Disc Brake Road Bikes

[mentok]

calnago: control. the hydraulics give you control.

back in the olden days when we raced mtbs with V-brakes, or worse cantis, there were rarely any occasions when you couldn't lock your brakes and skid over loose rock, sand, mud etc, but there were many occasions when the difference between stopping and locking was so subtle that you would struggle to find it. with a hydraulic system the braking force is a function of lever position, not a function of lever force as it is with a cable system so tired hands can always find the position that you're after.

hydraulics were a massive leap forward for mtb for many other reasons to but that was largely due to how much more braking you do on a mtb than on a roadie. based on that, i see hydraulics providing an advantage in the coming years, particularly in the wet and particularly for bigger guys, but nowhere near as pronounced as they have been for mtbing.

[Calnago]

I hear you about "control", yet as I said the limiting factor is the skinny road tires and the slippery wet asphalt, not the brakes. Braking was lousy with rim brakes in the downpour... and I was still careful knowing that the wheel could still easily lock and slide. Disks would only have made it easier to lock it up and slide. Plus, the noise, as others have mentioned. I like a dead silent road bike and don't want to listen to any "brushing" of the disks against pads or any other mechanical annoyance. As an aside, and speaking of the "olden" days, I have a touring bike that I put Magura Hydraulic rim brakes on after trying to descend a 30% grade on the coast of England somewhere with a fully loaded touring bike. They just allowed less force with my hands because sometimes I thought the cables themselves were going to break with all that weight going slowly down a super steep descent. I had the Magura HS77 drop bar brake levers which they made for a very short time when they tried to market their hydraulic rim brakes for a while. Love the way the hydraulics feel, but they were applying the force at the rim, so other than having canti bosses on the forks, nothing else was really needed to be changed. Disk brakes completely changes the road bike as we know it today. I don't see how they could ever possibly make a disk braked road bike as light as a rim braked road bike. Bur I'm sure they will try.

[stella-azzurra]

Can't wait for those Anti-Lock brakes to come out!

[shoemakerpom2010]

The question in this thread would be has anybody here ridden the Colnago C59. I can't imagine a company of that status selling bikes with disc brake rub or sound for that kind of money.

[stella-azzurra]

What does Colnago have to do with brakes?

[prendrefeu]

I think his point is that since Colnago (and BMC) have come out with disc brake editions of road bikes, then "clearly" that is the way of the future and that, being high marques, they would not produce a bicycle that would suffer the issues that others have reported with disc brakes.

His point, not mine.

[stella-azzurra]

They want to jump into the market early but as far as the brakes are concerned that is not an issue that Colnago can address.

[Privateer]

Colnago (and BMC)

... and Specialized .

It seems road discs are not just a sideshow anymore. I expect that most of the big manufacturers will have a disc road bike in their line up for 2014, after Shimano and Sram release their hydraulics.

[tharmor]

Personally I feel like this debate is very similar to the debate over electronic shifting. From a WW point of view, electronic shifting is heavier, and so you have to weigh its performance advantage over mechanical shifting. If you feel like it's an improvement, then it's worth the weight penalty. I was assuming when Di2 was first announced that very few weenies would put it on their rigs - but now it's actually quite common to see.

At first, very few weenies will ignore the weight penalty for disc brakes. Only a few will value the performance advantage more than the weight penalty. Slowly, I'm sure, we will start to see more and more WW bikes with them.

Lastly, I have to state that from a budget point of view, I see a clear advantage for disc brakes. The only carbon clinchers that I feel have proved their heat management is zipp and enve. All others are sketchy at best. But, once I remove the braking track from the equation, I can go with a Chinese clincher and not worry about heat build up. For me, it makes a lot more sense to upgrade the brakes than pay premium for the zipps or Enve's

Just my 2¢

[bricky21]

To me it doesn't make much sense to use carbon wheels, and then stick some contraption like a caliper and rotor on the side of the wheel negating the aerodynamic reason for using carbon rims in the first place. The scenario would be even worse with light weight climbing wheels.

And yes, putting aside the coolness of electronic shifting I don't see the point. I have used it. It was really neat how I pushing a button and my gears changed, as opposed to pushing a lever and having my gears change. I view road discs in much the same way. New and interesting, but what is the net gain?

[stella-azzurra]

Your body is the greatest deficit in aerodynamics on a bike.
A good position on the bike with aerodynamics in mind gains the most seconds.

[Calnago]

To me it doesn't make much sense to use carbon wheels, and then stick some contraption like a caliper and rotor on the side of the wheel negating the aerodynamic reason for using carbon rims in the first place. The scenario would be even worse with light weight climbing wheels.

And yes, putting aside the coolness of electronic shifting I don't see the point. I have used it. It was really neat how I pushing a button and my gears changed, as opposed to pushing a lever and having my gears change. I view road discs in much the same way. New and interesting, but what is the net gain?

Exactly... I'd even go a step further and say there is a net loss. But I'm glad you brought up the aero factor of disk brakes (I forgot in my post) because it totally smacks the manufacturers in the face now that they've been touting "aero" as the be all and end all of bike performance... "Lets go to great lengths to hide this 4mm cable from the wind, then let's slap some rotating disks on one side of the wheels, just for balance lol, and really cause an eggbeater effect of air down there... oh, but let's not mention that in any of the marketing hype we put out touting the benefits of disk brakes, ok?... Ok Boss, got it!"

And with electric shifting I lose feel and it seems slower and less predictable than mechanical shifting (set up right, of course). Tried it. Not impressed. Again, what's the gain.

[Pharmstrong]

And with electric shifting...

You have a pension fund invested in shifter cables and rim brakes?

I find it comical that anyone can be so staunchly objected to an option.

[bricky21]

Your body is the greatest deficit in aerodynamics on a bike.
A good position on the bike with aerodynamics in mind gains the most seconds.

No argument here. Still, why run carbon rims if you're just going to give back aero drag, and weight which is the only good reason to use them? That being the case I'd just as soon stick with a good alloy rim wheel, and save my money.

[stella-azzurra]

You mean the carbon rims with the hub for discs.
Discs are good for cyclo-cross races. Maybe that wet snowy training ride.
Maybe not. I like to use similar equipment I trained with for a race.
Especially the brakes, the pads and the tires.