What do you think of Shimano ditching rim brakes in 105 and higher?

[Russell]

The article says quite clearly that is not the case. Rim braked bikes were very much a part of the ranges offered but people were choosing disc models instead.

Given that purchasing patterns of new bikes shifted so quickly, it’s quite understandable that Shimano would cease production, there just isn’t demand there anymore apart from on the lunatic fringe, which is where we come in.

 

[Woz]

Agree completely. When was the last time you saw a CX bike for sale in a normal shop with say cantis or more mini-Vs with STIs? You could practically take the same bike from back then and give it a hell of a lot abuse and if the geo allowed go loaded touring in the Alps without much issue.

 

[CassidyAce]

The article says quite clearly that is not the case. Rim braked bikes were very much a part of the ranges offered but people were choosing disc models instead.

Given that purchasing patterns of new bikes shifted so quickly, it’s quite understandable that Shimano would cease production, there just isn’t demand there anymore apart from on the lunatic fringe, which is where we come in.

Aside from the advantages of disc brakes that have already been mentioned, I suspect that a major factor in so many consumers switching from rim brakes to discs is that discs make a much wider range of tyre sizes feasible. The current Shimano specs give max tyre clearances of 28C or 28mm for every single caliper brake in their line up: https://productinfo.shimano.com/#/spec/ROAD/Brake (Caliper Brake). The max reach of 51mm will have some riders looking to the likes of Tektro anyway, just because they need brakes with a longer reach than that. In contrast, the current disc-equipped Trek Domane can go right up to 38mm tyres and that means it's a more versatile bike: a road bike and light gravel bike all in one. It doesn't take a devious sales pitch to persuade consumers that this is an advantage.

 

[pigman]

One of my gripes with modern kit, is the event of having a simple crash. Once upon a time, this would have been a simple, inexpensive fix. New tape, maybe a new lever, good to go. Nowadays the replacement part is a lever with electronic gadgetry and an inbuilt brake reservoir. How much? Thats the price of a car crash

 

[pigman]

This is a very well balanced article and interestingly points to the change being driven by consumer demand, rather taking manufacturers by surprise.

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a33318651/should-we-mourn-the-death-of-rim-brakes/

Reminds me of enforced internet banking.

Banks' view - customers are doing all their banking online, so there's no demand for branches
Customers' view - branches are all closing, so im having to resort to online banking

 

[Takingabreak]

As anyone stuggled to buy the rim brakes they wanted/needed/lusted/that'lldo for their 50-70 year old bike so far?

I struggled recently to find some NOS or VGC Shimano high end dual pivots with 47-57mm reach. Tektro and Miche (also tektro) are available but finding some BR-R600 or BR-R650's was a bit of a challenge. Eventually I found some R600's NOS on ebay at a price that made my eyes water a bit but went for it anyway.

 

[brocklanders023]

One of my gripes with modern kit, is the event of having a simple crash. Once upon a time, this would have been a simple, inexpensive fix. New tape, maybe a new lever, good to go. Nowadays the replacement part is a lever with electronic gadgetry and an inbuilt brake reservoir. How much? Thats the price of a car crash

Only if you buy the stupidly expensive electric stuff. As for the brake reservoir, it would take a huge crash to break one of those and anyway, you can just go cable disc.

 

[reindeer]

What about direct mount? Any good or better than center mount? I’ve never tried it but I remember Heine promoting center pull with frame mounts. The Shand on page 12 is a nice bike but also shows a big disadvantage of center mount if you want to fit mudguards.

 

[pigman]

Only if you buy the stupidly expensive electric stuff. As for the brake reservoir, it would take a huge crash to break one of those and anyway, you can just go cable disc.

You don't need to "break" the reservoir. If you break the lever, you also bin and replace the reservoir as it's built in

Top level stuff is going all electric. Within 5 years anything 105 or better will be electric only (my prediction)

 

[legrandefromage]

Which has what to do with rim/disc brakes?

When the shiny new £11k Kevin fails due to broken electronic Sram (which seems common)

The original Di2 was very nice to setup and robust. Looking at the broken gizzards of Etap, it is not