Disc Brakes on touring bikes

[sparkyman]

With Disc Brakes becoming the norm it now days on All mountain bike and many road bikes as well, what effect will that have on long distance touring? how easy are they to maintain and should you go for mechanical over hydraulic.

Does the benifit of disc brakes wheels out weigh the effects of rim wear?

Would hate to be stuck in india with no brakes because I ran out of fluid.




Sparkyman

 

[samid]

Does the benifit of disc brakes wheels out weigh the effects of rim wear?

I think one of the main benefits of disk brakes is less rim wear, in which case not sure what you meant by your question?

(FWIW, IMHO: for touring I would stick to regular (rim, non-disk) brakes, for their simplicity if nothing else.)

 

[hubbike]

Never used them but I think it is the way forward.

If I were to specify a new touring bike now I would have discs and a rohloff. They are both so low maintenance and good.

Your post doesn't quite make sense as disc brakes don't give you any rim wear! win win? well not quite as cheap, easy to repair vee-brakes are probably still a good choice for most tourers.

The main advantage to discs is more powerful braking with less mainentance. The secondary benefit is that if your wheel goes slightly out of true or you rim starts to crack, your braking is unaffected. But you'll still need to sort it out before the spokes break, or the rim implodes...

Cable discs could avoid fluid problems (if you like turning your bike upside down now and then...) In india you probably wont find too many shops selling disc brake pads but they shouldn't be too bad to carry a few with, even a spare disc isn't that heavy.

and failing that there is fedex...

 

[andym]

I am currently using Avid BB7s (cable brakes). I'm very happy with the stopping power (but then I should be as I have ridiculously big 203mm discs on it). They are very easy to setup, maintain and adjust. The brake pads last for thousands of kilometres.

Now, to pre-empt the traditionalists, I don't think you *need* disc brakes for road touring, and I wouldn't replace a bike just for the sake of discs (although yes, the Genesis Croix de Fer is quite interesting). However, I do think they have an edge performance-wise which for me outweighs the weight penalty (which is probably of the order of 200g per wheel).

The major downsideof my set-up is compatibility with Tubus racks ( or at least the Tubus racks you'd use for long-distance touring) because the Avids are quite chunky. There are ways round this and an increasing number of frame manufacturers are producing frames with the disc brake mountings inside the rear triangle.

I am currently carrying with me a spare caliper and disc. This is almost certainly over the top - but it does mean that in the very unlikely event of warping the disc or the caliper failing I could replace them. It would also be possible to build/spec a bike with both discs and the bosses for v-brakes (you'd also of course need to spec the wheels with v-brake compatible rims). Definitely belt and braces (or braces and belt loops) but definitely possible.

Hydraulic disc brakes are very low maintenance, and once set up there's almost nothing to go wrong. Almost. On one trip i managed to stress the hose joints when I took off the bar to pack the bike. The brake fluid leaked out on the first day's riding. I then compounded the problem by rounding the allen screws on the reservoir cap. Anyway to cut a long story short I managed for four weeks in the mountains in Corsica with one brake. So even if things go really badly wrong you won't be completely stranded - well unless you manage to lose both brakes. I could of course have avoided these problems by removing the controls from the handlebars to avoid stressing the joints when the bikebwas packed.

 

[Andy in Sig]

I've got hydraulic disc brakes on my tourer. They are more efficient than rim brakes i.e. have more stopping power and they work just as well in the wet. If in doubt, get them!

 

[sparkyman]

I am currently using Avid BB7s (cable brakes). I'm very happy with the stopping power (but then I should be as I have ridiculously big 203mm discs on it). They are very easy to setup, maintain and adjust. The brake pads last for thousands of kilometres.

Now, to pre-empt the traditionalists, I don't think you *need* disc brakes for road touring, and I wouldn't replace a bike just for the sake of discs (although yes, the Genesis Croix de Fer is quite interesting). However, I do think they have an edge performance-wise which for me outweighs the weight penalty (which is probably of the order of 200g per wheel).

The major downsideof my set-up is compatibility with Tubus racks ( or at least the Tubus racks you'd use for long-distance touring) because the Avids are quite chunky. There are ways round this and an increasing number of frame manufacturers are producing frames with the disc brake mountings inside the rear triangle.

I am currently carrying with me a spare caliper and disc. This is almost certainly over the top - but it does mean that in the very unlikely event of warping the disc or the caliper failing I could replace them. It would also be possible to build/spec a bike with both discs and the bosses for v-brakes (you'd also of course need to spec the wheels with v-brake compatible rims). Definitely belt and braces (or braces and belt loops) but definitely possible.

Hydraulic disc brakes are very low maintenance, and once set up there's almost nothing to go wrong. Almost. On one trip i managed to stress the hose joints when I took off the bar to pack the bike. The brake fluid leaked out on the first day's riding. I then compounded the problem by rounding the allen screws on the reservoir cap. Anyway to cut a long story short I managed for four weeks in the mountains in Corsica with one brake. So even if things go really badly wrong you won't be completely stranded - well unless you manage to lose both brakes. I could of course have avoided these problems by removing the controls from the handlebars to avoid stressing the joints when the bikebwas packed.

Very helpful post thanks.

