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

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I have a Hybrid with hydraulic disc brakes. It’s the lowest mileage / KJ bike in my collection. The brake pads have worn out, so I had to get new ones.

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Wanting to keep the same parts it came with, I bought these bad boys. With BC discount, nearly 30 quids worth:eek:. I think I’ll stick to rim brakes on my road bikes:blink:.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
So how many miles did they do and how many miles would two pairs of rim blocks do, at what cost?
 
OP
OP
Racing roadkill
So how many miles did they do and how many miles would two pairs of rim blocks do, at what cost?
Less than 5000 miles I reckon, I’ve done 3 times that on rim blocks that cost a tenner.
 
OP
OP
Racing roadkill
It's not even that simple since you also need to factor in how much longer the wheels last as a result of the rims not being being worn by braking, and then offset that by wear on the rotors.
I’ve had wheels fail, for reasons other than rim wear, in fact even if you factor in the replacement rims on a rim braked bike ( usually a ratio of 2 rears for 1 front ) the rim brake set ups still come in far cheaper than the disc brakes. You have to remember that the brake discs don’t last that long either.
 
How many miles from a disc then?

I replaced my first set after 18,700km. That was based on the front being at the minimum remaining thickness and the rear not too far off. Over that distance I'd gone through five sets of disc pads on the front and two on the back. This is entirely on roads, all year round riding - all these parts wear an awful lot faster off-road, I've no doubt. The discs had never been trued but were still true at the point of replacement.
 
OP
OP
Racing roadkill
Having been comprehensively out braked by a rider on a disc braked bike on a sportive recently I'd happily pay a bit extra for the better braking.
It’s not a ‘bit’ though, it’s probably 5 times as much. If someone wants to hoof themselves in the nuts to that tune, to try and be a hero in a Sportive, they are welcome to it. I guess that’s why off road / Hybrids have flown under the radar, they tend not to get the miles, to make it such an issue, and the vastly superior braking performance is more palatable.
 
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