Who uses disc brakes for commuting? « CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum

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Who uses disc brakes for commuting?

(22 posts)

Started 6 years ago by IanE
Latest reply from minus six

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IanE
Member

Sorry for a 'technical' question in the commuting forum, but it is specific to commuting, I promise!

I have been vigorously resisting giving in to the industry's recent fascination with disc brakes on road bikes. I'm one of those riders who has never really had a problem with rim brakes, but nonetheless I'm not against progress etc.

However what puts me off is when I have used my MTB with slick tyres for commuting, the disc brakes can get unbelievably noisy in the wet. I think it's because I have a relatively flat commute and don't brake much, so rotors get cold and wet and never warm up/dry off.

I'm fairly mechanically competent and am comfortable that the brakes are clean/aligned/set up correctly, so am sure it's just an inherent issue with the brakes, especially since I've changed pads, rotors and eventually the brakes themselves, to no avail.

Who else commutes in and out of Edinburgh and uses disc brakes? Can anyone honestly say their brakes stay silent in all conditions? I know I've heard that distinctive honking squeal ahead/behind me more than once...

Posted 6 years ago #
CycleCommute.CC
Member

One of my commuters has disc brakes and it does squeal sometimes, which is annoying. Usually pulling the brake lightly a few times clears it off and it quietens down but not always.

In terms of effectiveness they are probably a bit better in the wet but not a massive improvement. Also, the pads do tend to last for longer than rim brakes.

Posted 6 years ago #
dougal
Member

Disc brakes - yes - I wouldn't have a commuter bike without them. They squeal when wet but I don't care. They're silent when clean but I'm not great at maintenance TBH.

Posted 6 years ago #
IanE
Member

Yeah I appreciate some of the benefits, although pad wear/rim wear and marginal improvement in stopping distance just seem insignificant compared to the blissful silence of my mini-vs with Swisstop pads!

The limited choice in new frames etc. on the market that still take rim brakes makes me wish I could find the perfect disc brake, that's why I'm secretly hoping that someone will pop up with x-brand of brake that is nice and quiet even when wet.

I won't hold my breath though...

Posted 6 years ago #
Ed1
Member

I use disc brakes, avid bb5 which people say are not meant to be the best but seem ok enough for me.

When I use sintered disc pads they are very noisy when on a went cold day until warm up. In the dry not that noisy at all.

If use organic pads not that noisy even in the wet. I think most people prefer organic as provide a bite feeling but fade quicker also need a lot more adjustment although infinitely less adjustment than rubber block brakes sintered is in 100s of miles even without self adjusting hydraulics, which may be 1000 mile without touching if sintered ( although only used organic on self adjusting bike I borrowed)

Posted 6 years ago #
amir
Member

My motivation to moving to disk brakes would be better wheel life. My winter bike/commuter goes through rimspretty quickly even though I clean the rims frequently. Winter and wet weather riding, commuting and long distance, is pretty tough on themm

Posted 6 years ago #
dessert rat
Member

yup - recent convert to commuter discs following a couple of very close calls (both totally my fault) where the rim brakes couldn't stop me fast enough.

Keeping the rims clean so they were as efficient at possible became a task I started to resent.

My commuter bike couldn't easily be retro-fitted with discs but I was reluctant to change it for that reason alone.

Luckily/unluckily it suffered an unrelated catastrophic failure required a replacement - discs were top of the 'must have' list.

I would never go back. The squeal is annoying, but a small price to pay.

Posted 6 years ago #
IanE
Member

My meagre distances (or fearless descending!) mean I don't seem to wear through rims and pads all that fast, despite having ridden through the winter! To be honest I'm unlikely to exceed 200km/week very often though. 2 x there-and-back commutes at 40km each and one weekend ride at anywhere between 80km-150km. That's usually spread over two bikes as well, so half the wear on each.

At £35/rim and £20/set of pads I could arguably afford to replace everything twice over before it got more expensive than a set of decent cable operated disc brakes anyway.

Posted 6 years ago #
IanE
Member

Are these 'close calls' with traffic or just overshooting corners etc?

What sort of rim brakes were they, i.e. cheap badly set up callipers or good mini-vs etc?

I'm drifting from my original question but I'm still intrigued by those who are willing to put up with the disc brake noise, I almost wonder if I have some sort of condition (over and above good old fashioned OCD...) which makes it so intolerable to me...

