Disc brakes on road bikes

[GrumpyGregry]

Flat bar hydraulic discs are well sorted - basic Shimano ones are cheap, reliable and work a treat.

As @Drago says, still a long way to go to reach that stage for roadie discs.

But that is not a factor of bicycle disc braking per se but the roadie "requirement" for brifters, surely? The tech would work fine, but the market isn't ready for it.

My assumption is that as shifting electronically be comes the norm, and trickles down, as surely it will, eventually, the functions of brake lever and shifter will separate again and the market for hydraulic road brakes will open up... but first conservative "roadie" resistance to new technologies must be overcome.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

aren't hydraulic brakes very heavy?
(question, not arguing)

heavier yes. At what point does heavier become very heavy?

 

[Drago]

Relative to cable brakes they can be. Not enough that it would worry me personally though. One of the advantages of being over 18 stone is that you tend not to get hung up on ridiculous obsessions with component weight.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

You probably know this but they all have stainless steel discs now- what has changed since the early days is caliper design pad compound and performance as well as drilled discs-the early undrilled dics were lethal as were the god-awful sliding one piston calipers (eg on my Honda 400-4 ) The only olde world bike I had that had good brakes was a Yam RD400C (RIP wish i had it now)

Has everyone gone sintered pad, or whatever works with stainless, these days?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Relative to cable brakes they can be. Not enough that it would worry me personally though. One of the advantages of being over 18 stone is that you tend not to get hung up on ridiculous obsessions with component weight.

If our rider visits the bathroom before they ride any weight penalty would be offset...

 

[GaryA]

Has everyone gone sintered pad, or whatever works with stainless, these days?

Yeah there are different formulas around but I avoid the 'sports compound' ones since they are very hard and tend to wear out the discs -sometimes quicker than the pads

 

[Profpointy]

If our rider visits the bathroom before they ride any weight penalty would be offset...

well yes ok, but I do very much notice a laptop in my pannier compared to not having it. And my heavy bike is notably harder work than my light bike, despite the former having gears !

 

[GrumpyGregry]

well yes ok, but I do very much notice a laptop in my pannier compared to not having it. And my heavy bike is notably harder work than my light bike, despite the former having gears !

frame and fork has to be slightly heavier to cope with the loading, by how much varies from brand to brand and the brake sets themselves are anything from 250 - 500gms heavier depending on brand and range. Biggest hit for the elite rider will be the extra drag of discs....

 

[GaryA]

I recently bought myself a Hybrid (Ridgeback Velocity) as a cheap winter hack and I was reminded just how good V brakes can be when they are new-not that far off discs for outright stopping power...of course in 6 months time when the cables are stretched, the pads glazed over and the rims chewed up they will feel crappy but just now they are more than adequate.

 

[Pale Rider]

I recently bought myself a Hybrid (Ridgeback Velocity) as a cheap winter hack and I was reminded just how good V brakes can be when they are new-not that far off discs for outright stopping power...of course in 6 months time when the cables are stretched, the pads glazed over and the rims chewed up they will feel crappy but just now they are more than adequate.

I agree, rigid, long drop V brakes perform well.

Maintaining that performance will only take a little bit of fettling in the coming months, which you wouldn't need to do with hydraulics.

Having said that, I did need to have the front brake bled on one of my hydraulic bikes, and the lever on another is pulling in a bit further than it should.

So nothing is truly maintenance free.