Disc brakes on road bikes

[Dogtrousers]

All the same, I'm not anti-disc. Rather, it's just that I have no interest in buying bikes fast enough to keep up with technology that has, from my perspective, only just become standard. I only got my first carbon frame 18 months ago, and that was second-hand and an opportunity I couldn't refuse. So if someone wants to sell me a lightly-used carbon road bike with Campag Record, discs and electronic shifting for, say, £100, I'm in.

This is my point, too.

To "upgrade" to discs you need a new frame. And effectively that means a new bike. And there's no way I'm buying a whole new bike just for a marginal gain on a single component and to keep up with the Joneses.

If I needed a new bike, sure. But I don't.

And I'm never going to buy a carbon framed bike. But that's another story.

 

[Mr Celine]

Koppenberg, Ronde Van Vlanderren, 05/04/26. Mrs Celine and I on holiday with bikes, but as I don't take my best bike on holiday I was on rim brakes, as was Mrs Celine.

We'd approached from the other side of the climb and left our bikes there. After watching the mens race from where this photo is taken we watched the womens race from 100m further down the hill. So when we set off down the hill to cycle back through Oudenarrde we'd no idea that it gets even steeper further down.
I tried to warn Mrs Celine but by this time couldn't turn round as I was struggling to keep the bike under control and at a speed which would stop my fillings rattling out. By the bottom of the hill my arms were aching. Great fun but would have been much easier on my best bike with its hydraulic discs.

Mrs Celine eventually appeared, having walked most of the way. When she'd seen the road getting steeper she simply steered into the bank and 'dismounted with style', ie fell off, as she was already squeezing the levers as hard as she could and couldn't stop any other way.
Her best bike is an e-MTB, with hydraulic discs. She has no problem stopping that on or off road, on steeper and rougher descents than the Koppenberg.

 

[Exlaser2]

[QUOTE="SpokeyDokey, post: 7632499, member: 19480"

In the dry, not much in it. But in the wet it is a night vs day difference.
[/QUOTE]

That is your experience, it’s not been mine since I was a child and rode rubbish bikes. Once I was old enough to know what rim and brake/brake block combination to use I never had any more issues.

No one, ESPECIALLY ME, is suggesting that disc don’t work better than rim brakes in the wet . It’s a simple fact. But to suggest that rim brakes on top end road bikes are ‘ poor ‘ in the wet on the road and that the difference is ‘ night and day ‘ is in my view ‘ over egging the pudding’ . 😀
Disc brakes on top end road bikes are simply another ‘ marginal gain ‘ .

 

[SpokeyDokey]

@Exlaser2

To clarify: I wasn't intimating that rim brakes are poor under all wet conditions.

My example was that on a long, steep hill in very wet conditions, disc brakes were effective and rim brakes were utterly useless.

 

[Exlaser2]

@Exlaser2

To clarify: I wasn't intimating that rim brakes are poor under all wet conditions.

My example was that on a long, steep hill in very wet conditions, disc brakes were effective and rim brakes were utterly useless.

And as I said that’s your experience, it has never been mine. Probably best if we finish this conversation now as we have such different experiences and opinions on this subject 😀😀

 

[Dogtrousers]

@Exlaser2

To clarify: I wasn't intimating that rim brakes are poor under all wet conditions.

My example was that on a long, steep hill in very wet conditions, disc brakes were effective and rim brakes were utterly useless.

I have to say that I've never been in a situation where my (rim) brakes were "utterly useless". I'm an all weather rider and I've never had cause to rate my brakes as less than satisfactory.

You must have had your brakes set up wrong for them to be useless.

Note, I'm not disagreeing with people who say discs are better. My experience is too limited for me to have an opinion on that, so I'll take it on trust.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Disc brakes on top end road bikes are simply another ‘ marginal gain ‘ .

Being able to stop easily and under control and plenty of time is not marginal.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Being able to stop easily and under control and plenty of time is not marginal.

I can do that with my rim brakes. I've never had an accident or near miss that was due to my inability to "stop easily and under control". Rims work just fine for me. Sure disks may be nicer and more modulate-able I'll take people's word for that.

Sure discs may be better, but saying that rims are useless and won't stop you is, as @Exlaser2 says, "over egging the pudding"

 

[Exlaser2]

Being able to stop easily and under control and plenty of time is not marginal.