Sparkyman

 

[P.H]

I do think they have an edge performance-wise which for me outweighs the weight penalty (which is probably of the order of 200g per wheel).

Plus the weight of the stronger fork and stays, maybe another 400g, not that I'm counting. It's not so much the weight as what affect it has on comfort.


I like the idea of disks, I'm watching to see what developments in 700c fork design come about from the change in rules for cyclocross. In the meantime, I don't suffer much rim wear by using Rigida carbide rims.

 

[andym]

Yeah I didn't think to say: my bike is an MTB set up for off-road touring. For on-road touring the pros and cons would be different.

 

[Nigeyy]

AndyM's comments pretty much mirror my own. I tour with a bike with disc brakes (Avid road BB7s), with a frame and fork that has specific disc brake mounts (Dawes Sardar, old steel style).

Advantages: better braking modulation, better performance in the wet, no rim warping issues
Disadvantages: usually need disc specific racks, more expensive (need disc hubs as well as the brakes!), relatively more complex, less likely to find parts in far flung places

What it all comes down to is a personal choice: I love mine. However, unless you have enough money and just really want them, I'd recommend sticking with traditional brakes -the difference between performance of good quality discs versus good quality traditional brakes is just not worth the price cost IMHO. Touring has been done with traditional brakes for many years quite adequately. Whether or not you are prepared to pay for that improvement (that you could argue might not be needed anyway!) and its associated disadvantages is another matter. However, since I've paid already, I'll never be taking them off and I do find them to be an improvement.

FWIW, I do find some "anti-disc" arguments to be questionable, namely the old chestnut that they are more complex and less reliable. I've never had a disc fail for touring nor mtbing (arguably a different but certainly tough environment) and I still use "complex" derailleur gears. The argument that you may not be able to fix a broken disc brake also doesn't wash with me -to me the same argument can be made of traditional brakes (if the arm brakes, what are you going to do? That's certainly not fixable!). There might be some merit to the fact you may not want to use disc brakes for touring outer Mongolia, but even then, carrying a spare calipre with pads and disc may well be more than adequate and even overkill. I say "might" because I'm not touring far out places, so again discs are more than suitable for me.

 

[hubbike]

Outer Mongolia? that's exactly where you WANT disc brakes.

http://tomsbiketrip.com/adventures/mongolia-2010/

 

[Brains]

Personally if I were specing up a tourer today I'd go with discs but I'd ensure the frame/set up was such that conventional brakes could be fitted.

The nature of touring is such that whilst solving even the most serious of disc problems would not be a show stopper almost anywhere in north west Europe or other areas of first world civilisation, a fairly minor disc problem, even in somewhere civilised like eastern or southern Europe could see you on the next flight home. At least the ability to fit a cheap set of conventional brakes that could be obtained from any bike shop or canibilised from another bike would keep you on the road for a indefinite period.

 

[lejogger]

Just to add my own experience to the debate, I've returned last week from a short 600 mile road tour around Ireland on my Boardman Cyclo Cross which has the avid BB5 disc brakes. (I know - not a proper touring bike but it handled the trip superbly)

Admittedly this was only a 10 day tour but I was carrying over 17kgs of camping kit and clothing etc, so still a valid test.

I'll be honest and say that I find the disc brake stopping power exceptional in comparison to the calipers on my road bike which is important when carrying heavy weight - especially when you need the reassurance of being able to stop yourself down steep descents etc of which there are plenty in Ireland.

The additional bar levers came in very handy also, alongside the shifter/brakes on the drops when cycling in traffic.

I used the Tubus Vega rack with the Ortlieb Trunk adapter on top and had absolutely no problems with clearance. Admittedly this is a lightweight rack but could still have comfortably carried more. I think the max load is 25kgs?? To be honest, I would probably reach my own capacity for how much weight I can lug up a hill before the bike or rack failed...

 

[GraemeG]

I have disk brakes on my MTB. Excellent performance. But for touring in india do you really need that kind of performance? For touring in these far off places I always stick with the adage; keep it simple so that repairs can more easily be made. For example, I lost the fluid out of one of my brakes due to a loose bolt, this does not mean you have a sub performance brake - you have absolutely no braking power at all. It is a complete fad to refill need the oil and tools, and for somebody who tries to do all his own maintainance, I gave up and went to the shop (didn't have the right syringes). I'd say you don't want any of this hassle in the middle of nowhere. Use simple v brakes is my advice.

 

[david1701]

I have disk brakes on my MTB. Excellent performance. But for touring in india do you really need that kind of performance? For touring in these far off places I always stick with the adage; keep it simple so that repairs can more easily be made. For example, I lost the fluid out of one of my brakes due to a loose bolt, this does not mean you have a sub performance brake - you have absolutely no braking power at all. It is a complete fad to refill need the oil and tools, and for somebody who tries to do all his own maintainance, I gave up and went to the shop (didn't have the right syringes). I'd say you don't want any of this hassle in the middle of nowhere. Use simple v brakes is my advice.

or mechanical disks which work the same way as Vs cable wise but are a lot better (well my mtb stops better than my tricross)

 

[MacPanda]

Forget braking performance. The last 2 LEJOGs I did both included broken spokes, and therefore releasing brakes so the wheel would turn. Disc breaks would not suffer binding on a warped wheel, so for touring, a good idea.

I don't use them though