Disc Road Bikes??????
Discussion
So I have been riding into work for the last year and half on my carbon road bike. Don't ride it on weekends as I prefer the mtb.
Thinking about buying another road bike to replace my current one. Just had a quick look around various websites and noticed quite a few disc brake road bikes like this one.
http://www.tweekscycles.com/bikes/road-bikes/scott...
I presume these bikes will stop much better than a normal road bike but are there any negatives? Do the disks add a significant amount of weight to make any difference to a commute to work?
Thinking about buying another road bike to replace my current one. Just had a quick look around various websites and noticed quite a few disc brake road bikes like this one.
http://www.tweekscycles.com/bikes/road-bikes/scott...
I presume these bikes will stop much better than a normal road bike but are there any negatives? Do the disks add a significant amount of weight to make any difference to a commute to work?
Disc brakes are the future and will be on all road bikes before long. So choice is yours , but if I was looking for a new bike there would be no way I would be looking at that archaic caliper squeezing rubber blocks against the rim. Not only will discs give a more progressive braking in the wet, they also allow carbon or alloy lighter rims to be used to cut rotational weight. They also allow better heat dissipation on long descents , especially with glued on tubs and again carbon rims. They may weigh a few grammes more, but not enough to consider it a negative. They are not too powerful for road bikes, its just riders grabbing the same amount of lever with caliper brakes and not recognising the progression discs have. I am sure if Pistonheads was around at the time of down tube shifters / ergo sti's etc, there would be the die hards who would argue why we need these shifters in the same way we have the disc brakes now. LOL.
What Justin says is very logical and makes a lot of sense...but. I bought the best bike I have ever owned in April this year, a Giant Propel at £1600. It has calliper brakes, but they are Ultegra and a slightly unusual design, and they are the best calliper brakes I have ever used.
It is also the best bike I have ever riddden; I could have gone for something with disc brakes but it would have meant compromising somewhere else. I commute through the year, but when the weather is bad I wimp out, so I don't need the only real benefit of disc brakes, wet weather braking. All that stuff about carbon rims and tubulars etc doesn't apply to me, so I don't think the case for them is as compelling as some.
I would love a winter bike, but mainly so I could fit wider grippier winter tyres first, and mudguards second. If I could get that with discs for a reasonable price I would.
It is also the best bike I have ever riddden; I could have gone for something with disc brakes but it would have meant compromising somewhere else. I commute through the year, but when the weather is bad I wimp out, so I don't need the only real benefit of disc brakes, wet weather braking. All that stuff about carbon rims and tubulars etc doesn't apply to me, so I don't think the case for them is as compelling as some.
I would love a winter bike, but mainly so I could fit wider grippier winter tyres first, and mudguards second. If I could get that with discs for a reasonable price I would.
Disc brakes are coming and I've got them on my commuting hybrid and winter road/commute bike. I think they are fine and see no reason to avoid them. The only downside I found was the extra cost when you want a set of spare wheels/tyres that are ready to go.
I don't have discs on my Sunday best bikes yet, but that was due to the timing of when I bought them.
You can't really worry about extra weight if you get a disc bike at 8kg, IMO.
I don't have discs on my Sunday best bikes yet, but that was due to the timing of when I bought them.
You can't really worry about extra weight if you get a disc bike at 8kg, IMO.
The new generation of dual pivot direct mount caliper brakes are pretty awesome as far as performance goes. Yes you are still squeezing rubber against alu (or carbon) but a lot depends on the pad quality which is the same as running discs really.
Of course the downside is in the wet or when you have grit etc on the rim but I've never been found wanting for brake performance using calipers and a quick wipe of the rims post ride removes most of the debris.
I don't think we'll all switch to discs, my next road bike will still be calipers because they do everything I need. I won't be descending alpine cols so excessive heat build up isn't an issue and I can modulate braking such that any performance gains from discs are irrelevant.
