Disc brakes on road bikes
- Thread starter earth
- Start date
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Steve H
Large Member
- Location
- Brighouse in West Yorkshire
They have greater stopping power
Rob3rt
Man or Moose!
- Location
- Manchester
This has been debated numerous times on here, did the search function not pull anything up?
lukesdad
Guest
not pull anything up rob ? All brakes do that
grumpyoldgit
Über Member
- Location
- Surrey
DIsc brakes do it better.
potsy
Rambler
- Location
- My Armchair
And you can take your bell off as the squeal makes it redundant 
lukesdad
Guest
They do, but on a road bike ? Only reason would be to save rims but I understand some have issues with stopping.
The rim argument is the only one that carries any weight for me. I would like to save the rims and no heat problems at the rim is a real advantage.
Stopping power? I don't want to lock the wheel with my dual callipers but I can. Is there any more to stopping power than that?
I also have no problem with stopping in the wet or pad life since I moved away from Shimano pads. If people still use these then I can understand if they are not satisfied. I found Shimano pads didn't work in the wet, wore very quickly, wore the rims and didn't have the best stopping power.
Disc brakes for road bikes just look like a complex solution looking for a problem while generating a few more of its own.
To move to discs we need different hubs to take the torque differences, different forks, a whole load of extra metal. Hydraulic versions need master cylinders. Maintenance increases. Weight increases. Aerodynamics decreases.
Stopping power? I don't want to lock the wheel with my dual callipers but I can. Is there any more to stopping power than that?
I also have no problem with stopping in the wet or pad life since I moved away from Shimano pads. If people still use these then I can understand if they are not satisfied. I found Shimano pads didn't work in the wet, wore very quickly, wore the rims and didn't have the best stopping power.
Disc brakes for road bikes just look like a complex solution looking for a problem while generating a few more of its own.
To move to discs we need different hubs to take the torque differences, different forks, a whole load of extra metal. Hydraulic versions need master cylinders. Maintenance increases. Weight increases. Aerodynamics decreases.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I agree. It's a question people had been quite happy not to ask.
Rob3rt
Man or Moose!
- Location
- Manchester
More braking power can offer increased modulation, you don't need the extra at the extremes, but increased modulation is handy.
Weight gain, who cares the pro's are already having to add weight by dropping weights into the seat tube to meet the minimum weight standard anyway. Plus you would save weight at the extremities of the wheel, where it matters most as there is no need for a braking surface.
Weight gain, who cares the pro's are already having to add weight by dropping weights into the seat tube to meet the minimum weight standard anyway. Plus you would save weight at the extremities of the wheel, where it matters most as there is no need for a braking surface.
Rob3rt
Man or Moose!
- Location
- Manchester
It has been asked on here a boat load of times. Usually with the same old points raised each time.
400bhp
Guru
Sorry, I don't follow Rob?
I was looking for a winter bike and did first consider a disc brakes one, but most are over 10kgs so I decided against it.. As far as I can tell, disc brakes add a lot of weight to a bike. I didn't really spend much time looking at why that is but i'd take an educated guess the increased weight must be the discs and the mechanisms, the heavier wheels and some structural strengthening needed due to increased forced applied with the discs
It seems a bit of an odd thing for you to say, given you do mention a lot here about marginal weight savings (groupsets for example)-so why would you say the additional weight a disc set up carries doesn't matter?
