Disc brake trends

cemmac

Hi
If i buy now some expensive rim brake wheels. The current plan is next year for new bike, would rim brake still be able to get or rim brake goes out of stores totally?

zest28

Why would you want to buy expensive rim brake wheels in the first place? You will wear them out. With disc brakes carbon wheels will remain good.

But to answer your question, Pinarello will have a rim brake bike next year 100% as Team Ineos only rides rim brake bikes.

cemmac

I still have my old 2014 rim brake bike, and i'd use for a year.
New bike for sure rim brake, i'm for Colnago...UAE same rides rim brake, but you not know what will be next year trends....

Charlie_Croker

I’m sure rim bakes will still be around for some time, at least in the mass market. For many reasons. But over time, I think the disc will become ever more dominant. How many new motorcycles (or cars for that matter) do you now see with hub/drum brakes? It wasn’t that long ago when they (drum) were standard kit. The change is perfectly understandable. When I was a lad centre pull (rim) brakes was all the rage, where are they now? Things move on. Every now and then you get a new cycle with rod brakes, it might be a childs cycle but the system still works. I don’t think rim brakes will be a specialist item for many a year though the numbers will continue to reduce.

ugo.santalucia

cemmac said:

Hi
If i buy now some expensive rim brake wheels. The current plan is next year for new bike, would rim brake still be able to get or rim brake goes out of stores totally?

There will still be a market for rim braked bikes... especially very light ones... hard to offer a sub 6 kg bike with disc brakes.

amrushton

i dont see SRAM/SHimano/Campagnolo scaling back production of rim callipers as yet and then the niche market eg Velo Orange would take over. If I was buying carbon rims I'd go disc but then discs come with their own issues

thegreatdivide

milemuncher - still chipping away into 2020. keep the faith and keep it real.

joeyhalloran

I think most of the larger companies are putting more development into disc brake bikes, for sure most of the newer bikes will be designed around discs or be disc only. That said, next year I'm sure you'd get a decent bike with rim brakes (possibly a very nice one in the sales/discounted too). You'll also be able to buy rim brakes and parts for a long time to come. Though do factor in that the resale value of any of that stuff will be ever-shrinking and I suspect in 5 years time will become next to nothing.

thecycleclinic

Oh please. You think for one moment that rims brakes are dead. Frame builders will still make rim brake frames various bike brands will. Second value of wheels is not that high anyway. Just because its rim brake does not make them less valuable.

Disc brake wheels dont last forever anyway. Potholes get them in the end.

Your other problem is buying a new bike and getting rid of the old one
Keep the old one and all the bits on it and buy a new one or just keep the old one and buy new bits for it if it all worn out.

thecycleclinic

Ison distribution still sell steel frame and forks with down tube shifter bosses, 1" threaded steerers, skinny steel tubes....

The bike world is bigger than what's in the magazines.

ugo.santalucia

I began looking around for a possible light bike... something around 7 kg or less... the prices are staggering... very difficult to get anything in that range for less than 5 grand... I think I'll pass

fenix

Rim brakes are bombproof really. The only parts I've needed have been new brake blocks.

I'm not convinced discs are worth the hassle for me.

pilot_pete

oxoman said:

I ride both and prefer my rim braked bike for touring and wet commutes as I keeps me more wary. Very easy to slide with disc brakes.

Really? I mean, really? Incorrect braking technique means it is easy to slide with either brake system in the wet. Disc brakes give better modulation and in my experience make it easier to brake without sliding in the wet. Add in the other undeniable benefits of disc brakes with regards touring (heavier loads) and wet commuting (more wear and tear) then I think your position is somewhat contrary to proven fact.

Let’s take all weather commuting as an example.

1. Disc brakes offer more predictable braking characteristics, especially in the wet (you pull the lever and they immediately start to retard your speed, no wiping the rims clean of water before they start to grab).
2. Braking in the wet especially causes road grime to form a grinding paste which rim brakes use to grind away your aluminium rims. This leads to high pad wear rates and eventually rim failure. Disc brakes suffer none of this phenomenon.
3. Regarding 2 above, changing disc brake pads when worn out takes about a minute per wheel. Changing and aligning rim brake pads takes significantly longer as you need to unscrew each one individually, loosen or adjust the brake cable pull to open the caliper wider, probably remove the wheel to put the new pad holder in place (just makes it easier), fit the new pad holders and pads and then spend a number of minutes re-aligning them with the rim surface and adjusting the brake position and cable pull to get correct alignment and lever pull. Disc pads are held in with one small bolt or a split pin and pull out and pop back in in one position only. Most it will take above this is to use a soft lever to push the pistons back a fraction. Some require you to change the actual pads in the holders, I remember Campagnolo brakes requiring considerable effort to push the new ones in - this couldn’t be done with them fitted to the bike, you had to take the holders off and use a clamp/ vice to force the new ones in. A right pain. The Shimano variety with the little grub screw were much easier.
4. Lack of rim brake calipers mean that rim and tyre widths can be wider. This will be an undoubted comfort benefit on a tourer or commuter. Also, on a commuter it means a higher volume tyre can be fitted (obviously by design, not on an old frame with limited clearance), which will have the added benefit of more impact resistance on less than optimal road surfaces.
5. If you run carbon fibre rims they will not only last significantly longer on a disc brake bike but will actually stop you in the wet as well as the dry with no decrease in braking performance.
6. Hydraulic disc brakes are much less maintenance/ adjustment demanding than rim. The occasional clean around the pistons and periodic (simpler) pad replacement is pretty much it apart from the odd change of fluid with a bleed (which is incredibly simple once you’ve tried it). Especially if you don’t run mudguards, rim brakes get covered in sh1t in the wet and start to gum up. Cable inners and outers, although they do last a long time, will eventually need changing with wear and the brakes will need stripping and cleaning and a bit of lube to keep them from sticking.

