Disc or no disc?
- Thread starter Nebulous
- Start date
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S-Express
Guest
They wanna be careful with all those sharp disk brakes about !Correct, they all fall over each other in T1
Heisenberg71
When you're dead, you're dead
- Location
- Wakefield
Having recently upgraded from a SRAM Red caliper set up to my current Dura Ace / Shimano Hydraulic Discs I am amazed at the difference in braking. I can brake later meaning I descend faster. There is far more modulation (feel / response) to the lever, meaning I can control braking force easier, meaning I can have more confidence. In the wet the difference is chalk and cheese.
I will share a recent story with you....
Seven of us were out riding recently on a lovely sunny day, I was leading the line down a c15% descent, we were knocking on at maybe 30mph when suddenly a blind downhill bend appeared, followed by a car in the middle of the road coming up the way. I shout "car" and grab a handful of brake but can still control the bike under braking enough to swerve down the side of the car, missing it by inches and coming to a stop slightly further on.
Within half a second of me shouting "car" I hear a skid followed by an impact and know instantly what has happened. I run back up the road to find my mate laying in the road screaming with blood pouring from his head. Cube Litening with Dura Ace calipers fitted and at the same speed maybe two meters further back from the car so with a greater braking distance than me and more time to do his braking his brakes locked, skidded, sent the bike sideways and high sided him head first into the front of the car. Four broken ribs, fractured cheekbone and 27 stitches.
Do discs make a difference? Damn right they do, you get control of the braking that an all or nothing cable operated caliper can't match, whatever the groupset. Would I go back to caliper? No chance. Now some will say it's braking technique, and in part they're right. However the ability to control braking force is crucial in this situation. It's like a human operated ABS. I am not saying you can't skid on discs, because of course you can. I am saying that you get a level of control that can mean the difference between an ambulance trip to a MRI scan or a ride home shaken but in one piece.
Each to their own I guess...
I will share a recent story with you....
Seven of us were out riding recently on a lovely sunny day, I was leading the line down a c15% descent, we were knocking on at maybe 30mph when suddenly a blind downhill bend appeared, followed by a car in the middle of the road coming up the way. I shout "car" and grab a handful of brake but can still control the bike under braking enough to swerve down the side of the car, missing it by inches and coming to a stop slightly further on.
Within half a second of me shouting "car" I hear a skid followed by an impact and know instantly what has happened. I run back up the road to find my mate laying in the road screaming with blood pouring from his head. Cube Litening with Dura Ace calipers fitted and at the same speed maybe two meters further back from the car so with a greater braking distance than me and more time to do his braking his brakes locked, skidded, sent the bike sideways and high sided him head first into the front of the car. Four broken ribs, fractured cheekbone and 27 stitches.
Do discs make a difference? Damn right they do, you get control of the braking that an all or nothing cable operated caliper can't match, whatever the groupset. Would I go back to caliper? No chance. Now some will say it's braking technique, and in part they're right. However the ability to control braking force is crucial in this situation. It's like a human operated ABS. I am not saying you can't skid on discs, because of course you can. I am saying that you get a level of control that can mean the difference between an ambulance trip to a MRI scan or a ride home shaken but in one piece.
Each to their own I guess...
iandg
Legendary Member
- Location
- Dumfries and Galloway
Started cycling in 1973 and never used discs and never had an ambulance trip for an MRI.(except after a track race where you have no brakes) - it was a head x-ray in those days
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Racing roadkill
Guru
It's not so much about the extra spinning bits of metal that add risk and don't need to be there, as it is about the disparity in performance causing pile ups, that bother me more.
T.M.H.N.E.T
Rainbows aren't just for world champions
- Location
- Northern Ireland
Really, I find the disparity in rider ability causing more crashes.
But they are not allowed to ride in the transition area are they
iandg
Legendary Member
- Location
- Dumfries and Galloway
World championships are still being won on cantilever brakes
Heisenberg71
When you're dead, you're dead
- Location
- Wakefield
If you have never used them how do you have such a well informed opinion of their relative effectiveness versus a traditional setup? Many on this thread will have never ridden hydraulic disc setup yet seem to be relative experts in the subject.
"None so blind as them that don't want to see"
iandg
Legendary Member
- Location
- Dumfries and Galloway
As mentioned earlier, I'm considering the change - and I haven't suggested anywhere that I have a well informed opinion on 'their relative effectiveness' and have only commented on my experience using rim brakes over 40 years of cycling - which includes medals at national and division level on road, track and cyclocross.
If/when I buy a new off-road bike I will go for a disc option. For road use I'm happy with rim brakes.
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S-Express
Guest
You don't win a cross race because you've got the best brakes though...and anyway, CXers tend to switch between disc and canti depending on the conditions..
iandg
Legendary Member
- Location
- Dumfries and Galloway
Exactly - disc brakes aren't the 'be all and end all' as some posters here are trying to imply.