Plus they look s
t 
Of course the downside is in the wet or when you have grit etc on the rim but I've never been found wanting for brake performance using calipers and a quick wipe of the rims post ride removes most of the debris.
I don't think we'll all switch to discs, my next road bike will still be calipers because they do everything I need. I won't be descending alpine cols so excessive heat build up isn't an issue and I can modulate braking such that any performance gains from discs are irrelevant.
Plus they look s
t Justin S said:
Disc brakes are the future and will be on all road bikes before long. So choice is yours , but if I was looking for a new bike there would be no way I would be looking at that archaic caliper squeezing rubber blocks against the rim (etc)
Abso-bloody-exactly. No chance I'd buy a new bike without them now, I just wish they'd been more common when I bought my last bike a couple of years ago. There is a conservative streak a mile wide in road cycling so you do hear some dubious arguments against things like disc brakes, but if we'd been using disc brakes from the start and somebody came up with the idea of rim brakes they'd be laughed out of town.If it's such a game changer, why have mtbs been running discs for the best part of 20 years and the crossover to road or cx not happened?
I get the principles of maintaining a higher average speed by having better brakes, the thinking mans first track car upgrade should be bigger more powerful brakes but that logic only applies to high speeds. For road bikes ridden by us mere mortals, I still maintain that disc brake levels of performance aren't necessary.
The wet weather/dirt argument I get however, I just thing the whole better performance argument is a misnomer.
I get the principles of maintaining a higher average speed by having better brakes, the thinking mans first track car upgrade should be bigger more powerful brakes but that logic only applies to high speeds. For road bikes ridden by us mere mortals, I still maintain that disc brake levels of performance aren't necessary.
The wet weather/dirt argument I get however, I just thing the whole better performance argument is a misnomer.
I'm wi' Pablo on this.
Sorry to be a naysayer, but I don't see the need. In 4 years on my last bike I didn't even wear out one set of brake pads. In fact I recently transferred them onto my "winter" bike.
I'm faster down hill than up (according to comparisons with the same rider sample on Strava) and it certainly isn't the available braking that's holding my speed back on the downs. That'd be my compact crankset.
I know a big part of the "why so long" issue was to do with the UCI saying "Non!" for so long. It just wasn't in the interests of Shimano and Campagnolo etc to be developing a product that the pros wouldn't a) use in races, and b) promote to average punters through said use. Now that disc brakes are appearing on bikes in the pro peloton (even on a limited "test" basis), the will is there to develop the technology to the next stage.
Discs are great. Especially hydraulic brakes. But then so are steel bikes with downtube shifters, in their place. I can't see Road discs killing off caliper rim brakes either. There are still hybrids and MTBs (albeit at lower levels) selling with rim brakes. Pay your money and make your choice, but don't deride someone else's decision. I have 'old, steel', I have 'new, carbon'. I had 'new-ish, aluminium'. All with "traditional" rim brakes. If I were to buy another drop-bar bike it would likely be a GT Grade or something similar, definitely with hydraulic discs and clearance for wider tyres. But I'm in no real rush at the moment. I certainly don't feel that I "need" discs on the road right now, despite the fact that I'd NEVER go back to rim brakes on a 'proper' MTB.
Sorry to be a naysayer, but I don't see the need. In 4 years on my last bike I didn't even wear out one set of brake pads. In fact I recently transferred them onto my "winter" bike.
I'm faster down hill than up (according to comparisons with the same rider sample on Strava) and it certainly isn't the available braking that's holding my speed back on the downs. That'd be my compact crankset.
I know a big part of the "why so long" issue was to do with the UCI saying "Non!" for so long. It just wasn't in the interests of Shimano and Campagnolo etc to be developing a product that the pros wouldn't a) use in races, and b) promote to average punters through said use. Now that disc brakes are appearing on bikes in the pro peloton (even on a limited "test" basis), the will is there to develop the technology to the next stage.
