Disc brakes on road bikes
- Thread starter earth
- Start date
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black'n'yellow
Guest
braking force is not an issue with road bikes - you already have all the power and modulation required..
400bhp
Guru
Like on a day like today
Wet crappy weather can mean rim brakes aren't the greatest.
black'n'yellow
Guest
on good calipers/pads it doesn't actually make much difference - I'd be more worried about losing grip under braking on a day like this...
400bhp
Guru
Your experience is much different to mine.
What pads and calipers do you consider "good"?
black'n'yellow
Guest
To be honest, most brakes are 'good' if set up properly, with decent pads. Unless the pads are really poor, the limiting factor will usually be tyres...
400bhp
Guru
So, you are saying in adverse weather braking force isn't an issue with most caliper brakes.
Do you ride in the rain, and particularly in rainy conditions down hills? If you do, can I borrow your bikes please
black'n'yellow
Guest
So, you are saying in adverse weather braking force isn't an issue with most caliper brakes.
Do you ride in the rain, and particularly in rainy conditions down hills? If you do, can I borrow your bikes please
I'm not saying that performance is not affected in the rain. But I am saying that even with good calipers and pads, tyres are still the limiting factor. I have Force calipers on my best bike (with replacement pads) and £15-a-set Miche calipers (also with replacement pads) on my winter bike (which is ridden is all weathers - including rain, obviously). I can still lock the wheels in a downpour if I need to. Mind you, I don't weigh 20 stone...
400bhp
Guru
Perhaps that needed wording differently then.
I'll let you off, we all makes mistakes.
I was out with another forumite a month or so ago and I only had the use of my shatty avid disc brakes 26"er whilst he was on his road bike. The weather was a bit dodgy. I was struggling to keep up apart from one particular downhill section when were dropping off a climb, through the trees. The disc brakes made a clear difference.
If the weather is really throwing it down, tyres make little difference as the calipers cannot clear the water off the rims quick enough.
Maybe someone needs to develop a grooved rim (probably already been done I guess). Then again maybe not.
black'n'yellow
Guest
There is no conflict in those two statements. Potentially, the only issue is with your understanding of them .
I don't understand why you think that is relevant?
Pumpkin the robot
Guru
I have what I assume are standard shimano brake pads (they were on the bike when I bought it second hand) on Mavic rims with conti 4 season tyres and the other day in the rain the braking was terrible. I do not weigh 20 stone either. I could probably have locked the front if I had put the brakes on as hards as I could, but that is where feel comes into it. There was none. Maybe you are just a biking god BandY and us mortals will just have to make do disc brakes to make up for our lack of skill?
I mean disc brakes don't appear very aerodynamic. The rotor on the front wheel in particular is not hidden behind anything and presents extra area. For years now frame manufacturers have been making increasingly slippery frames and wheels and selling then on that basis. If people buy them on that basis then why would they then waste the money they have spent by putting disc brakes on?
Rob3rt
Man or Moose!
- Location
- Manchester
I don't know the answers 
I would say frontal area of the disc is small and the mechanism could be mounted behind the fork, maybe? So at low yaw angles the effect may indeed be very small! The effect at different yaw angles is something I have no idea about.
Bike frames are constantly evolving and they will continue to do so, either with the arrival of disc brakes or without.
I would say frontal area of the disc is small and the mechanism could be mounted behind the fork, maybe? So at low yaw angles the effect may indeed be very small! The effect at different yaw angles is something I have no idea about.
Bike frames are constantly evolving and they will continue to do so, either with the arrival of disc brakes or without.
I don't know the answers
I would say frontal area of the disc is small and the mechanism could be mounted behind the fork, maybe? So at low yaw angles the effect may indeed be very small! The effect at different yaw angles is something I have no idea about.
Bike frames are constantly evolving and they will continue to do so, either with the arrival of disc brakes or without.
Maybe we will see changes to the fork legs to hid the front calliper more effectively.
