'd go for discs, every time. Plus, that's what you like, so go with it.

secretsam

Imposter wrote:

Did you completely forget about tubulars?

Yeah, because, you know, practical for a noob. I'm sure he has a team car following him with his own mechanic.

Imposter wrote:

And yet a good majority of pro/elite riders seem to use carbon tubular rims with calipers in the mountains with no issue.

Yeah, because they have top notch kit and pro mechanics to keep it 100%. And a car following them in case of flats, etc.

navrig2

All my road bikes are rim brakes and I have not had any problem with them. My MTB is disc and I have no problem with them either other than if any bike is likely to develop brake squeal it is the MTB.

The only issue I have ever had with rim brakes has been cycling in the torrential rains that you occasionally get in Spain. Once in Mallorca several years ago - on the flat so not really a massive issue. Last year near Calpe on a long and reasonably fast downhill it rained so heavily that the brakes could not clear the rim of water and there was no stopping power. If I had to stop I could not have without feet down and falling off. That was a hire bike so I don't know what brake blocks were on it. It was the heaviest rain I have cycled in and only a thunderstorm in Florida beat it for intensity and quantity of water.

My current issue is that all my riding buddies have bought bikes with discs (all Canondales too) so I feel left out on my Ti Lynskey with rim brakes...... once my frame corrodes through I'll get discs.

Matthewfalle

SecretSam wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Did you completely forget about tubulars?

1. Yeah, because, you know, practical for a noob. I'm sure he has a team car following him with his own mechanic.

Imposter wrote:

And yet a good majority of pro/elite riders seem to use carbon tubular rims with calipers in the mountains with no issue.

Yeah, because they have top notch kit and pro mechanics to keep it 100%. And a car following them in case of flats, etc.

1. errr - they are fine. tape on. tubular. inflate. job jobbed. its not difficult at all.

2. so you are saying you need a mechanic to ride a bicycle. seriously?

#believedthehype

Matthewfalle

SecretSam wrote:

cougie wrote:

Rim or disc makes no difference. Lots of pros are still on rim brakes and they don't pay for their bikes - so ignore the marketing hype. They just want to sell new bikes.

Frankly, this is tosh. Disc and rim in the dry, fine, no difference.

In the wet, it's like night and day. The pros use what they are told to. Ignore any comment about their choices, they're irrelevant. This is about you.

Personally, as a 50 year old who's been on rim brakes all my life, I'd go for discs, every time. Plus, that's what you like, so go with it.

the pros don't use what they are told to. they choose. they cyclists not in the army.

imposter2.0

SecretSam wrote:

Yeah, because, you know, practical for a noob. I'm sure he has a team car following him with his own mechanic.

Seems you completely missed the point I was making. Which was that Furrag said rim brakes 'limit you to alu rims or carbon clinchers', which is incorrect, in as much as he has missed out a whole category of rim type (ie tubulars). The only person talking about 'noobs' and 'team cars' is you. Although I'm not sure why you'd need a following car just because you're riding tubulars.

SecretSam wrote:

Yeah, because they have top notch kit and pro mechanics to keep it 100%. And a car following them in case of flats, etc.

Again, not sure what point you're making here. I was addressing Furrag's apparent claim that carbon rims routinely delaminate under heavy/sustained braking - which is nonsense. Your repeated mentions of 'following cars' suggests you have never ridden tubulars and/or you are not properly familiar with them.

ugo.santalucia

This discussion is a bit 2013....

Matthewfalle

Agree but it’s going to go on and on and on - people will believe the hype, what clubbies and what thesalesman who is suddenly their best friend says and not realise that basically rim brakes are just as good, tubulars won’t kill you and actually aren’t that difficult to use and that carbon wheels are fine.

#pluscachange

surfercyclist

Matthewfalle wrote:

Agree but it’s going to go on and on and on - people will believe the hype, what clubbies and what thesalesman who is suddenly their best friend says and not realise that basically rim brakes are just as good, tubulars won’t kill you and actually aren’t that difficult to use and that carbon wheels are fine.

#pluscachange

I have to ask, what is it you have against clubbies? You regularly make disparaging remarks about them so I was curious if you'd been kicked out of a club, been abused by them or just didn't like the idea. I should say I'm not a member of any club let alone a cycling one but was wondering what it is you have against them.

thegreatdivide

Hoooooooonk, honk ,honk, hooooooonk!

imposter2.0

SurferCyclist wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Agree but it’s going to go on and on and on - people will believe the hype, what clubbies and what thesalesman who is suddenly their best friend says and not realise that basically rim brakes are just as good, tubulars won’t kill you and actually aren’t that difficult to use and that carbon wheels are fine.

#pluscachange

I have to ask, what is it you have against clubbies? You regularly make disparaging remarks about them so I was curious if you'd been kicked out of a club, been abused by them or just didn't like the idea. I should say I'm not a member of any club let alone a cycling one but was wondering what it is you have against them.

Mr F will have to elucidate, but I think (I hope) it's disparaging against a certain specific type of individual, as opposed to clubs themselves. In which case, it's probably valid. Without the club structure though, about 99% of the competitive/sporting cycle events in this country would not exist.

joe_totale-2

Furrag wrote:

Either way, rim brakes limit you to aluminium braking surfaces such as Mavic Cosmics, or the dreaded carbon clinchers. The latter are absolutely diabolical in the wet, and also have the issue of overheating and delaminating a carbon rim on long descents, should you ever wish to go overseas.

Wow, I didn't know my carbon clinchers were so dreaded. Has all that good braking performance been a lie and I should never ride them again?