I'm not a huge fan of disc brakes or anything, but interesting to see Tim finally ride the prototype to the win yesterday at Jingle Cross.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/11/ ... t/img_0482

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There is nothing lighter than a hole

I was there and he was ripping it up on that disc brake bike. Total slop and thick muck.

He was still taking lots of bike changes though. But, I'm sure his braking was excellent for the tricky downhills at the course.

We're getting disc brakes whether we want them or not. Next year every high end bike will have a disc option or be standard. Two years after that Shimano will make something awesome. In 5 years it's all going to be discs.

The fact is that 99.9% of top riders all around the world are not using them.
Before adding 2-300gr on the wheels and maybe something around 500gr on the whole bike for nothing, they think twice

the weight penalty for discs will decrease once people start to build road/cross specific rims that are 70-100g lighter than rim braking rims, then they will realise that a 100 or 120mm rotor is all they really need and lose some more wieght, then they'll start making decent road specfic disc hubs, calipers and ergopowers. But even then I fear discs will be heavier than a top end caliper set up.

That said they are better in mud and snow, there is no point in denying it, if you've been mountain biking as long as I have it's clear to see

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"We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities." Oscar Wilde

Pegoretti Responsorium
Parlee Z5i
Donhou Commuter

You certainly didn't need discs at Koksijde this past weekend for the WC#3.

With all the sand speed wasn't the problem. With the Worlds taking place here I can't see anyone switching to discs in the interim.

This past Sunday we did a mega slippery (very green grass over a wet, soft base turning to mud) race where brake power wasn't an issue - it was contact patch. MTBs with V-brakes were overtaking the CX riders on the downhill switchbacks - they had contact patch on their side. We smoked 'em up hill but downhill better brakes just lock your wheels - my crappy 15 year old Deore XT cantis were locking my rear wheel.

Hey I'll gladly take anyone's old/obsolete/useless/"OMG you're STILL riding rim brakes!?!" 1/2 price Super X frames in a 54cm size please!

99% of the pros don't use discs because they don't have that option yet. When they do they will be using them, (like I said) whether they want to or not.

Do you think though that cable actuated will be enough instead of hydraulic? The conversion kits currently are butt ugly and awefully heavy and cumbersome looking. I'm sure they can be customised and streamlined to hell for cable actuated for cross, hell you could iLink up for real weight savings etc

this works really nicely

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"Step forward the climber and all those who worship at the altar of lightness" - R. Millar

+1

I'm just in the process of moving over to discs at the moment. One day we'll look back at rim brakes and wonder why we put up with rim wear and inconsistent braking.

Although I am looking forward to a wider assorment of disc compatible framesets from (like Ridley and Stevens), but I am not looking forward to having to replace wheelsets as I am running Easton's tubulars with 18/24 lacing.

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Michael - The Anaerobic Threshold is neither...

I'm guessing that there will be a little resistance from the European Pros. I think cross is one of the few areas where riders are allowed more input into their equipment. Also, look at European pro MTB racers who were late to adopt disc brakes, full suspension and 29ers (for the most part). I'm not saying it wont happen, I just think it will happen quicker in North America and may take a few years for that to be accepted in Europe.

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There is nothing lighter than a hole

Absolutely. 2012 we'll see tons of disc frames. 2014 Shimano releases Dura-Ace disc brakes and changes the whole game. 2015 cantis are only used on 1000 dollar bikes.
I'm sure the pros and the companies that sponsor them will sleep better at night knowing that their uber expensive carbon rims won't be destroyed from brake pads caked with mud.
By the way, I'm still running v-brakes and a rigid fork on my mtn.bike. I'm as old school as it gets but discs will take over cross just like they did mtn.biking.

Those that think a lack of contact patch have obviously failed to consider an ABS (antilock Brake System) that will fix the issue of hopelessly skidding. You will be able to program your brakes for each specific race. Naturally these will need to be ceramic. They will also need to be fully hydraulic with tubes running inside the bike frame. As we are going hydraulic anyway we can also use it for front and rear suspension that can also raise and lower the bike as the terrain dictates. This could be done using a computer chip that could adjust itself on the fly. As we are running a computer it may as well adjust tire air pressure on the fly. This could be tied into the local weather report to accommodate weather conditions. This system could also turn on and adjust your built in lighting system. I could go on forever









Will we buy anything they tell us?

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WW Velocipedist Gargantuan

Eventually, we'll have to buy them. Try finding a mtn.bike frame with v-brake mounts. Some companies don't even make any 26" mtn.bikes anymore! You have to buy a 29"er. In five years it's all going to be discs. I bet Ridley (king of Euro cross) has a disc bike next year and when Dura-Ace discs happen it's over for cantis.

Bump this thread in 2017 and we'll see how many manufacturers still have cantis mounts on their high end frames. I bet it's zero.