Disc brakes on road bikes

[Binky]

Ultegra brakes? There's your problem, then. Should have gone with Weinmann.

The hydraulic disc brakes on my new bike also Ultegra so there is that.

 

[Webbo2]

Ultegra brakes? There's your problem, then. Should have gone with Weinmann.

Do you know that saying “Do something every day that scares you” well try stopping with Weinmann brakes will give you that.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I took the mudguards off my bike a month or so back to make it easier to transport. So this weekend I put them back. And it got me thinking - how do you attach mudguards to a bike without a brake bridge or drilled fork?

A quick search round the interwebs and I have discovered the elephant in the room, the Achilles heel of disc brakes, the fatal flaw: Mudguards for disc brakes are right shonky affairs, held on with of elastic bands, cable ties and chewing gum.

Whereas my guards are held on snugly with proper metal bridges under the brake calipers.

 

[Profpointy]

Do you know that saying “Do something every day that scares you” well try stopping with Weinmann brakes will give you that.

I was hugely envious of my pals with Weinman brakes on their "racers", compared to the Raleigh own brand shyte on my own shopper bike. They could even slow down in the wet!

To be fair with modern improved pads, and even more so after putting alloy rims on, my own later "racer" stopped pretty well with Weinmann centre pulls. Sure my subsequent bike with cantis, or my fixie's Shimano side pulls are better, but properly set up Weinmann's were perfectly OK.

Admittedly with steel rims and 70s rubber pads, they weren't much cop in the wet, but neither would anything else have bee

 

[katiewlx]

One other point has occurred to me is cables, specifically having hydraulic disc brakes, there's no cable maintenance. My old rim braked bike needs regular care of cables especially in winter as they get a bit sticky and brake calipers also need freeing from time to time to ensure they "spring" back into position to avoid any rubbing. This is with Ultegra brakes.

Unless there's leak then there should never be a need to bleed the disc brakes. Of course in wet/muddy conditions then cleaning of disc rotors is required so no system is entirely mtc free but so far I'd say discs were easier to live with but early days yet in my case.

I'm sure some will leap in and say their rim brake cables have worked perfectly for 25+ years but in my experience they weren't trouble free.

I think disc brakes are easier to live with for sure, but hydraulic disc brakes are prone to rub more than their mechanical counterparts, because with self adjusting pads, the clearance tolerances are alot more marginal on hydraulic. and the pistons can stick when they get dirty, the caliper can be slightly off centre, rotor warped. Even if the wheel seating isnt quite the same as to when the brakes were setup, you can get brake rubbing.

so they can be fiddly sometimes imo to find the sweet setup spot.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I was hugely envious of my pals with Weinman brakes on their "racers", compared to the Raleigh own brand shyte on my own shopper bike. They could even slow down in the wet!

To be fair with modern improved pads, and even more so after putting alloy rims on, my own later "racer" stopped pretty well with Weinmann centre pulls. Sure my subsequent bike with cantis, or my fixie's Shimano side pulls are better, but properly set up Weinmann's were perfectly OK.

Admittedly with steel rims and 70s rubber pads, they weren't much cop in the wet, but neither would anything else have bee

I don't recall ever thinking that there was anything wrong with the brakes on my old bike (Weinmann 999 centre pulls & red dot levers) But I probably would think that now.

I have a story I've told on here before. Aged about 15 or 16 I'd been adjusting my brakes. On my paper round I thought I'd test them. If anyone on that street had been looking out of the window that morning they would have seen the paper boy riding down the road then suddenly, for no reason at all, launch himself over the handlebars. The brakes worked.