Before you go off upgrading your road bike...

[T4tomo]

https://road.cc/content/feature/6-road-bike-upgrades-you-dont-need-295177

say nay to your:

• oversized jockey wheels
• integrated cockpits
• top end group set
• road tubeless
• ceramic bearings
• road disc brakes

 

[jowwy]

https://road.cc/content/feature/6-road-bike-upgrades-you-dont-need-295177

say nay to your:

• oversized jockey wheels - agreed
• integrated cockpits - but they look cool and why not
• top end group set - marginal gains,but they are better than lower end ones
• road tubeless - been road tubeless for 2yrs, not had a puncture yet
• ceramic bearings - had them on my cannondale, crankset felt smoother, but again expensive for what they are
• road disc brakes - as a fat bloke, i totally disagree, rim brakes are shoot compared to disc brakes in my Personal Opinion

ftfy

 

[Alex321]

https://road.cc/content/feature/6-road-bike-upgrades-you-dont-need-295177

say nay to your:

• oversized jockey wheels
• integrated cockpits
• top end group set
• road tubeless
• ceramic bearings
• road disc brakes

The last of those being totally controversial (as they admit), and also not actually an upgrade, you either get a bike with them, or you can't generally fit them. They need an appropriate frame.

 

[wafter]

I'd agree with all of those points in terms of the general existance (un-necessary at best, pointless marketing-driven tat at worst) with the exception of hydro disk brakes; which everyone knows are the best thing ever. Mostly.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I'ad agree with all of those points in terms of the general existance (un-necessary at best, pointless marketing-driven tat at worst) with the exception of hydro disk brakes; which everyone knows are the best thing ever. ultimate triumph of marketing over functionality and fugly to boot. Mostly.

Fixed

 

[wafter]

Fixed

And so it begins...

As someone who's very aware of being led by the nose by dodgy marketing, I'm pretty much sold on hydro disks.

The 105s are great with lower lever force required, excellent modulation and cleaner operation; along with the general benefits of zero rim wear and better wet weather performance.

I appreciate that some of these might be a bit less clear-cut on a road bike where you might value the lower mass of the wheels / system as a whole, the arguable aero benefits or the more classical styling.. however discs would still be my first choice if buying a brand new / modern road bike.

 

[Sharky]

I myself very rarely upgrade my bikes. In deed for our evening 10's, I usually ride on a fixed gear after a few years when I experimented with gears and fixed. I found very little difference in times, so now just keep to the simpler machine.

However, when I reflect on comp record times for 25 miles, they have improved from 52 minutes in 1966 to today's 42 minute ride. That's a colossal improvement. Even mind blowing when you think that at 30mph, they cover 5 miles in 10 minutes. Can you imagine the great Dave Dungworth being dropped for 5 miles compared with current holder.

You can't isolate mechanical upgrades from positioning and training techniques, but a few of the upgrades to the bikes must have been quite significant.

In my case, upgrades seem to have made me 10 minutes slower!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

And so it begins...

As someone who's very aware of being led by the nose by dodgy marketing, I'm pretty much sold on hydro disks.

The 105s are great with lower lever force required, excellent modulation and cleaner operation; along with the general benefits of zero rim wear and better wet weather performance.

I appreciate that some of these might be a bit less clear-cut on a road bike where you might value the lower mass of the wheels / system as a whole, the arguable aero benefits or the more classical styling.. however discs would still be my first choice if buying a brand new / modern road bike.

I can only surmise that the haters of disc brakes have never ridden down a steep hill in pouring rain with fully clamped-on rim brakes that do sweet FA on the stopping front - whereas disc brakes simply work.

I also like the look of disc braked bikes TBA. My old rim braked Giant, relegated to turbo use, looks positively dinosauric.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I can only surmise that the haters of disc brakes have never ridden down a steep hill in pouring rain with fully clamped-on rim brakes that do sweet FA on the stopping front - whereas rim brakes simply work

I commute through winter, including steep descents.

I have never, ever had to apply brakes "fully clamped on".

 

[roubaixtuesday]

And so it begins...

As someone who's very aware of being led by the nose by dodgy marketing, I'm pretty much sold on hydro disks.

The 105s are great with lower lever force required, excellent modulation and cleaner operation; along with the general benefits of zero rim wear and better wet weather performance.

I appreciate that some of these might be a bit less clear-cut on a road bike where you might value the lower mass of the wheels / system as a whole, the arguable aero benefits or the more classical styling.. however discs would still be my first choice if buying a brand new / modern road bike.

Despite my post above, hydro discs would be my choice now for a commuter, for rim wear reasons.

Other than that, weight, cost, maintenance all massively outweigh a perception of performance advantage which is actually limited by tyre friction.

I can imagine that if you have issues with hand strength they'd be a boon.

 

[T4tomo]

As i started it i'll chip in, for a winter bike I do have and would buy again a hydro disc bike as performance in the wet is better and offsets the occasional noise from getting a bit of crap rubbing on the rotor.

For summer best carbon my "dinosauric" rim brake look much better, are lighter and would be my preference, although it getting into the realms of unobtainable on a new bike from a lot of brands.

Rim wear is much much less of an issue with carbon rims too vs alloy brake tracks. You just get through the special compound brake pads quicker.

Integrated cockpits may look nice, but are useless if you need to change anything like a gear cable. I guess they just about work if you have electronic gears and aforementioned hydro disc brakes and pray you never need to change a hose. The aero gain over under bar tape routed and integral frame run cables is negligible though. They also mean you can't have barrel adjusters on your (manual) gear cables which are dead handy when setting up / adjusting, in particular, your front mech. something tells me latest incarnation of cabled shimano front mechs now have a (fragile) tension adjuster screw built into the front mech somewhere

 

[fossyant]

Nobody talks about upgrading your lungs and legs by working hard. That makes the difference, not all that rubbish above.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I can only surmise that the haters of disc brakes have never ridden down a steep hill in pouring rain with fully clamped-on rim brakes that do sweet FA on the stopping front - whereas rim brakes simply work.

i think you mean disc, each to their own but I can't understanding anyone using rim brakes settling for cable operated ones, when rod operated worked perfectly for years, why modernise when you can live in the past

Is there such a thing as a D2 bike fitted with rim brakes? That really does seem an odd choice.

 

[matticus]

Cyclechat only needs two forums:

- NACA, and
- YOUR favourite new stuff that you love is actually pointless overpriced gold-plated taps. Discuss.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Either buy a bike with discs or don't. So what