Disc brakes on road bikes

[Vapin' Joe]

Really???? Late 80s bikes with down tube shifters were some of the cleanest bikes produced. And------------with virtually no cable housing, the shifters rarely went out of adjustment.

Apart from taking up the slack after the outers have bedded in I never had to adjust the indexing on brifters. For my money they were the biggest single improvement on road bikes in my 55 years of cycling.

 

[Webbo2]

Really???? Late 80s bikes with down tube shifters were some of the cleanest bikes produced. And------------with virtually no cable housing, the shifters rarely went out of adjustment.

My recollection is that it was luck if you hit the next gear first go.

 

[Alex321]

Really???? Late 80s bikes with down tube shifters were some of the cleanest bikes produced. And------------with virtually no cable housing, the shifters rarely went out of adjustment.

They rarely go out of adjustment on modern bikes either. But are so much easier to change gear on.

 

[Mike Ayling]

Yeah. Really.

I don't like disc brakes on road bikes.

d
Neither do I

 

[Punkawallah]

My recollection is that it was luck if you hit the next gear first go.

‘The more I practice, the luckier I get’. Arnold Palmer.

 

[C R]

I dislike them, for many reasons, but mostly because they're ugly.

Isn't that to some extent that you "grew up" seeing rim braked bikes, so disc braked bikes look unexpected?

I only got into cycling about 10 years ago, so I'm used to seeing both, to me there's not a lot of difference in the looks.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Isn't that to some extent that you "grew up" seeing rim braked bikes, so disc braked bikes look unexpected?

I only got into cycling about 10 years ago, so I'm used to seeing both, to me there's not a lot of difference in the looks.

I bore myself saying this, but my main gripe with discs on road bikes is that I always feel it was an industry wide decision to essentially push the cost of bikes up. The whole shift towards various tech 'improvements' like DB, aero frame, integration of cables/cockpits etc. all seems to have enabled price increases in the last 5 years that are far and above inflation or even R&D costs to manufacturers. In many ways it feels like a a big motivation is to keep trying to justify price hikes with something new every few years.

 

[Katana]

I am not very in touch with cycle racing. I used to find it more interesting to read about it than watch it. To illustrate my ignorance, I am watching O Gran Cumino, and I noticed the race bikes all had disc brakes. How long has this been? It is probably a good safety thing. Beloki's crash when his tyre came off, partly owing to the heat generated by his rim brakes, makes me wince whenever I think of it.

I am not very in touch with cycle racing. I used to find it more interesting to read about it than watch it. To illustrate my ignorance, I am watching O Gran Cumino, and I noticed the race bikes all had disc brakes. How long has this been? It is probably a good safety thing. Beloki's crash when his tyre came off, partly owing to the heat generated by his rim brakes, makes me wince whenever I think of it.

It’s been good few years as now almost all road bikes come equipped with disc brakes with low end still on mechanical or cable operated and rest with hydraulic brakes. I think last nail in the coffin was when Ineos granideer team who use to have their Pinarello Dogma’s equipped with rim brakes eventually decided to switched to disc brakes after resisting the pressure from the industry so many years. I am fortunate to have two top end bikes(Trek Madone and 2018 Giant Propel Advance 1) on rim brakes as well as bikes with hydraulic’s. TBH while I appreciate the aesthetics of integrated rim brakes I do prefer the modulation of hydraulic brakes. But I think the debate still goes on rim vs disc😊

 

[Dadam]

Aesthetically it’s subjective. Wheels look cleaner with rim brakes but overall it’s a case of if you prefer the classic look of horizontal top tube, slimmer forks and rim brakes or the modern look, more aero, sloping tube, discs.

I’m fine with how discs look but I didn’t cycle from my teens until I was 50 so wasn’t interested in bikes. So on looks for me it’s a wash.

Functionally there’s no contest. Discs are objectively better. They stop better, don’t wear your rims, take less hand strength (important for confidence with new cyclists), and need less maintenance.

 

[Mike Ayling]

I bore myself saying this, but my main gripe with discs on road bikes is that I always feel it was an industry wide decision to essentially push the cost of bikes up. The whole shift towards various tech 'improvements' like DB, aero frame, integration of cables/cockpits etc. all seems to have enabled price increases in the last 5 years that are far and above inflation or even R&D costs to manufacturers. In many ways it feels like a a big motivation is to keep trying to justify price hikes with something new every few years.

And people keep buying all the new technology

 

[Binky]

I ride a rim braked bike and it's fine. I ride though in the dry and avoid if possible wet weather cycling. However, as has been stated rim brakes do wear out wheels and unquestionably aren't as good in the wet as discs.
I'm looking to buy a new bike and that will have discs. I'd quite like to have some fancy carbon wheels and for those discs are the way to go.

I'm pretty handy maintenance wise so I'll do any work myself as required. I do find some people ride disc bikes whose brakes make a horrendous squealing etc. That would drive me nuts but I'm sure can be sorted if they could be bothered to do it.

As for the pros, I recall when they first started using disc brakes there was all this fuss they would cause severe injury etc which turned out to be completely unfounded. As far as I know, no pro team using rim brakes anymore.

As for aesthetics, I think disc braked bikes look good.

My one gripe though is seemingly bike manufacturers are going further away from making rim braked bikes, it's now somewhat of a challenge to buy the bike you may want with rim brakes if that's what you want. Less choice is not a good thing.

 

[Webbo2]

I have a Dura ace equipped rim braked bike with carbon rims which I found stopped very well. I then got a disc braked bike and swopping between the the two I‘ve found I need adjust my braking distances.
With the discs it’s leave it to the last minute and use one finger on the brake lever. With the rim brakes it’s start planning where to brake from the word go on steep descents.
On some of the steep descents round here on the NY moors I get a bit of a forearm pump from braking on the rim braked bike and I have pretty good finger and forearm strength from rock climbing for 50 plus years.
When discs came out I was sceptical about the need for them and they aren’t essential but they do work well.
I do wonder if the instant stopping power of discs causes what seems to me to be on the increase, crash’s in the bunch in pro racing. If the persons if front causes you to grab your brake then the person behind you will run it to the back you. Such is the stopping power.

 

[Fastpedaller]

And people keep buying all the new technology

Maybe they are forced to because they can't buy the old?

 

[Fastpedaller]

If a very small/easy movement of the lever makes disc brakes go to 'full stopping power' that doesn't make them easier to modulate (than rim brakes), it makes them more difficult.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

I do wonder if the instant stopping power of discs causes what seems to me to be on the increase, crash’s in the bunch in pro racing. If the persons if front causes you to grab your brake then the person behind you will run it to the back you. Such is the stopping power.

I have seen this theory put forward on a few occasions. Would be interesting to know as I have seen a few more general articles on safety and increased crashes in pro cycling. I suspect it is probably a combo of things of which DB may be a part. Certainly poor road planning and layout in a lot of races and much increased speeds and all teams fighting for positions must contribute as well these days.