Brakes - which is liked better?

[raleighnut]

When you look at technical perfection, disc brakes win hands down. They do not destroy rims.

Yet to 'Destroy' a rim by braking,* but then I think my braking technique is very 'old school' in that I use them to stop and not to drag for ages with them just touching the rim, I also periodically remove any pieces of embedded ally in the blocks if I hear them graunching when out. Pads are nothing special, either Shimano or Clarkes.

* Wrecked a few in potholes or by hitting a rock and once my Carlton Clubman got run over by a lorry wrecking both wheels.

 

[YellowV2]

 

[ColinJ]

Yet to 'Destroy' a rim by braking,* but then I think my braking technique is very 'old school' in that I use them to stop and not to drag for ages with them just touching the rim...

I wouldn't either on roads where I wouldn't risk death by not braking!

I wore through the front rim on this bike in one winter on descents like these...

If I lived somewhere much flatter then it wouldn't be such an issue.

 

[raleighnut]

I wouldn't either on roads where I wouldn't risk death by not braking!

I wore through the front rim on this bike in one winter on descents like these...

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If I lived somewhere much flatter then it wouldn't be such an issue.

Yep most of my riding is around Leicestershire and that's pretty flat, OK there's a few 'lumpy bits' but nothing on that scale.

 

[FrankCrank]

I wouldn't either on roads where I wouldn't risk death by not braking!

I wore through the front rim on this bike in one winter on descents like these...

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If I lived somewhere much flatter then it wouldn't be such an issue.

I'm out of breath just looking at these pics.

 

[EckyH]

I'm out of breath just looking at these pics.

Just a suspicion: @ColinJ means the descends, not the ascends...

E.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Just a suspicion: @ColinJ means the descends, not the ascends...

E.

@ColinJ goes uphill so fast that he has to brake on the hairpins

 

[matticus]

I wouldn't either on roads where I wouldn't risk death by not braking!

I wore through the front rim on this bike in one winter on descents like these...
<snip...>
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If I lived somewhere much flatter then it wouldn't be such an issue.

That last pic is a beaut!
(Can we have more of these, and less pages of the endless disc debate?!?)

 

[roubaixtuesday]

That last pic is a beaut!
(Can we have more of these, and less pages of the endless disc debate?!?)

Good idea.

Ridden on rim brakes...

 

[Dogtrousers]

Grand Colombier. Climbed and descended with rim brakes. They got extremely hot on the descent and my hands were cramping from the effort.

 

[ColinJ]

Just a suspicion: @ColinJ means the descends, not the ascends...

E.

I have to ascend them before I can descend them!

@ColinJ goes uphill so fast that he has to brake on the hairpins

I ride uphill so fast that I can almost overtake pedestrians!

Good idea.

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Ridden on rim brakes...

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Grand Colombier. Climbed and descended with rim brakes. They got extremely hot on the descent and my hands were cramping from the effort.

Rim brakes are easily good enough on clean, dry descents, even ones as long and dramatic as those. It is the grinding paste action of wet salty grit from winter roads that kills the rims but what can one do when coming down a 15% slope into a blind hairpin bend? One can hear the metal (and brake blocks) being ground down but at that moment there is no sensible alternative but to brake hard.

Well, there IS one alternative for me - to only ride on the local valley A-roads from November to March to avoid those gritty descents but those roads are busy and nowhere near as nice as the hilly ones.

So... Disc brakes for winter, any decent brakes for clean, dry roads!

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I have to ascend them before I can descend them!


I ride uphill so fast that I can almost overtake pedestrians!




Rim brakes are easily good enough on clean, dry descents, even ones as long and dramatic as those. It is the grinding paste action of wet salty grit from winter roads that kills the rims but what can one do when coming down a 15% slope into a blind hairpin bend? One can hear the metal (and brake blocks) being ground down but at that moment there is no sensible alternative but to brake hard.

Well, there IS one alternative for me - to only ride on the local valley A-roads from November to March to avoid those gritty descents but those roads are busy and nowhere near as nice as the hilly ones.

As I wrote upthread, hilly winter riding is definitely an application where discs are superior. That said, I doubt many people ever ride enough wet winter miles to wear out rims in reality. It takes about two winters for me to go through a rim, and I ride 100 miles a week commuting an undulating route in all weathers. If I were to get a new commuter now, I'd get one with discs.

The people who say they suffer hand fatigue/cramps etc on rims I genuinely don't understand at all. I've descended Great Dun Fell, Hardknott, Galibier, Stelvio, d'Huez etc and never had the slightest issue. It's a complete mystery to me!

 

[matticus]

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Grand Colombier. Climbed and descended with rim brakes. They got extremely hot on the descent and my hands were cramping from the effort.

Lovely pic (although not as nice as the Yorkshire one!)

Would you say you drag brake, or freewheel until the last minute and brake quite hard (as required) close to the corner?

 

[raleighnut]

As I wrote upthread, hilly winter riding is definitely an application where discs are superior. That said, I doubt many people ever ride enough wet winter miles to wear out rims in reality. It takes about two winters for me to go through a rim, and I ride 100 miles a week commuting an undulating route in all weathers. If I were to get a new commuter now, I'd get one with discs.

The people who say they suffer hand fatigue/cramps etc on rims I genuinely don't understand at all. I've descended Great Dun Fell, Hardknott, Galibier, Stelvio, d'Huez etc and never had the slightest issue. It's a complete mystery to me!

I think it's this new 'braking from the hoods' malarkey, I've always had a handful of brake lever but then I'm not keen on brifters. This can lead to some problems on one of my bikes, I fitted 105 dual pivot brakes to one of my bikes in conjunction with 'Bullhorn' bars and bar end brake levers (also had aero bars at one point but couldn't get on with them so went back to DT shifters) now in theory this is all compatible (TT riders use this set up all the time) but they suffer from an incredible lack of feel, one finger is all I need to stop normally but in a panic braking situation where I grab a handful the brakes have spat me over the top more than once, now it's not a set up or mucky rim/pad problem or is it pads touching the tyre and grabbing it's just the calipers are too powerful.

 

[Will-37]

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Grand Colombier. Climbed and descended with rim brakes. They got extremely hot on the descent and my hands were cramping from the effort.

Beautiful!