Recommendations for a bike with disk brakes for commuting?

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summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Mr Summerdays is in the early stages of thinking about getting a new bike. This is more just to get a few suggestions bikes to look for rather than about to buy. His current bike has front suspension and he fitted the disk brakes himself. He isn't bothered about having suspension and would consider going towards the road bikes but definitely wants the disk brakes. He has a preference for hydraulic brakes rather than mechanical though not essential.

What is out there for a max £1000 although he would probably prefer less than £800.

He would like the bike to be lighter than his current 15 kg one.

As more bikes with disk brakes are appearing for the commuting market is it worth hanging on for this next years new bikes?
 

Debian

New Member
Location
West Midlands
I would ask why he needs / wants disk brakes for a commuter?

Extra weight, cost and nuisance. I wouldn't bother with them and wish I didn't have them on my MTB.
 

Norm

Guest
In wet weather, discs work better, for a commuter that gets used all year, they are a better option. IMO.

The Boardman "Hybrid" *spit* bikes have discs and 700c wheels. The Pro is £850 though the range starts at £500. There's also the Cannondale Bad Boy (if you can live with that name) and the GT Transeo. All three are road bikes with flat bars and disc brakes.
 

Debian

New Member
Location
West Midlands
Norm said:
In wet weather, discs work better, for a commuter that gets used all year, they are a better option. IMO.

The Boardman "Hybrid" *spit* bikes have discs and 700c wheels. The Pro is £850 though the range starts at £500. There's also the Cannondale Bad Boy (if you can live with that name) and the GT Transeo. All three are road bikes with flat bars and disc brakes.

Fair enough in that case.

I can't say that I've noticed any significant improvement by using discs though; in bad weather, i.e. wet / ice / snow then the limiting factor in stopping distance is friction between tyre and road, not how good the brakes are, I can instantly lock the wheels on my rim brake GT on wet surfaces so how would discs help me stop more quickly? In dry warm weather there's no real difference anyway.

So I don't see how discs improve the situation really. But, if you want them have them I suppose.
 

downfader

extimus uero philosophus
Location
'ampsheeeer
You wont suffer rim wear on a disc brake system compared to rim braking. A definate advantage imo. As is the fact that in the wet there is less chance for muck and water to impair the braking capacity as this gets on the rims picked up as the wheel goes around.

A decent disc braking system doesnt appear to be too heavy either.

Kona do a couple of road style bikes with disc brakes, not too sure what they ride like.
 

Rykard

Veteran
Genesis Croix De Fer (sp?) ?
 
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summerdays

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
We both have disk brakes and like them... no rim wear (I wore out a set of rims in about 12 months I think prior to getting my disk braked bike), no grey gunk getting on your clothes, stop better in the wet, don't have to adjust them too regularly - its so nice knowing that exact point where your brakes start to work. Don't have to replace the pads every couple of months. I'm not saying they are perfect but for us we prefer them.

I've been looking around and see you can get a Cotic Roadrat with disk brakes... a couple of people on here have the Roadrat don't they ... but do they tend to have the single speed version?
 

Howard

Senior Member
Debian said:
the limiting factor in stopping distance is friction between tyre and road, not how good the brakes are, I can instantly lock the wheels on my rim brake GT on wet surfaces so how would discs help me stop more quickly? In dry warm weather there's no real difference anyway.

You can lock your front wheel? In the dry, I would have thought this would see you going over the handlebars. And in the wet, god knows. Forwards slide? Perhaps you aren't positioning your weight properly.

On the understanding that 90% of your stopping power comes from the front wheel, and that you can't lock it, discs will stop you quicker because the limiting factor is not the grip between the wheel and the road, it's the efficiency in which the brakes turn kinentic energy into heat.

A mute point then, and pehaps my physics is no longer up to scratch, but I would have thought the definition of "good brakes" is a system that is effcient at turning kinetic energy into heat. When you lock your brakes, they aren't doing that anymore, so just because you can lock them doesn't mean they are any good.

From my experience my rear discs very, very rarely lock - most of the time they are very effciently turning my momentum into heat.
 
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summerdays

summerdays

Cycling in the sun
Location
Bristol
Rykard said:
Genesis Croix De Fer (sp?) ?

I did see that one too... and thought it looked interesting ... didn't realise it was at Evans which would make it easier to get hold of for a test ride.

His route - 7 miles each way, is 75% cycle path around the ring road, slopes rather than hills but occasionally uses it with me around the rest of Bristol.
 

Jezston

Über Member
Location
London
So it's not for off road use?

Stick some skinny tyres on a croix de fer (not sure what it takes but I would have thought it would handle 25s at least) and you've got a disc brake equipped road bike!

P.S. What is that object in your avatar btw? I've noticed a couple other people with similar ones.
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
Howard, the limiter in the dry is usually doing an endo, which is why there's not much difference. Discs have better modulation, and lower lever forces, making them easier to use well.
 
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