Discs are great. Especially hydraulic brakes. But then so are steel bikes with downtube shifters, in their place. I can't see Road discs killing off caliper rim brakes either. There are still hybrids and MTBs (albeit at lower levels) selling with rim brakes. Pay your money and make your choice, but don't deride someone else's decision. I have 'old, steel', I have 'new, carbon'. I had 'new-ish, aluminium'. All with "traditional" rim brakes. If I were to buy another drop-bar bike it would likely be a GT Grade or something similar, definitely with hydraulic discs and clearance for wider tyres. But I'm in no real rush at the moment. I certainly don't feel that I "need" discs on the road right now, despite the fact that I'd NEVER go back to rim brakes on a 'proper' MTB.
N
I think a lot of it is this! Road cycling is extremely resistant to change - also the aesthetics of a disc bike.
Most 2 wheeled sports now have disc brakes - yet the road still wants to keep calipers.
I have new calipers on an old-ish road bike, hydraulic discs in my MTB, plus cantis on my CX; the discs give the most confidence, and with the weather we get, wet conditions are a given; all future purchases will be disc.
Roger Irrelevant said:
Justin S said:
Disc brakes are the future and will be on all road bikes before long. So choice is yours , but if I was looking for a new bike there would be no way I would be looking at that archaic caliper squeezing rubber blocks against the rim (etc)
Abso-bloody-exactly. No chance I'd buy a new bike without them now, I just wish they'd been more common when I bought my last bike a couple of years ago. There is a conservative streak a mile wide in road cycling so you do hear some dubious arguments against things like disc brakes, but if we'd been using disc brakes from the start and somebody came up with the idea of rim brakes they'd be laughed out of town.Most 2 wheeled sports now have disc brakes - yet the road still wants to keep calipers.
I have new calipers on an old-ish road bike, hydraulic discs in my MTB, plus cantis on my CX; the discs give the most confidence, and with the weather we get, wet conditions are a given; all future purchases will be disc.
frisbee said:
BadgerBenji said:
Got one love it, try one and for all those who say no, ask if they've ridden one.
Even better, use one regularly and then try riding a bike without them in the wet.For a winter and commuting bike they are the only sensible option.
Antony Moxey said:
Nonsense. They are an option, not the only sensible one. I have a roadie with rim brakes, a CX with cable discs and an MTB with hydraulic discs so have experience of different types of brakes and don't find any of my bikes under braked compared to the others.
That's interesting. One of the reasons why I went for a hydraulic disc model when I upgraded my road bike a couple of months back was because the brakes on my MTB were so much better. But not the only reason. I like the fact they perform consistently in all weathers and they're lighter to operate - single finger on steep descents - with great modulation. But I'm not blind to the downsides. Bike manufacturers are beefing up the forks and frame in fear of issues due increased braking torque, and that adds to the weight - 700g in the case of my bike over the rim braked version. You can't use your existing wheelsets. Very few lightweight disc wheelsets are available. And road discs look stupid.You can however use carbon clinchers on alpine descents without worry
I think it's early days for road discs, and if I were buying a new bike every couple of years I'd have stuck with rim brakes this time. Mounting standards, axle standards, availability of disc specific wheelsets without weighty rim braking tracks, frames that aren't so over-strengthened, lighter calipers that aren't just MTB calipers re-worked, (much) cheaper hydraulic STI levers. All these things will come. But I've had my MTB for 13 years and there's a chance I'll keep this road bike that long, so I went with what's available now. It's currently not without drawbacks, but it's still the better braking system for me. But I can also see why others have no interest in trying it.
Edited by SixPotBelly on Sunday 25th October 13:55
Oh yeah my rim brakes are always overheating, I wish there was a solution for that ....
Seriously, has anyone in the UK ever smoked their blocks with continuous braking efforts ?
No.
A solution to a non problem. Calipers/blocks are 100% fine, and I for one don't want to maintain a hydraulic system.
Seriously, has anyone in the UK ever smoked their blocks with continuous braking efforts ?
No.
A solution to a non problem. Calipers/blocks are 100% fine, and I for one don't want to maintain a hydraulic system.
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