Disc Brakes on Road Bikes?

[Broady]

As soon as decent hydraulic brakes are available I'm going to pull the trigger on a custom frame.

The positives far outweigh the negatives in my eyes.

Stronger, lighter disc specific rims, better performance in the wet, more power.

 

[willhouse]

Good hydraulics are already available...

http://www.trpbrakes.com/category.php?productid=1141&catid=185&subcat=0

http://www.hopetech.com/page.aspx?itemID=SPG343

 

[bm0p700f]

I agree with the above.

 

[NeilM]

It's not the hydraulics that are a problem, they have been around on MTB's for a long time, the issue is compatibility with levers and gears.

Just wait for Shimano, SRAM or Campag to get hydraulics and electronics together, or for Formula , Hope or one of the other specialists to wise up to the potential market.

 

[bm0p700f]

I think within the next 12 months you will see hyrdraulic brake levers for road hitting the market. I don't like the idea of a convertor box as it is just not neat. With electonic shifting There would be more space in the lever for the brake gubbins.

 

[stevevw]

I have been waiting for a production disc braked Audax bike for a while now. All that I have seen so far do not do it for me although the bespoke bikes do, so I have decided to have a frame and fork made for me by Paulus Quiros in South Wales. not going to be cheap but will be exactly what I want.

I have bought a pair of Avid BB7's that I am in the process of customising and making as light as I can. The wheels are Hope Hubs with Mavic Open Pro rims and Sapim race spokes. they are probably going to be far too strong/heavy but will be reliable for 1400km rides this bike for life will be subjected to.

My thoughts are my 30's to 90's bikes are things of beauty and a pleasure to ride with calliper or centre pull brakes. I would not willingly ride them in the wet so the total lack of any retardation of old blocks against chrome rims is not a problem. But if I was on the LEL steaming down a mountain pass in the pissing rain during the early hours I want reliable instant braking that not even my modern Focus Mares can achieve, hence disc's on the new bike.

 

[Sheffield]

I love discs on my 3 Peaks 'crosser. Not sure I'd want/need them on my other road bikes, besides, my other road bikes are pretty old school. Never been on a road descent that needed anything more than calipers.

 

[daccordimark]

But if I was on the LEL steaming down a mountain pass in the pissing rain during the early hours I want reliable instant braking that not even my modern Focus Mares can achieve, hence disc's on the new bike.

Or you could just ride to the conditions and limitations of your existing equipment. If it's pissing with rain and I'm driving my car I know the brakes will be just as effective as in the dry but my tyres won't be so I ease off a bit and leave extra stopping space. Same on the bike. On a bike with the increased power of disc brakes will the tyres have enough grip in the wet to cope with that extra stopping power?

One thing I do like about the idea is the fact that rims won't wear out or cover everything in grey sludge when it's wet. I assume the rotors are steel instead of aluminium and last for ages. Never having had a bike with disc brakes what are the advantages of hydraulics over cables and are they as relevant on a road bike as on an MTB?

Mark.

 

[kaiser]

Hydraulics are pretty much maintenance free. Cable operated need a little bit of adjustment now and then.

Personally I won't be jumping on the bandwagon just yet, 99.9% of my road riding doesn't involve the brakes so I'm fine with callipers for now. I would love a carbon disc equipped crosser with carbon rims, alfine 11 and gates belt drive for the ultimate maintenance free bike.

 

[lae]

But if I was on the LEL steaming down a mountain pass in the pissing rain during the early hours I want reliable instant braking

Or you could just ride to the conditions and limitations of your existing equipment.

This is sort of like saying that candles are just as good as lightbulbs so long as you don't mind having to light them with matches, having to snuff them out, setting your curtains alight and so on. You shouldn't ride faster than your equipment can allow, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't upgrade your equipment to allow you to go faster.

Although you're right about tyres, disc brakes are a massive upgrade in the wet because they provide instant and predictable braking - when you apply caliper brakes in the wet there is a brief period of non-braking before the water clears off the rims, and if you hit a puddle you lose braking for a split-second as the rim gets wet again.

To go back to the car analogy - have you ever driven an old drum-braked Landrover through a stream and then tried to brake whilst the drums are still full of water? If you had two Landies - one with drums and one with discs - the deceleration in the dry would be the same on both cars, limited by the tyres. In the wet, the one with the discs would stop much quicker.

Discs might be a tad heavier, but the disadvantages are vanishingly small on a tourer/randonneur type bike.