merlinextraligh

The scourge is upon us. They're showing up on recreational road rides in Florida.

There is just no reason you could
Possibly need disc brakes on a road bike in Florida for recreational group rides.

Just goes to show the bike
Industry can convince people they need to pay to upgrade to the latest greatest.

Ultimately people figure things out, and what works prevails. But
In the short run they can sell snow to Eskimoes. Can anyone say bio pace ?

Kindaslow

Why do you, or anyone else, care about how other people outfit their bikes?

bt

I think it's gonna be the way to spot a n00b.

diphthong

saw 'em on a new bianchi road bike in the store yday. not a fan of the aesthetics vs caliper brakes.
they supposedly provide greater or quicker stopping power-yes (don't have a mtb)?
there are a few long and steep (>2 miles/>10% grade) downhills around here that can really beat up your hands/forearms
riding the (caliper) brakes but otherwise...any other supposed benefits like price (less expensive which is doubtful)?

datlas 

Might make sense in Colorado. Not Florida, which is what the OP's point is.

IcySmooth52

I think hydrologic discs are going to be a standard for any road bike over a certain price like mountain bikes are now. (Try to find a MTB > $700 without hydraulics) And even though the stopping power isn't always necessary, the smoothness of hydraulic is appreciative on any grade of slope.

But also through axles will be a racing road bike standard within 10 years I think. Weight isn't the focus anymore because they already can make them so light you'll save more weight on your ride by putting in a few more miles!

Silvercivic27

It's not up to us...it's up to Shimano...and at some point, we'll all be on discs whether we like it or not, just like we'll all also have electronic gruppos whether we like it or not.

bt

maybe florida is where discs are most needed due to all the blue hair drivers...

Kindaslow

I believe you are right, and I do not like the potential lack of choice. However, some of us are old enough that we will be in the ground or riding wheelchairs before this is 100% true.

datlas 

Will your wheelchair have caliper or disk brakes??

OnyxTiger

Don't see how there's going to be a lack of choice here. Bikes - used and new - are manufactured in droves, and practically any rider with any price budget has tons of different options at their disposal. If you don't want discs, don't get discs. Personally, I have some on my commuter and I love them. Do I need 'em for commuting? Probably not. But hey, personal preference is one of the freedoms that we all get to enjoy in this community.

I'd be more worried if something drastic like the illegalization of certain metals/compounds for bike frames were enforced. That'd be a loss in my book.

bt

Sometimes a loud noise or high pitched squeal occurs when the brakes are applied. Most brake squeal is produced by vibration (resonance instability) of the brake components, especially the pads and discs (known as force-coupled excitation). This type of squeal should not negatively affect brake stopping performance. Techniques include adding chamfer pads to the contact points between caliper pistons and the pads, the bonding insulators (damping material) to pad backplate, the brake shims between the brake pad and pistons, etc. All should be coated with an extremely high temperature, high solids lubricant to help reduce annoying squeal. This allows the metal to metal parts to move independently of each other and thereby eliminate the buildup of energy that can create a frequency that is heard as brake squeal, groan, or growl. Cold weather combined with high early-morning humidity (dew) often worsens brake squeal, although the squeal generally stops when the lining reaches regular operating temperatures.

dksix

I really like the look of the disc and if I buy a new bike disc will be one of the features I'll be wanting, Disc brakes stop better, how could brakes that stop better be a bad thing?

Bunyanderman

I just finished a lot of steep descending, 18.5k ft over 100 miles. It got pretty annoying constantly worrying about overheating my carbon rims, and pulling off when brake fade started to set in heavily. Or how the smell of burnt brake pads had people commenting if that was normal. I would of preferred disk brakes, but that's just me.

dvdslw

I would trade my Caad10 right now for a Caad10 disc, no question. I'm new enough to road cycling that the change doesn't bother me a bit and coming from a mtb background embrace disc brakes on road bikes. I'm getting ready to buy some carbon clinchers and one of the main considerations when choosing a wheel is how well they brake. With disc's it's a non issue.

OldsCOOL

Will the disc brakes interfere with their spoke reflectors?

Kindaslow

As long as it does not have those stupid press against the tire brakes, all is good!

BoJaffa

I see the advantage for a cross bike or gravel bike. But not really on a road bike. Most of the riders I see on the road with disk brakes are the Noob type who think they look cool and provide conversation points to their friends.. The bike industry is always looking to push the next best thing. Just look at Trek with their bottom bracket mounted rear brake which has now been done away with..

inspclouseau

Getting caught in a Florida 4pm downpour warrants discs when descending our bridges. I'll be in the market real soon, but still avoiding them until the technology gets better. Not that it has much room to get much better.

sam_cyclist

I'll consider them when quality shimano hydraulics are on road bikes in the $1500 range.

What's really criminal isn't the specing of discs, but the specing of extremely subpar dual pivots from companies such as tektro and specialized's "axis" brakes (tektro's?).

Shimano dual pivots work well, but the knockoffs are just disgraceful. The "axis" dual pivots simply cannot be adjusted properly.

Specialized frame geometry is tops in my opinion, but their specs on wheels and brakes are borderline criminal.

exime

That's your opinion but you try to pass it off as fact which is rather humorous. I don't have disc brakes but if I did I guarantee I wouldn't get it for the looks and more importantly I wouldn't care what some billboard nerd thought about them.

VNA

Also on disk brake's calipers/pistons burning and melting on Shimanos on long descents.
May be advantageous for MTB particularly in mud and wet conditions but not sure for road bikes???

Alias530

you think massive worldwide companies are going to make bikes specific to FLORIDA because YOU don't need them there?

The benefits of discs are pretty obvious and the lack of a NEED is not an argument against them. Does anyone NEED a 4,000sq ft house? Does anyone NEED 500 horsepower?

Bacciagalupe

Manufacturers have put disc brakes on road bikes for a few years now. It's not exactly new.

It is highly unlikely that anyone is running out and buying a new bike purely because they now make road disc bikes. Anyone who did, would have found some other excuse to buy a new bike.

Nor is the bike industry pulling the wool over anyone's eyes. They're offering disc because buyers want it. Seems pretty straight-forward to me.

silversx80

Boy, it was super easy to tell who all the n00bs were when the industry moved away from DT shifters and toe clips.