weavers

ok i was headed home after the gym and a red road bike passes me. i'm on a 35lbs mtb. at the red light i noticed something strange. disc brakes on the front wheel. i was like "WTFBBQ" and i found them on the rear wheel too. the bike had drop down handle bars, black fenders, red paint, didn't look like a brandname bike, probably custom. but why put disc brakes on a road bike???

oh worst part is that i was able to keep up with him, but i had my camera in my backpack and wasn't able to get it out. to bad i didn't have my messenger bag. oh and he didn't even know to stop at a red light. he was ~6'2" and 230lbs, early 20s, and his foot was flat on the ground at the stoplight while he was still on the seat. frame was 4-6cm to small and seat to low. oh well no helmet, no worries.

disc brakes on road bikes is like aero bars on mtbs.

this wasn't the bike, but you get the idea:

mrbubbles

Why?

Way better stopping power, especially in wet weather. A bonus for the heavy dudes. Notice in the 2nd picture the bike has fenders on for riding in the rain, a perfect use for disc brakes.

Better modulation.

No rim wear. Your rims will last forever until you trash it.

Pads last longer. Way longer.

The weight penalty is minimal, an extra 2 lbs. Most people on this board has more than 2 pounds of fat to lose. Ride a road bike with quality disc brakes and you will understand.


Despite saying all that. I don't mind rim brakes. They are suitable enough for dry weather riding.

Patriot

Eventually, they will be the norm, even for racing bikes in some areas. In wet weather, they do perform better. Even with the bike I had now, I wish I had some discs. You don't need them, because most rim brakes do perform more than adequately. On alot of road wheels they are good. However, not so good for lower spoke count wheels.

Are they totally necessary? Absolutely not, but they have their benefits. Also, if you have a $1,000 set of wheels, it would be nice to know they will last longer than just a few years of regular riding.

Why?

Well, after a few years, you eventually need new rims, which in many cases ends up being a whole new set of wheels. If you have disc brakes, you only need to spend $40 to buy a new rotor, and some pads which you can replace on your own at home in minutes. No wheel builder for an overhaul needed. The wheels will last for decades of regular use, if properly maintained.

Also, it won't be long before a set of wheels with brake surfaces, will end up weighing the same as a set with super light disc brakes. The disc technology, and lighter weight goals are progressing very quickly.

mrbubbles

Replacing disc pads is way easier than rim brake pads, no toe in, no bolts to remove, and a much accurate insertion than rim brake pads.

Just imagine never having to replace your carbon rims.

Despite preferring 6 bolt rotors simply because they are more widespread and common, centerlock rotors are much easier and quicker to put on and take off, but since that's not done every often, it doesn't really matter.

stewardmike03

I can think of only a small handful of NON-custom bikes with discs. Most are either designed for non-uci cyclocross (read: winter training) or commuting. Discs are, simply stated, better. Ideally they would be the norm. For years now I have secretly harbored a strong desire to pick up the Schwinn DBX with discs just to thrash in the rain and snow.

Bacciagalupe

I believe most of the road-style bikes with disc brakes are either commuters (like the Portland) or cyclocross bikes (Poprad Disc, Cannondale Cross 7 etc).

I doubt there's much of a performance impact; after all, a heavy guy on a too-small frame was riding at the same pace as you. So I don't really see why any sort of snobbery is justified.

umd

a) The pictures you showed are cyclocross bikes, not road bikes. The bike you saw was likely a cross bike as well.
b) Who cares that you were able to keep up? That is important how?

Banzai

Read this Lennard Zinn Velonews article.

Then discuss. I run Avid BB7 road brakes on my cross/commuter bike for all of those reasons, and if I could have a disc brake on my Six13, I'd probably do that too.

Surferbruce

eventually they''ll all have discs.

theextremist04

Actually, the Portland's a commuter.

Jerseysbest

Touring and cyclocross bikes. There's a whole nother road bike world outside sub 18lb bikes and yuppies.

My touring bike has V-brakes and when loaded up, going down a big in rain, is scary. I'm looking into getting at least a front disc set up.

Soil_Sampler

because...

timmyquest

Try saying that in the road forum.

ShadowGray

For the heavy-duty commuter, I can see why they're useful. Plus their location keeps the gunk out of it better.

I haven't had any problems with my cheap Tektro calipers and generic pads, even in the rain. When the front brake isn't enough I slam on the rear brake... usually I can't get up to enough speed in the city to need them anyway.

gfrance

No, they won't.

Putting disk brakes on a regular road race bike is an attempt to solve a problem that does not exist.

Fasto

i like that trek portland a lot

kensuf

I blew a tube on my front wheel during a 45+ mph descent down Beech Mountain a few weeks ago. It was because I overheated the rim on the descent.

For a few brief moments I thought how nice it would have been to have disc brakes.

croscoe

Well that didn't prevent the powers that be from switching from threaded headsets to threadless setups.

Surferbruce

bet ya.

waterrockets 

+1

Why would you want more stopping power without more traction? I can lock up my wheels in the wet just fine.

Disc brakes require much stronger frames and forks adding more weight. Also, you can't lace the front radially, and 1x and 2x are probably a no-no for most wheels.

You lose flange spacing in the rear, with the narrower road axle, and your rear wheel loses strength.

Wheel changes at races would take too long with the risk of closing the calipers.

Shall I go on?

Surferbruce

like we have a choice...

ShadowGray

What people need to do is to build powerful electromagnets in the current brake position so that it will pull the metal rims to a complete stop.

waterrockets 

...then there's the wheel ejection that we don't have to worry about with rim brakes. A lot of weight weenies would have to give up their boutique skewers.

Phantoj

Have you tried them? Disc brakes are great for riding in the rain. The braking is not just powerful, but clean and predictable.

I had a Giant OCR Touring with discs and full fenders - it was an excellent all-weather commuter. But when I left rainy Seattle, I sold it - discs aren't worth it for road riding in normal climates.

waterrockets 

Yeah, if rain is the rule, and not the exception, I can see the tradeoff. But there's no way disc brakes will ever take over the road bike market.

I've won two races in the rain this year, so maybe my wet brake luck is just higher or something.