Disc or no disc?

[SpokeyDokey]

I would go for discs, but only if you can afford/live with hydraulic calipers. Cable-actuated disc brakes are very poor as you've noted. Hydraulic brakes are low-maintenance and self-adjusting with pad wear whereas cable brakes are the opposite. With hydraulic disc brakes you can also swap between resin and metal pads - provided the discs can handle both and you've done the proper bed-in procedure during swapping. This gives you access to two completely different modes of brake operation. Resin is nice for slow action and gentle, squeal-free riding whereas metal pads operate best under severe conditions. On road bike riding I would class severe conditions as mountain riding and loaded touring. Peloton riding is fine with resin brakes.
Don't expect better stopping with (good) disc brakes than with good rim brakes. Stopping cannot be improved on what we already have because the limiting factor is not brake force but overturning momentum. In other words, the bike does an endo long before the brakes are even biting as much as they can.

This is not my experience at all - quite the opposite in fact. Discs are a bit better in dry conditions and much better in wet.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Cable discs +1. I have Avid BB7s and TRP Spyres. Cables are easily fixed 'in the field'. My MTB has hydro. It means I'll have to carry a special repair kit for any extended off road touring. With discs you never have have to worry about ruined rims ever again.

Organic or sintered? Both are great, but sintered tends to squeal on my cargo bike due to a number of variable issues. Organic are quiet but wear quickly. Sintered last WAY longer and stop when riding through melted margarine.

 

[jowwy]

I try to read all the posts in a thread I'm involved in contributing to. I'm not generally too concerned about someone's spelling, as long as they can make themselves understood. However, I would be getting my own house in order first, before attempting to correct others.

then get your own house in order and stop helping others make stupid, pathetic posts about things they know nothing about.....except for what they read in some glossy mag

 

[jowwy]

Errrrrrrrrrr TT bikes in TT events use this kind of disk wheel , it has nothing to do with brakes

View attachment 346118

I think he maybe on this occassion be referring to the new cervelo px or even the new canondale slice TT disc

 

[S-Express]

then get your own house in order and stop helping others make stupid, pathetic posts about things they know nothing about.....except for what they read in some glossy mag

Surely it's up to me who I decide to agree/disagree with on here? Or do I need to check with you first?

 

[Andy_R]

then get your own house in order and stop helping others make stupid, pathetic posts about things they know nothing about.....except for what they read in some glossy mag

Surely it's up to me who I decide to agree/disagree with on here? Or do I need to check with you first?

...oh stop pussy footing around you two, and get a room.

 

[jowwy]

Surely it's up to me who I decide to agree/disagree with on here? Or do I need to check with you first?

Not everyone backs the right horse..........

 

[Cuchilo]

I think he maybe on this occassion be referring to the new cervelo px or even the new canondale slice TT disc

Thems Triathlon bikes , not TT bikes .

 

[Yellow Saddle]

This is not my experience at all - quite the opposite in fact. Discs are a bit better in dry conditions and much better in wet.

You need to wrap it around some context and in the current discussion wet riding did not come up. I've written extensively here about disc brakes and it is there for the record. I acknowledge that disc brakes bite quicker in the rain. That's because they generate more heat that can quickly evaporate the boundary layer of water that cannot be wiped away by rubber or resin or metal pads.

Once the brakes have bitten, they stop just as quickly as rim calipers. Quality is assumed in all examples.

That is because - and I cannot stress this enough - the limiting factor is the moment of inertia that causes an endo. You can only decelerate up to the point where your back wheel starts to lift. Anything faster than that is a faceplant.

An excellent example is a motorcycle stoppie. If the front wheel could skid, they cannot do a stoppie. If they can do a stoppie, it means the front wheel can't skid. It is that simple.

My comments were in response to "stop on a dime". That needs some context because no brake can stop on a dime, figuratively speaking.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Cable discs +1. I have Avid BB7s and TRP Spyres. Cables are easily fixed 'in the field'. My MTB has hydro. It means I'll have to carry a special repair kit for any extended off road touring. With discs you never have have to worry about ruined rims ever again.

Organic or sintered? Both are great, but sintered tends to squeal on my cargo bike due to a number of variable issues. Organic are quiet but wear quickly. Sintered last WAY longer and stop when riding through melted margarine.

I don't buy your arguments. How are you going to fix a cable in the field? What do you expect that can go wrong with it that's fixable in the field? What dangers lurk in the field for hydraulics?

Yes, we all know about the ruined rims story but that's not part of this discussion. Why drag it in here?

 

[jowwy]

Thems Triathlon bikes , not TT bikes .

The cannondale slice TT disc was used by cannondale drapac in a recent professional road race.......i believe it was the team TT........

 

[jowwy]

I don't buy your arguments. How are you going to fix a cable in the field? What do you expect that can go wrong with it that's fixable in the field? What dangers lurk in the field for hydraulics?

Yes, we all know about the ruined rims story but that's not part of this discussion. Why drag it in here?

The ruined rims discussion can be added, cause the OP asked to disc or not to disc........rim brake wear adds to that discussion when deciding. Its also good to note that by using disc brakes whether cable or hydraulic, you can then buy some nice fancy dan carbon wheels that you know won't get ruined by rim grime.

I'm typing this on my ipad now, so hopefully there won't be anymore spelling issues. Its a lot easier than trying to type on my smartphone at work @S-Express

 

[Heltor Chasca]

I don't buy your arguments. How are you going to fix a cable in the field? What do you expect that can go wrong with it that's fixable in the field? What dangers lurk in the field for hydraulics?

Yes, we all know about the ruined rims story but that's not part of this discussion. Why drag it in here?

Buy them. You have no choice. That's my experience, not an argument that I've brought to your party.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Errrrrrrrrrr TT bikes in TT events use this kind of disk wheel , it has nothing to do with brakes

View attachment 346118

Yes those are wheel discs, disc brakes could be useful as well, if the riders are set off one by one, and rarely see another rider.

 

[Cuchilo]

Yes those are wheel discs, disc brakes could be useful as well, if the riders are set off one by one, and rarely see another rider.

View attachment 346138

Another Triathlon bike . They dont set off one by one