2022 PRO equipment thread

[wooger]

- brake pads were changed after the stage and some discs didn’t last more than one stage.

Because they can, I guess. I have something like 5000mi on my current semi-metallic pads and 15000mi on rotors.

metallic pads perform worse, they don't use them.
They're using the lightest weight rotors to get their disc bikes to a reasonable weight + descending mountains at 100kmph

What discs do you have?

[TobinHatesYou]

metallic pads perform worse, they don't use them.
They're using the lightest weight rotors to get their disc bikes to a reasonable weight + descending mountains at 100kmph

What discs do you have?

Sintered pads don't perform worse and you don't know what they use. Besides, using resin pads would extend the life of the rotors anyway.

They're mostly using Shimano/Campy/SRAM OE rotors just like the rest of us. Froomey may have had something else briefly.

Excepting some accelerations, descending at faster speeds means they are braking less, not more than the average terrible gran fondo rider. Most of the acceleration comes from gravity.

[5DII]

are most riders using 140 or 160mm front rotor?

[TobinHatesYou]

are most riders using 140 or 160mm front rotor?

Most teams are using 160mm front / 140mm rear.

[martocom]

Without any evidence:
My guess is they might kill pads/rotors not in the race (which is impossible imo) but in the way back down to the bus after mountaintop finishes. Lot's of spectators to steer trough and generally steep. So a lot of constant breaking is needed. This might lead to a overheat and bended rotors.

[tarmackev]

metallic pads perform worse, they don't use them.
They're using the lightest weight rotors to get their disc bikes to a reasonable weight + descending mountains at 100kmph

What discs do you have?

Sintered pads don't perform worse and you don't know what they use. Besides, using resin pads would extend the life of the rotors anyway.

They're mostly using Shimano/Campy/SRAM OE rotors just like the rest of us. Froomey may have had something else briefly.

Excepting some accelerations, descending at faster speeds means they are braking less, not more than the average terrible gran fondo rider. Most of the acceleration comes from gravity.

Tobin makes sense to me here. I'd guess a 100kg+ MAMIL would trash and use brakes more than a pro. You'd be eating through pads waaaaay faster than rotors.

[TobinHatesYou]

Without any evidence:
My guess is they might kill pads/rotors not in the race (which is impossible imo) but in the way back down to the bus after mountaintop finishes. Lot's of spectators to steer trough and generally steep. So a lot of constant breaking is needed. This might lead to a overheat and bended rotors.

This would definitely be the worst-case scenario and would take the most significant chunk out of the component lifespan. The question is whether a new rotor would be ruined by that single event. Still seems weird to me.

[Mr.Gib]

I have something like 5000mi on my current semi-metallic pads and 15000mi on rotors.

I wonder if the range of wear experience is due to difference in rider sizes. Mrs Gib at 110 lbs has never worn out a brake pad, and me at 170 wears them out with some regularity. And this difference may not scale in a linear fashion. There may be a rider weight that is a tipping point for each pad/rotor combo. Below that point and not much happens, above it and things wear very fast. Same for heat build up. A brake system that can disipate the heat created by a 135 lb rider, might be overwhelmed under a 165 lb rider on the same descent. Add to that road cycling is unique in that it is the only cycling dsicipline that regularely can involve a series of 10 to 20 hard deccelerations from 80 - 90 km/h to near zero in a 10 to 15 minute time window, and perhaps it's possible that the discs and rotors are sufficiently worn or damaged that they should not be used the next day.

[TobinHatesYou]

20 hard decelerations isn’t nearly as bad as brake dragging all the way down that same mountain…not in terms of average heat generated or even peak temps.

[Miller]

Think about it in these terms. The pros descended Galibier to Lautaret in just over 8 minutes. The average WW poster probably takes ~14 minutes judging by Miller's Glandon video on YouTube. There are people who take over 20 minutes on that descent who are on disc-brakes generating a lot more heat during prolonged brake dragging with less effective air cooling since they are going slower. These people's rotors would be far worse off and we'd hear about it endlessly.

As I'm being name-checked... I did segment 'Descente Galibier-Lauteret' in 11:23 the other weekend. That places me as position 13579 /75881. The fastest credible times (the fastest appears to be indoor cycling FFS) are just under 8 minutes. Video below shows a lot of The Galibier-Lauteret descent.

The Glandon is much more technical and much more of a brake workout.

[Miller]

In other news, Bikeradar got their paws on some actual Tour bikes and weighed them. They are not superlight!

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/2022-tou ... e-weights/

[Karvalo]

According to that Trek have the heaviest aero road bike and lightest TT bike of those weighed, with only 180g between them, disc wheel and all. There's gotta be some doubt over those numbers, surely?

[TobinHatesYou]

According to that Trek have the heaviest aero road bike and lightest TT bike of those weighed, with only 180g between them, disc wheel and all. There's gotta be some doubt over those numbers, surely?

GCN weighed Mads's bike, which is also a 58cm with the same wheels and big chainrings, at 8.05kg. I have trouble believing that 8.26kg number on Stuyven's bike.

[CAAD8FRED]

According to that Trek have the heaviest aero road bike and lightest TT bike of those weighed, with only 180g between them, disc wheel and all. There's gotta be some doubt over those numbers, surely?

GCN weighed Mads's bike, which is also a 58cm with the same wheels and big chainrings, at 8.05kg. I have trouble believing that 8.26kg number on Stuyven's bike.

Either speaks to how variable carbon construction is or maybe the scales are off

[Lina]

According to that Trek have the heaviest aero road bike and lightest TT bike of those weighed, with only 180g between them, disc wheel and all. There's gotta be some doubt over those numbers, surely?

GCN weighed Mads's bike, which is also a 58cm with the same wheels and big chainrings, at 8.05kg. I have trouble believing that 8.26kg number on Stuyven's bike.

Either speaks to how variable carbon construction is or maybe the scales are off

There's no way they're 200 grams off on a 1500 gram frame and fork.