Disc brakes on road bikes

[Ming the Merciless]

Anyone still using rod brakes?

 

[ktmbiker58]

Anyone still using rod brakes?

Would you believe I was recently looking at a Gazelle Dutch bike from the 90s and it had rod brakes to hub brakes!!!! The rear brake linkage was a work of art with 2 bell cranks

 

[Punkawallah]

Like it or not, disc brakes are now the standard. It is cheaper for mfg to buy one type of brake due to economies of scale. Since the majority of cyclist approve of disc brakes, that is what everyone is going to get.

No. I really am not.

 

[Punkawallah]

Anyone still using rod brakes?

I was gifted serviced and rode a Rudge Whitworth Gentleman’s Roadster (1936) a few years ago. Does that count?
Turns had to be plotted in your diary, and the brakes were not the best, but survivable.

 

[Banjo]

I am not able to repeatedly change gear with brifters ,my Jamis touring bike has bar end shifters which I can use and think they are great.
With Disc brakes becoming almost universal I just hope spares for rim brakes (and bar end shifters remain available).

 

[Daniel-1]

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.

Discs have been standard on MTB since the late 90s, and the UCI approved them for pro road racing in 2018. That Beloki crash was scary – rim brake heat melted the glue, and the tire came off. Discs fix that issue entirely. Much safer.

 

[rydabent]

Have you got shares in a company which manufactures discs or something?

No, but as a 50 year diagnostic and repair tech of mechanical things, I judged disc brakes superior.

 

[HLaB]

I saw a US Ti bike manufacturer the other week who makes disc braked frames and dual pivot rim braked frames. His own preference is for the dual pivot rim braked frame with more modern carbon rims. He thinks they stop just as well, if not better than discs and offer better modulation. I'd agree with the latter, as whilst I think disc brakes have ok modulation, it's all in the finger and post chemo my fingers can go numb post chemo 6.5 years ago. Rim braked modulation is more in the hand IME. The only bike I've inexplicably lost control of was a disc braked bike in the cold and wet, when I typically get numb fingers. Perhaps I over-braked. My fingers are going less numb this year so I might give that disc braked bike another chance 🤔

 

[Webbo2]

I saw a US Ti bike manufacturer the other week who makes disc braked frames and dual pivot rim braked frames. His own preference is for the dual pivot rim braked frame with more modern carbon rims. He thinks they stop just as well, if not better than discs and offer better modulation. I'd agree with the latter, as whilst I think disc brakes have ok modulation, it's all in the finger and post chemo my fingers can go numb post chemo 6.5 years ago. Rim braked modulation is more in the hand IME. The only bike I've inexplicably lost control of was a disc braked bike in the cold and wet, when I typically get numb fingers. Perhaps I over-braked. My fingers are going less numb this year so I might give that disc braked bike another chance 🤔

Given you can stop a disc braked bike with one finger, you don’t really need to be able to feel them to stop,

 

[HLaB]

Given you can stop a disc braked bike with one finger, you don’t really need to be able to feel them to stop,

Yes that's the problem I can't modulate in my fingers, not being able to feel 0-100% brake is definitely a problem and you do need to feel them not to stop when you don't want them to.

Edit maybe you've got to have nerve damage caused by chemotherapy to reckonise the problem but I wouldn't wish that on anybody 😞

 

[Webbo2]

Yes that's the problem I can't modulate in my fingers, not being able to feel 0-100% brake is definitely a problem and you do need to feel them not to stop when you don't want them to.

Mind living in Peterborough you probably don’t need to brake much😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[HLaB]

Mind living in Peterborough you probably don’t need to brake much😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

You've never been to Northamptonshire Rutland or Hertfordshire where I work then. Plenty of places near here where you need to brake 😉

Even in the pancake flat Fens to the East of Pottyboro you need to brake when you're travelling at 30mph and the road suddenly does a 90deg turn, drivers seem to miss that though 😂

 

[rydabent]

Another plus for disc brakes, especially in the rear is the fact the drop out is wider for the disc, and the dish is less. That makes for a stronger wheel.

 

[classic33]

Another plus for disc brakes, especially in the rear is the fact the drop out is wider for the disc, and the dish is less. That makes for a stronger wheel.

Stiffer wheel.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Rim braked modulation is more in the hand IME.

What pulls on the levers if it is not the fingers?