Odd that I have have discs on a couple of bikes and they have never needed any attention, now my car well yes I suppose they do but only at about every 20,000 miles.
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Odd that I have have discs on a couple of bikes and they have never needed any attention, now my car well yes I suppose they do but only at about every 20,000 miles.
If there was no such thing as rain, for instance living in SE Spain where rain is so rare it's basically a desert, I'd go rim brakes.
Or if you only ever go out in the dry and wouldn't even dare to go out if rain was even a possibility, rim brakes again.
Problem in the UK is that you can head out in fine weather and still get caught out, I hate the sound of my expensive rims being machined away in wet weather.
If you ride pretty much every day and live in the UK, you will see rain, so that's why all my bikes apart from one are now disc. The one with rim brakes is the one i take to the alps every year (not this year
).
Or if you only ever go out in the dry and wouldn't even dare to go out if rain was even a possibility, rim brakes again.
Problem in the UK is that you can head out in fine weather and still get caught out, I hate the sound of my expensive rims being machined away in wet weather.
If you ride pretty much every day and live in the UK, you will see rain, so that's why all my bikes apart from one are now disc. The one with rim brakes is the one i take to the alps every year (not this year
).
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
I had such a choice in 2018 when my rim braked titanium frame broke and I was able to get a new frame under warranty. I went disc brake. Only my Brompton remains as a rim braked bike.
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
Rim brakes for me with decent calipers.
Simple, easy to fix and adjust, work well such that the limit of braking is down to the tyres/road-surface not the fact that they're rim brakes.
Decent soft pads mean good wet-weather braking and minimal rim wear.
For Carbon-rims or MTB I might be persuaded otherwise, but am not in that market.
Simple, easy to fix and adjust, work well such that the limit of braking is down to the tyres/road-surface not the fact that they're rim brakes.
Decent soft pads mean good wet-weather braking and minimal rim wear.
For Carbon-rims or MTB I might be persuaded otherwise, but am not in that market.
- Location
- London
I was vaguely considering a disc braked bike for my next bike for winter riding in the north west, or just wet days. Anyone who knows that neck of the woods knows that rain is very frequent.
But have decided against. For despite what you hear about lack of maintenance and bother from disc brakes I have heard some terrible rackets from disc brakes, some of which the owners has been plagued with for ages. Worst I have ever had from rim brakes is a bit of shrieking after initial pad fitment which either dies away or can be quickly sorted with a bit of toe in.
I made the final decision to stick with rims after reading some of the stuff from the esteemed brucey in a certain other place. He knows more about bikes and engineering than most of us will know in several lifetimes and he seems to reckon that discs aren't the panacea everyone reckons.
It's also my impression that you need beefier forks for discs and that this may affect comfort.
I have getting on for 10 bikes and have pretty much standardised on V brakes which make maintenance and spares very simple. Hewitt is clever rim cantis but knowing what I know know I would have specced that for Vs.
So I'm sticking with rims - will just use tough wheel on winter/rain bike - maybe Sputnik Rims. By the time they wear through I will have mastered the art of rerimming. I clean my rims regularly and check pads for rim-eating debris. No great problem.
If I was flying offroad down the side of steep mountains on technical tracks I would I am pretty sure go to discs, but I'm not.
But have decided against. For despite what you hear about lack of maintenance and bother from disc brakes I have heard some terrible rackets from disc brakes, some of which the owners has been plagued with for ages. Worst I have ever had from rim brakes is a bit of shrieking after initial pad fitment which either dies away or can be quickly sorted with a bit of toe in.
I made the final decision to stick with rims after reading some of the stuff from the esteemed brucey in a certain other place. He knows more about bikes and engineering than most of us will know in several lifetimes and he seems to reckon that discs aren't the panacea everyone reckons.
It's also my impression that you need beefier forks for discs and that this may affect comfort.
I have getting on for 10 bikes and have pretty much standardised on V brakes which make maintenance and spares very simple. Hewitt is clever rim cantis but knowing what I know know I would have specced that for Vs.
So I'm sticking with rims - will just use tough wheel on winter/rain bike - maybe Sputnik Rims. By the time they wear through I will have mastered the art of rerimming. I clean my rims regularly and check pads for rim-eating debris. No great problem.
If I was flying offroad down the side of steep mountains on technical tracks I would I am pretty sure go to discs, but I'm not.
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
Do they still make rim brakes, how quaint
- Location
- London
yes.
Many folk still use wheels as well I think.
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
Mind blown
matticus
Guru
But not mechanical shifting of course - that was banned as soon as Di2 was invented (for the benefit of readers born after Di2). Good riddance!
RidingBSOisnotacrime
Regular
I ride an old heavy? frame with 23c tyres on it and I am slightly overweight. I use a pair of decent quality Shimano 105 dual pivot calipers and when it comes to stopping my bike my only concern is the traction on the tyres. I feel like my brake calipers more than enough power to stop the wheels. I am generally nervous about skidding. When riding fast especially downhill, I believe that the rear tyre could not do much about slowing you down because there isn't any load on it while decelerating and if you squeeze the front brake to the skidding/locking point you would probably fall. Am I missing something here? What are the discs brakes on road bikes for? They are heavy and complicated. MTBs have great advantages in braking due to the fat tyres so stronger discs brakes would be helpful.
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
What do all you 'disco-boys' reckon with regard to centre lock versus 6-bolt as the securing mechanism for discs? What are the factors? In danger of taking the plunge and need to buy hubs to build up (QR and 135/100).
I am partially through a mini clear out of my bikes (only 6 left) with a view of buying something really nice to replace my good weather bike, I am not even considering rim brakes as I want to preserve the expensive carbon wheels for as long as possible and love the modulation that discs offer. I have discs on three of the remaining bikes and they give me great confidence especially in the wet. Like 26" wheels, I think in the future it will be tricky to find a great choice of rim braked wheels and bikes in the future.
I have both and honestly it makes no difference to me. Given a choice, ignoring price and availability I would go with centre lock.
the_mikey
Legendary Member
- Location
- South Gloucestershire
I agree, they are fiddly, and as much as I am able to do maintenance jobs on disc brakes, I don't like having to spend time doing them, and I can't imagine being able to replace damaged hydraulic disc brake tubing in a couple of hours on a wet sunday afternoon like I might with replacing rim brake cables. Last year I managed to lose the plug from the reservoir on my road disc brake calipers, which meant abandoning the job and waiting a week for a new plug before starting all over again.
