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

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si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Nothing divides opinion quite like stating an opinion.
That's quite a divisive statement... If you're worried about such things, you should do what I do and carry a disclaimer around my neck.
 

fatjel

Veteran
Location
West Wales
I mostly ride bikes with rim brakes .. Have 3 with discs don't ride them much
Never worn out a rim, ever .. The giant needed brake blocks after 8000 miles or so.
Had new pads in two disc bikes , mtb has only done 300 miles carry new pads with me just in case
Discs are heavy , wear quicker and make that horrible scraping noise that says you'd be going much faster on rim brakes.
Is fair to say I prefer rim brakes . only my opinon of course
 

jowwy

Can't spell, Can't Punctuate....Sue Me
I mostly ride bikes with rim brakes .. Have 3 with discs don't ride them much
Never worn out a rim, ever .. The giant needed brake blocks after 8000 miles or so.
Had new pads in two disc bikes , mtb has only done 300 miles carry new pads with me just in case
Discs are heavy , wear quicker and make that horrible scraping noise that says you'd be going much faster on rim brakes.
Is fair to say I prefer rim brakes . only my opinon of course
Never heard a scraping noise coming from my discs and my disc braked Ti weighs less than my rim braked Ti.....so win win for me
 

Randy Butternubs

Über Member
Absolutely, most motorbikes and even scooters have gone disc. However, the question posed was can bicycle drums handle the heat, and motorcycles were cited purely as an example to show that they most assuredly can.

That's a good point, although I think tandem drag brakes have a large heat sink sticking out the side that normal bicycle drum brakes lack.

Still, the heat argument does seem like a bit of a red herring. It isn't like bicycle rim or disc brakes are famed for their ability to shed heat; people worry about tyres blowing off the rim from overheating with rim brakes and with the fluid boiling or plastic parts melting beyond repair with disc brakes.

It does seem a bit odd that drums are as niche as they are - I've never even seen one.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
Never heard a scraping noise coming from my discs and my disc braked Ti weighs less than my rim braked Ti.....so win win for me
Same, my disc brakes are totally silent in operation, whether riding or braking. If they are making a noise, I'd suggest they are improperly setup, in the same way that rim brakes can.

In fact, I've found that overall Discs are slightly quieter than rim brakes, plus I don't need to keep cleaning the pads and rims after each wet ride.
 
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