Audax bike: Which brakes?

[middleagecyclist]

What type of brakes would you go for if you were currently speccing an audax bike and why?

[EDIT] Bugger. Hit the return key before finishing the poll and now can't edit it. Help Mods!

[2nd EDIT] Well, the poll options were going to be:

• Standard canti/side pull
• Canti/side pull with ceramic rims
• Cable operated disks
• Hydraulic operated disks
• Something else?

[3rd EDIT] Thanks for sorting the poll Mods.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

I dont think it will be long before hydraulic discs are the norm.Colnago are testing it on works bikes.


There again I am usually wrong

 

[mcshroom]

Nothing wrong with a decent set of dual pivots.

Having just had to help a poor fellow commuter trying to reassemble his rear disk brake* after changing a puncture I'm definitely more inclined to the simplicity of a rim brake atm.

*Biggest problem was hunting a pingfarkit in the gravel he was parked on (it was a clip that held the pads I think)

 

[sabian92]

Hydro Discs - simply because if you're going to spec a custom bike, why not get the best brakes you can? I use rim brakes now but if i could I'd have discs (although probably cable) in a heartbeat.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

the tech for hydraulics on drop bars is still an overly complex kludge so I'd wait a few years before speccing them.

then again my audax bike has veloce dual pivots and they work fine with koolstops.

 

[400bhp]

Standard side pull or mechanised disc.

Keep it simple.

I don't like cantis - never got on with them.

 

[mrandmrspoves]

Maybe I go slower than every other cyclist....... (certainly I go slower than many!) but I have to say that I have ridden bicycles with side pulls, dual pivots, centre pulls, V's, cantilevers, cable discs and hydraulic discs and never felt the need for the brakes to be be better than they were. They have always been well adjusted and serviced regularly. I can remember riding old trade bikes with rod brakes and wondering if I would stop, and of course in the days of riding crappy bikes with steel rims, there was always uncertainty in the wet.
Having said the above, riding round Norfolk doesn't quite test brakes in the same way as it would in hillier parts of the country.
So IF I was going to ride Audax, I think I would stick with light, easy maintenance and go for dual pivots.

 

[PpPete]

I've ridden audax with two bikes, one with cantis and one with dual pivots (both on regular aluminium rims)
All up weight on either bike is approx 100 kgs, and I've ridden some ferociously steep downhills with both.
Not found any reason to mess about with either, or choose one over the other on the basis of braking.

 

[Andrew Br]

Having just had to help a poor fellow commuter trying to reassemble his rear disk brake* after changing a puncture I'm definitely more inclined to the simplicity of a rim brake atm.

*Biggest problem was hunting a pingf***it in the gravel he was parked on (it was a clip that held the pads I think)

Why would he/you have to reassemble anything after fixing a puncture ?
My wheels just pop out/in provided I get the rotor properly aligned with the gap in the caliper and I don't press the levers while the wheel is out.

With the current state of the art, I'd go with BB7s.
If hydraulics come along later and they fulfill their potential at least you'll have a bike that can fit discs.

I understand that Avid have just announced a lower weight version of the road BB7.

.

 

[Zakalwe]

New and different doesnt mean best. Will there be much hill climbing on the route? Good luck not cooking the rotor on the way down.

 

[PpPete]

I've ridden audax with two bikes, one with cantis and one with dual pivots (both on regular aluminium rims)
All up weight on either bike is approx 100 kgs, and I've ridden some ferociously steep downhills with both.
Not found any reason to mess about with either, or choose one over the other on the basis of braking.

This doesn't mean I'm anti disk brakes. I've played with mechanical disk brakes on the boy's MTB so I'm reasonably familiar with them.
I think if was going from absolutely first principles and getting a frame custom built I'd consider hedging my bets by getting disk brake mounts on the back. At the front I've yet to be convinced that a fork can be stiff enough for disks and still as remain comfortable enough and with nice stable steering for audax.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

This doesn't mean I'm anti disk brakes. I've played with mechanical disk brakes on the boy's MTB so I'm reasonably familiar with them.
I think if was going from absolutely first principles and getting a frame custom built I'd consider hedging my bets by getting disk brake mounts on the back. At the front I've yet to be convinced that a fork can be stiff enough for disks and still as remain comfortable enough and with nice stable steering for audax.

I wouldnt have thought there would be much difference between any of the brakes,regarding fork rigidity,as the leverage would remain the same.ie the distance from tarmac to spindle centre.As said before,probably wrong.

 

[Zakalwe]

The fork needs to be bulkier as the point of leverage is at the brakes mount point - eg on the fork crown vs the long spindly end of the fork.

 

[grumpyoldgit]

The fork needs to be bulkier as the point of leverage is at the brakes mount point - eg on the fork crown vs the long spindly end of the fork.

But if you brake hard,the front tyre bites,as if tipping you over the bars,& the leverage is the same on the forks,whichever brake is used.

 

[Zakalwe]

With a front rim brake, braking forces are applied to a larger area spread over three points, the brake, the axle and the tyre on the road. Equal braking efforts with an axle mounted disc brake are applied to just two points, increasing the force on each point by a third.