Maybe if/when I have a close call or two of my own I'll be more prepared to compromise

Posted 6 years ago #
Snowy
Member

My next commuter is definitely going to have discs. I keep wearing out rims on the current one, meaning I now buy cheaper wheels, but I just spend my time replacing broken spokes instead.

Noise-wise, dirt may play a role but I think it's more the particular combination of pads and discs. My mtb has no brake noise at all, but Mrs Snowy's mtb honks like a flock of geese, even when the pads and discs were replaced at the same time.

Posted 6 years ago #
Blueth
Member

You can get noise from rim brakes too of course.

Posted 6 years ago #
edinburgh87
Member

I use discs for commuting and on Audax bike and wouldn't look back personally, prefer the better modulation and control in the wet.

Posted 6 years ago #
Morningsider
Member

I switched from v's to disc brakes for commuting a couple of years ago. Noise in the wet is an issue - I sometimes appear to have two air horns attached to my bike. I think urban roads are pretty bad for contaminating pads - lots of diesel spills and general road gubbins.

It's a pretty close call as to whether I would change now, having used them for a while. The stopping power is great and doesn't deteriorate over time like v's, calipers etc.

I agree with galaxy about a few gentle pulls to help "clear" any water and gunk off the brakes - generally helps reduce noise, but not always.

Posted 6 years ago #
dessert rat
Member

@IanE - close calls: Two were the result of me going too fast and almost running into the back of cars (The Mound and Broughton St) the other me overshooting a corner on large decent nr Marlow - was a hairpin, I ended up in the bushes.

Posted 6 years ago #
minus six
Member

personally i feel i have superior feathering control with a well maintained set of rim pads on fast road bikes but i'm also happy with the reliability of discs stopping power in foul weather on the snow/ice bike

Posted 6 years ago #
IanE
Member

Iain, makes sense, my commute is Kirkliston to McDonald Road, most descents are cycle path with good visibility, or blind enough that I'm pre-braking anyway out of precaution. Very little traffic to deal with!

When I'm out riding for fun and it's wet I'm usually dragging my brakes slightly anyway, I'm not chasing milliseconds on the descents so would rather brake gentle and early rather than hard and late!

Blueth, granted you *can* get noise from rim brakes, but with very little investment in time or money mine are silent, whereas I've invested a lot of time and money in my discs and they're still noisy.

At least I'm beginning to understand why people put up with it, just seems I'm a weird minority for whom the cons outweigh the pros

edit: re: snow/ice I just rode through the BEAST and survived with rim brakes. My eardrums would have perforated out of self defence if I'd tried that with my TRP Spyres...

Posted 6 years ago #
14Westfield
Member

I have had hydraulic disc brakes on the past two bikes and wouldn't have anything else now.

The power, and ease of control are just so much better than any other sytem i have tried.

While any brakes will squeal if badly set up, i suspect that because discs take so little maintenance a quick wask would clear out the gunk and prevent noise - although sintered pads always squeal on the first bite when wet.

Posted 6 years ago #
Kenny
Member

Agreed. Disc brake degreaser has made a huge difference to my commuter hydraulic disc brake air horn noise issues.

Posted 6 years ago #
Blueth
Member

Another way to clean the disc is to get it hot by dragging the brake then spray water on it. Cheaper and more environmentally friendly than brake cleaner.

Posted 6 years ago #
gembo
Member

THe office lecky bikes have disc brakes which makes sense with respect to the higher thrust over short distances.

Otherwise I am ok with rim brakes. Have v soft pads that wear out but the rims less so

Posted 6 years ago #
Ed1
Member

I recall reading on line unlike car drivers cyclist use a much lower part of the braking potential in an emergency stop as can cause lock up over bars. By the time add thinking time and even with more potential, how much difference would better brakes make if not using the full stopping power anyway.
On a long hill when dissenting find rubber blocks brakes more pleasant as can just leave brake on a little with disc the on off gets annoying particularly with mechanical disks on drops as tiring as take quite a lot of hand pressure. If drag discs the discs get very hot and can burn if touch it. Overall would never want rubber blocks as too much maintenance and not so good in the wet. I find the hydraulic brakes great not tiring powerful and controllerable but only mechanical on my own bike but wonder if should try and fit hydraulic cable pull.

(the article did not cover ABS bike brakes on some borsch electric)On these can use nearer full potential braking as electronics reduce pressure if bike is going to flip.

Posted 6 years ago #
minus six
Member

find rubber blocks brakes more pleasant

there's an artistry to it, isn't there

discs are a bit more binary

but still good

Posted 6 years ago #

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Who uses disc brakes for commuting?

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