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Carlton Reid (@carltonreid)
3/8/12 3:43 PM
Story on BikeBiz tomorrow re UCI & road discs. UCI not yet had any to test but safety will be plugged as main reason to make 'em race legal.
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CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
Road bike disc brakes
(27 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
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saw a link to these on my FB
not being a road biker (and 100% not built for racing!)
what is the reason(s) for not going disc?
is it purely weight & asthetics?Posted 12 years ago # -
Tradition's the main one (and I suppose aesthetics follow from tradition - if your taste is for the traditional!)
Extra weight would hardly be a reason to ban something after all. "No, you shall not use aluminium or steel, because unobtanium is lighter" etc.
Besides, the weight difference is already very small and that's before anybody has really made road-optimised discs (because they aren't legal, catch-22).
Posted 12 years ago # -
"UCI's wheel plans news to us, says Oz wheel maker"
http://www.bikebiz.com//news/read/uci-s-wheel-plans-news-to-us-says-oz-wheel-maker
Posted 12 years ago # -
I thought the usual argument trotted out online was that you didn't want good brakes in a Peleton - if someone braked quicker than the rest, the entire pack would run over them.
Seemed like a fallacy to me, clearly the issue described is with deferential braking performance, not superior performance. And that's even without examining how often mass crashes are down to an individual braking!
Robert
Posted 12 years ago # -
Can't get onto my Flickr to post it here, but I've done a helpful little illustration to set this straight once and for all!
Posted 12 years ago # -
The new Colnago C59 road bike has them. Aesthetics aside they have to work better than rim brakes on carbon wheels and/or in the wet. Just expect to see a lot more roadies doing endo's at your local sportive.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Very Nice
ATTENTION, Road Cyclists by kaputniq, on FlickrPosted 12 years ago # -
I'm surprised my employer doesn't block Flickr when it blocks most other things.
Also seen mentioned somewhere once were arguments concerning the time required to change punctured wheels mid-race when there's a fiddly wee disc edge to align with a narrow slot. Never tried to remove or replace a disc-braked-wheel myself so unable to comment; presumably there may be QR arrangements similar to those on current calipers on racing-standard disc brakes.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"it would still be possible to build the C59 up at around the UCI weight limit" even though it has bog-standard off the shelf MTB discs. I guess that kills the weight argument then?
I'm quite pleased by this development as I swore never to buy a rim-braked bike again.
Posted 12 years ago # -
@wingpig if you add .nyud.net to the end of most urls it may get around your work firewall. eg: http://www.google.com.nyud.net/
Road bikes generally don't have great braking as I understand it because there is a significant risk of either skidding on the back because very little resistance from the thin tyre, and weight distribution being further forward, then also risk of faceplanting over the front.
Posted 12 years ago # -
@wingpig
theres no real issue on putting in a disc wheel really
perhaps a tad more fiddly@ARobComp
isnt that more a case of experience and a decent modulation?@Dave
have to agree
I have been put off road bikes as Im so used to discs
though I see CX bikes popping up with discs alreadyPosted 12 years ago # -
The problem is that most (pro) road bikes have lightweight wheels with only 2 spokes. Disc brakes put a lot more stress on the wheel than rim brakes so are not suited to such sparsely spoked wheels..... MMmmmm sparsely spokes!
Posted 12 years ago # -
well the technology is there
http://www.mavic.com/en/product/wheels/mountain-bike/wheels/Crossmax-SLR
obviousy these wheels will be over engineered versus a road version
Posted 12 years ago # -
You really do not want to be stopping on a sixpence in a bunch. My main "issue" with disc brakes for "road bikes" is why you would want them (for group riding / racing at least). Good rim brakes stop you pretty sharpish when there's no flex in the calipers and levers and they're well set up, but not so sharpish that the riders 2cm off your wheel will pile into you. For commuting and general leisure cycling I get them, but I've been in a bunch where one person had disc brakes and it completely destroyed the dynamics of the pack - he tapped on his brakes and the speed fell off and everyone behind fell about trying to compensate for this and everyone in front shot off without realising!
Posted 12 years ago # -
Not arguing with a real life report, but I really don't understand why that would be the case. When I'm drafting a car (or a rider) around town, sure, I'm not overlapping wheels with them, but I don't find it difficult to brake a little or a lot as appropriate.
In fact, I'd go as far as to say that whatever braking action the rider in front of me takes, there's a brake lever pressure to match it precisely, for any type of brake.
Since dual pivots and discs can both lock a wheel in the dry, it can't even be that people can slow down faster with discs (unless for some reason, the disc brake makes the tyre stick more to the road!), surely?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Yeah the technology's obviously there.... ahem.... erm . they look rubbish on road bikes ... blah blah blah I can't hear you!!!
Posted 12 years ago # -
Not arguing with a real life report, but I really don't understand why that would be the case.
I think what I was getting at is the inability (be it the rider or the mechanics of the brake) to feather them gently and drop a few miles an hour - rather than just going from 20 down to 10 in a few seconds. They were either all or nothing. It's not so much the overall stopping power of the brakes, perhaps more the ease with which it can be applied.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I don't want to get into the forum equivalent of a tweet-off, but just observe that mountain bikers manage to brake tenderly on wet roots, mud, even snow and ice, much more challenging than riding in a chaingang (IMO, as someone who's done both, but not a lifetime of either).
I'm conscious that I'm saying this but I do use disc bikes, so for all I know it really could be difficult for others who're rim only, so maybe I'm just barking up the wrong tree with my thoughts..
Posted 12 years ago # -
Since brake levers have more than an on/off action, it's perfectly possible to apply as much or as little pressure as one requires to slow down at the required rate. I've ridden disc-braked road bikes for 5 years and never once had a problem with "braking too much".
Posted 12 years ago # -
I'm with druidh, been riding my cx since Sept and never felt they brake any harder than I needed/wanted. My Dawes with Cantilevers on the otherhand need an adjustment every month or they are hopeless on wet roads. Yesterday we did a lap of Arran and I was missing my discs. My next bike will be a road bike AND will have discs.
Posted 12 years ago # -
What Druidh said! Modern sports motorcycles are capable of standing the bike on it's nose (literally) in the dry or locking the wheels pretty much instantly in the wet using only two fingers on the lever, and yet the queues of riders falling off due to over-powerful brakes are conspicuous by their absence. Unless it's very badly designed, it is a progressive device not a switch.
That said my own personal feeling is that on a purely road bike the advantage doesn't justify the effort over the simplicity of a rim brake. Doesn't mean it wont suit others though. :-)
Posted 12 years ago # -
@DaveC How was the Arran lap? I've ridden the top half. Very steep in places iirc.
Posted 12 years ago # -
It was great Tom. This reminds me, I must do a write up.
Posted 12 years ago # -
When I first used my disc brakes I was surprised by how powerful they were but that was me applying the pressure I used to use on my rubbish cantilever brakes to brakes that actually work. A couple of days and I can feather them as much as ever. Of course, having got used to the discs, I'll be under a bus next time I use my cantilever equipped bike.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Not forgetting of course that often when we try new brakes we are replacing well used brakes, possibly in need of adjustment, with shiny new perfect condition brakes. We should therefore be quite dissapointed if we don't see a sudden increase in efficiency! ;-))
Posted 12 years ago #
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