Disc Brakes/Electronic Shifting

[harveymt]

I'm thinking of getting a new bike next spring through the cycle to work scheme. I've seen a lot in the press about disc brakes and electronic shifting. Will these ever become available on sub £1,000 bikes and what sort of time frame would that be in?

My own thinking is forget about them this time round and when I next want to change look for it then. Next time I buy a bike would likely be 5ish years. Hopefully they'll be on bikes around my budget by then. Unless anybody knows different?

Currently top of my list is the Rose SL-2000. I'd hate to pull the trigger on it with price drops around the corner.

 

[SWSteve]

http://www.merida.com/en_gb/bikes/leisure-commuting/cyclo-cross/2015/cyclo-cross-500-3440.html

 

[Nebulous]

Its a bit like buying computers or mobile phones. There's never a perfect time as technology is always developing, you need to pick something you're happy with and go for it.

Cycling organisations have been traditionalist and have very carefully limited development but they are now under a lot of pressure to shift that.

My commuter 2014 cross bike from Edinburgh bike cost half your budget and has mechanical discs. Electronic shifting will take longer to reach that price point.

The latest craze seems to be a cross / road hybrid sometimes referred to as gravel bikes, and they seem to be pretty much all discs. See this for example.

 

[adscrim]

I've recently purchased a Canondale Synapse 105 Disc on our cycle to work scheme and have been very pleased with it. It doesn't have electronic shifting but the new 105 is incredible. Discs are mechanical but still have loads of modulation available. Plus it comes in under £1k - I got it at £899 so will end up paying just over £500 (because my employer isn't daft and won't be charging me for the bike at the end of the hire period).

 

[smutchin]

It doesn't have electronic shifting but the new 105 is incredible.

Agreed. If I were buying a new bike now, I wouldn't feel the need to go for Ultegra over 105. You definitely won't get Di2 on a sub £1k bike for a while yet anyway.

The Hoy Shizuoka has hydraulic discs and is sub-£1k even for the top end model. It is a flat-barred "city bike" though, not a drop-handlebar racer.