That’s why I would choose disc over rim brakes for a tourer or commuter.

PP

denis992

I have disc brakes on my commuter and riding with the kids bikes, they are excellent. If I bought a new weekend bike I would go disc.
The club ride bike is on rim brakes, albeit upgraded and they are good enough for a bike ridden almost exclusively in the dry. Like you I want to upgrade the bike next year, with new wheels quite soon. Looking at the market top end rim brake frames are getting increasingly rare with them often offering older design frames than the disc models.
I reckon you have a couple of years before the choice on upper end rim brake models is going to get quite limited.
Depends how picky you are going to be on model. Personally I am probably going to order the wheels soon and then start hunting for an appropriate frame on a special offer in readiness...with the expectation that in 3-5 years time the whole lot may be redundant and have to be replaced by a disc braked model.
You can already see people like Zipp putting less effort in to their rim brake range with the Firecrest versions not being tubeless and many of the current model aero bikes only being offered with disc.

rwoofer

pilot_pete said:

oxoman said:

I ride both and prefer my rim braked bike for touring and wet commutes as I keeps me more wary. Very easy to slide with disc brakes.

Really? I mean, really? Incorrect braking technique means it is easy to slide with either brake system in the wet. Disc brakes give better modulation and in my experience make it easier to brake without sliding in the wet. Add in the other undeniable benefits of disc brakes with regards touring (heavier loads) and wet commuting (more wear and tear) then I think your position is somewhat contrary to proven fact.

Let’s take all weather commuting as an example.

1. Disc brakes offer more predictable braking characteristics, especially in the wet (you pull the lever and they immediately start to retard your speed, no wiping the rims clean of water before they start to grab).
2. Braking in the wet especially causes road grime to form a grinding paste which rim brakes use to grind away your aluminium rims. This leads to high pad wear rates and eventually rim failure. Disc brakes suffer none of this phenomenon.
3. Regarding 2 above, changing disc brake pads when worn out takes about a minute per wheel. Changing and aligning rim brake pads takes significantly longer as you need to unscrew each one individually, loosen or adjust the brake cable pull to open the caliper wider, probably remove the wheel to put the new pad holder in place (just makes it easier), fit the new pad holders and pads and then spend a number of minutes re-aligning them with the rim surface and adjusting the brake position and cable pull to get correct alignment and lever pull. Disc pads are held in with one small bolt or a split pin and pull out and pop back in in one position only. Most it will take above this is to use a soft lever to push the pistons back a fraction. Some require you to change the actual pads in the holders, I remember Campagnolo brakes requiring considerable effort to push the new ones in - this couldn’t be done with them fitted to the bike, you had to take the holders off and use a clamp/ vice to force the new ones in. A right pain. The Shimano variety with the little grub screw were much easier.
4. Lack of rim brake calipers mean that rim and tyre widths can be wider. This will be an undoubted comfort benefit on a tourer or commuter. Also, on a commuter it means a higher volume tyre can be fitted (obviously by design, not on an old frame with limited clearance), which will have the added benefit of more impact resistance on less than optimal road surfaces.
5. If you run carbon fibre rims they will not only last significantly longer on a disc brake bike but will actually stop you in the wet as well as the dry with no decrease in braking performance.
6. Hydraulic disc brakes are much less maintenance/ adjustment demanding than rim. The occasional clean around the pistons and periodic (simpler) pad replacement is pretty much it apart from the odd change of fluid with a bleed (which is incredibly simple once you’ve tried it). Especially if you don’t run mudguards, rim brakes get covered in censored in the wet and start to gum up. Cable inners and outers, although they do last a long time, will eventually need changing with wear and the brakes will need stripping and cleaning and a bit of lube to keep them from sticking.

That’s why I would choose disc over rim brakes for a tourer or commuter.

PP

1. Yes, can agree
2. Same happens with discs and I find it causes more problems eg. noise
3. Rim brakes definitely easier and can be done in situ with wheels on - flick open cable switch, unscrew pad screw, slide out pad, reverse and screw the adjuster screw back that you screwed in to account for wear. With disc it is usually wheel out, safety clip, screw, force pistons in, reverse and align new pads again.
4. Yes, can agree
5. Advantage discs, but not as black and white as you portray
6. Completely disagree, which is why my commuter also has rim brakes.

I have two rim brake bikes and two disc brake bikes and it is my commuter bike with rim brakes that has the least problems overall.

ugo.santalucia

Reasons to go for rim brakes:

1) 300 g weight saving like for like
2) a couple of hundred pounds saved like for like
3) easier to maintain for the home mechanic
4) easier to check brake pad wear
5) cables age and get draggy and stiff but they never fail, hydraulic systems are known to leak and fail in a small number of cases


Reasons to go for hydraulic disc brakes:

1) Marginally better performance, especially in the wet
2) Less pressure needed on the levers, handy for long alpine descents
3) No rim wear
4) No issues with overheated rims and tyre blowups

I'm not even considering mechanical disc brakes, because they all suck

thegreatdivide

Pilot Pete can’t be argued with. He’s right and he’s sticking to it. End of.

paulbnix

I have both.
Discs are good.
When they start making strange noises they are still good but annoying.
Rim brakes are almost as good and don't make strange noises.