Which anyone could already do with high end road rim brakes .
Disc have cut braking distances a small amount in very wet conditions. So as I said marginal gains .
Now if you could put together disc’s with a simple abs system , then you would see I real improvement in braking distances in all weathers .

 

[YellowV2]

I’m not sure saying rim brakes are utterly useless is correct, as we rode them for very long time in all conditions without any issues until discs came along. I don’t like discs on road bikes and even had a bespoke new bike built two years ago with rims. The pro riders are able to brake later with discs and can descend quicker because of this (this was Jens Voigts perspective when asked).
I have ridden discs on a road bike before and since having my new bike and still don’t like the feedback they provide, I would concede they possibly improve wet weather braking and definitely save on rim wear but that’s it for me, neither outweigh my other feelings towards them!
It’s a personal preference and there it remains in my view.

 

[katiewlx]

I think this has been covered already:




Anyways, I don't see this as the obvious win that you do. Some reasons:
- braking wears things out. Brake discs and pads don't grow on trees either. Maybe one system works out cheaper? I don't know for sure.
- I've never met a rider with a worn rim that was affecting their ride. I've seen quite a few instances of disc pad wear ending a ride.
- The only people I meet who have worn out rims are the long-distance types and serious commuters. It's weird that the weekend warriors riding rims that are too expensive to replace are also the ones leaping to disc-brake bikes.
- I hugely reduced rim wear by moving to decent brake blocks. Shimano ones are well-known to be harsh on rims - just do your research people!

Talking of decent brake blocks... IF you're worried about poor wet-weather braking, again, BUY DECENT BLOCKS!!! Even in today's hyper-inflation, it's £8 for your front set. That's a fair bit cheaper than a disc-brake upgrade. On the bikes with decent blocks, my dual-pivot brakes - which I spend minimal time on setup - have got me down massive and steep descents, with luggage, in all weathers, with no concerns (except rear-tyre lockup in the case of Hardknott).

theres an element of you dont want to meet a rider with a worn rim thats affecting their ride, because theyve probably just had an almighty crash as their rim came apart and the wheel disintegrated, think about that next time your descending down a hill at speed.

as for disc pad wear stopping a ride, thats like saying rim block wear would stop a ride, which it wouldnt because youd just replace them when they were worn.

 

[rydabent]

This is my point, too.

To "upgrade" to discs you need a new frame. And effectively that means a new bike. And there's no way I'm buying a whole new bike just for a marginal gain on a single component and to keep up with the Joneses.

If I needed a new bike, sure. But I don't.

And I'm never going to buy a carbon framed bike. But that's another story.

Actually you dont need a whole new bike. Just buy a new front fork that is fitted for disc brakes. That puts you half way there, and since in heavy braking the front brake does the most braking, there you are.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Which anyone could already do with high end road rim brakes .

Why pay high end rim brake prices when even low end disc will do a better job?

 

[Exlaser2]

theres an element of you dont want to meet a rider with a worn rim thats affecting their ride, because theyve probably just had an almighty crash as their rim came apart and the wheel disintegrated, think about that next time your descending down a hill at speed.

as for disc pad wear stopping a ride, thats like saying rim block wear would stop a ride, which it wouldnt because youd just replace them when they were worn.

Been cycling for 60 years. In all that time have I ever had a rim come apart , no . Have I ever had a friend who’s wheel has worn though and they crashed , no . Have any of my friends friends had a rim wear though and they have crashed no.
I am it’s saying it’s never happened, of course not . But it’s way down the list of things that could happen to you on a ride, about level with being stuck by lightning 😀

 

[Exlaser2]

Why pay high end rim brake prices when even low end disc will do a better job?

That’s true now , as top end Campag is just about all that’s left .
BUT are you really saying YOU couldn’t stop ‘ easily, safely and under control’ using rim 105, Ultegra, Rival, voloce , Athena etc etc ?
All of which were considerably cheaper ( even adding in inflation) than comparable brakes today as well being lighter.

Look I get it , disc’ are better and are the industry standard and for loads of cycling endeavours they are clearly superior to rim brakes .
But the idea that they are a huge leap forward on road bikes and somehow what went before was rubbish is flawed in the extreme.
As I said before, on road bikes for most people are simply a marginal gain .