Why I want discs on a road bike

[GrasB]

As for the rims drying out, surely the limiting factor is the reduced tyre grip in the wet; if you really want to you can pull the lever hard enough on a roadbike to lock the wheel pretty quick, you just need to be scared enough to pull it hard enough!

Out on the road with a road bike I've never had a situation where I've come to the limit of front tyre grip under heavy braking, it's always been the rear wheel lifting which limits the braking power. This can't be said for the hardtail on it's first set of road tyres (something like the Michelin Country Rock).

 

[rogerzilla]

Disc brakes on racing bikes would be unacceptably heavy because the fork has to be strong and stiff enough - this is the real problem, not the weight of the caliper and disc.

I have a 205mm front disc on my MTB-based fixie. This is so I don't blow the front tyre off on a long descent when I need to limit the pedal rpm to something I can keep up with. I've had a front rim brake start to smoke and smell bad before.

 

[lukesdad]

Ive never been convinced with disc brakes on either mtbs or road bikes, after all they were designed to stop vehciles with far greater mass and velocity. I find my avid ti single digit v brakes with speed dial levers are so sensitive great feel for the brakes stopping power in abudance. The problem with rim brakes is people don t look after them,they let them wear to far or let them glaze up wrongly adjusted etc.

If you dress your blocks and clean the rims regularly you shouldn t have any problems with stopping or wear, and theres still the weight disadvantage.

 

[Steve Austin]

I agree with you lukesdad, a decent well setup set of V brakes will work very well, but discs work better

Discs are almost a complete fit and forget system. V's need a lot of fettling to keep them working well, and are affected by weather, and the general clag on the roads/trails.

I don't think we will see discs on top end road bikes a for a while yet, but the distinct advantages they give is going to be utilised more and more often in the near future.

 

[summerdays]

Is there anyway that a lighter and not so powerful disk could be made for road bikes or is that a waste of time? What I mean is that do disk brakes have to be so big and heavy to work - could there be a lighter comprise version so that you gained the advantage of not having the braking mechanism on the rims or is it more to do with the forces generated at the centre of the wheel?

I like my disk brakes though I never manage to have mine set up perfectly, but I would rather that than v-brakes and that was before my commute suddenly gained a quarter mile of mud, grit and pot holes.

 

[lukesdad]

Steve, as usual in these things its all a compromise really,speaking from an xc racing and marathon point of view the disadvantages of discs are weight especially rotationally on the wheel (know acouple of guys with superlight wheels and then chuck rotors on them) the light ones are suspect to distortion through heat & stone damage pretty terminal in an event (been there). bulk of the system is lower down again in the line of fire of rocks & logs etc.

I ll grant you they will stop you quicker, but how quick do you want to stop, It ll be twin discs next! I like the feel of point of contact of v brakes and as Ive said the Avids are superb. Lot of the guys still use rim brakes and say they won t change.
Can t see a big future for them on top end road bikes though.

 

[just jim]

I think we'll see more use of disc brakes on... touring bikes. I nearly went for one (Kona Sutra / EBC Explorer) but didn't. Touring bicycle design is notoriously resistant to change and I can see why - but change is good!

 

[bonj2]

This doesn't prove anything about the merits of different braking systems, all it proves is that farmers are an absolute menace on the roads and a complete nuisance.

 

[Steve Austin]

I've got Discs on a road bike. makes loads of difference to the braking feel. Steady reliable braking all the time.

If you've not tried it then it really is worth considering

 

[D4VOW]

I really miss my MTB's Disc brakes when I'm on the road bike they are far superior in every way except weight. I can't see them appearing on road bikes in the near future though, the weight issue is to much of a compromise for a discipline that doesn't require much braking.

 

[GrasB]

All of this talk about what's wrong with them when racing is really missing the point, I'm talking about the demands of normal 'high-speed leisure' road riding, commuting & generally going from A to B.

Summerdays, yeah, the calliper it's self is light & one could use a 130mm disc to keep everything nice n' compact.

lukesdad, actually the disc brakes are specifically designed for bikes! It's not like they're fitting twin 355mm rotor w/wilwood 4 pot used to stop high performance motorbikes. Are we ruling out bike specific drum & conventional calliper brake applications because they've been used on cars & motorbikes?

Also who said anything about more power? I said that the brakes almost sent the other two over the handle bars when the finally got to working properly, the difference between the two stopping methods was the response given when the leaver was pulled.

 

[HJ]

Disc brakes on racing bikes would be unacceptably heavy because the fork has to be strong and stiff enough - this is the real problem, not the weight of the caliper and disc.

Are suggesting that road bike forks don't have to be strong and stiff??

Ive never been convinced with disc brakes on either mtbs or road bikes, after all they were designed to stop vehciles with far greater mass and velocity.

Just because you have never tried then doesn't mean they are not a good idea...

 

[HJ]

This doesn't prove anything about the merits of different braking systems, all it proves is that farmers are an absolute menace on the roads and a complete nuisance.

As are some cyclist...

 

[lukesdad]

Hj I d read my post again if I were you.

 

[lukesdad]

GrasB its horses for courses I like my bikes light responsive and alittle twitchy its just my preference I wouldn t rule out anything. I assumed by the op you were looking for comments....