Another good reason to not adopt disc brakes on road bikes.

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D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
Money is involved.

That is true
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
I've never worn out a rim, and the longest I've currently owned a rim brakes bike is 22 years. Having said that, I read the road/terrain well ahead and I'm very light on the brakes as a consequence. Ditto in the car, where brakes tend to corrode to death before I wear them out.

I'm struggling to understand why so many cyclists get through rims at the rate they do. I can only assume they enjoy expending more energy than necessary, by excessive use of the brakes to convert all that kinetic energy they had to produce in the first place, back into heat. Given that every bit of forward motion on a bike is only achieved through the rider's efforts, I also try to make the absolute minimum use of the brakes possible. OK, on a descent, braking may be necessary, but a lot of the time on a level surface, if you anticipate properly your speed can be controlled without much need to use the brakes at all. Like Drago, I don't wear car brakes out in no time either, for the same reason. Turning energy into waste heat is the last thing I want to do, no matter what sort of wheeled transport I am using.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
I'm struggling to understand why so many cyclists get through rims at the rate they do. I can only assume they enjoy expending more energy than necessary, by excessive use of the brakes to convert all that kinetic energy they had to produce in the first place, back into heat. Given that every bit of forward motion on a bike is only achieved through the rider's efforts, I also try to make the absolute minimum use of the brakes possible. OK, on a descent, braking may be necessary, but a lot of the time on a level surface, if you anticipate properly your speed can be controlled without much need to use the brakes at all. Like Drago, I don't wear car brakes out in no time either, for the same reason. Turning energy into waste heat is the last thing I want to do, no matter what sort of wheeled transport I am using.

Me two, I don't remember it being talked about much before it was mentioned on here a few years ago. 25 years as a club rider and I can only remember it being talked about twice, once when I wore the rims out on my old Dawes, eight years old or more and very high mileage, and when one of the club lads had a front rim fail on his winter bike, a very old high mileage bike.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
[QUOTE 5192910, member: 45"]Sram Apex rim blocks are £15 a pair.[/QUOTE]

I use koolstop salmon's
 

Smokin Joe

Legendary Member
<suits-you>Did you take him roughly from behind, sir? Did you, sir? Did you?</suits-you>

Bike disc brakes are rubbish because the discs are too exposed to the elements, the pads are too small and they need elaborate fork fixings. If you want reliable all-weather low-maintenance braking, do it properly and get hub brakes.
Discs on bikes are no more exposed to the elements than they are on motorcycles, or even cars for that matter. Both of those have big fat tyres which throw up more crud than a skinny cycle tyre.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
[QUOTE 5192920, member: 45"]Yeah, the OP was choosing to replace with the brand matching the brakes, which is more expensive whether rim or disc.[/QUOTE]

I know, but I never do, I put Koolstop's on once I've worn out the original blocks.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Those of you wondering why the rest of us get through brake blocks and rims so easily are obviously living somewhere flat(-tish)!

There are lots of descents that I do round here which would be impossible without heavy braking - a long stretch of 12+%, followed by a very tight hairpin bend, that kind of thing.

I made the mistake of putting mudguards on my best bike for the recent winter. I not only wore out a set of brake blocks in about 10 weeks of occasional riding, I also wore halfway through the rims of my best wheels too! :banghead:

I probably will not be buying another road bike in the near future but if/when I finally do, it will have disk brakes.
 

Heigue'r

Veteran
I go through brake blocks at the rate of a set a month id say when commuting full time.Im back up to 100 kgs so a bit of force required to stop.I do commute from essex into central/west London.Anticipating the change of a traffic light or car/pedestrian that comes from nowhere is quite difficult.I would have to leave an hour earlier id say just to go easier on the brakes.Ive just noticed last week that my rear rim is starting to wear quite thin.I think im going to go for a disc braked bike next as I think it would better suit my needs and the conditions I ride in.If I rode in open countryside with no traffic lights,id happily buy a new set of wheels as I wouldn't be braking as much....
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
I know some of you roadie fellas like Sram groupsets, but the moral of this tale is only buy a disc brake if it has the word 'Shimano' written on it.

You're not far from the truth there. I find Shimano disk brake pads are usually half the price (or less) of Avid/Sram pads.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
PS To illustrate my point about descending scary hills ... Try going down Birchcliffe Road in Hebden Bridge without heavy use of brakes!

Birchcliffe Rd bend.jpg
 
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