UCI expected to approve Road Disc Brakes for 2016

[stevenaaus]

Could it be that Froome, given his underwhelming performances this year, has been given the tap on the shoulder and been asked to tow the line?

He's part owner / investor in Factor now. Gotta sell those bikes.

Discs have made my life a bit easier... Absolutely no impulse to wander into bike stores any more and browse the new - overpriced/weight! - bikes.

[warthog1]

First real hard emergency braking where I was very happy I was on the disc equipped Revolt.

Road wheels and tyres on cruising on a downhill part of the old Calder Highway a few ks south of Harcourt about to go under the Calder freeway.

Old mate in his twin cab doesn't look and proceeds to pull out of a side road to do a right hand turn across my path. Towing a trailer also.

Hands on the hoods doing ~45-50kmh. Sh it! Jammed the brakes on from the hoods, no time to go to the drops. Locked the back as the weight came off it but bloody hell it slowed quickly. Sooo much better than you can from the hoods on any of my rim braked bikes.

Luckily he must've seen my bright flashing front light and stopped. Would've been close but had he not stopped I may have nearly been able to. If not I'd have been going pretty slow.

No way was I able to slow in that short a space with hands on the hoods on a rim braked bike.

[g-boaf]

I’m riding through flooded sections at the moment with carbon wheels and rim brakes. Result is no effective brakes for a while. Very annoying given there isn’t another way around.

Disc brakes no problem. They are very nice on big mountain descents when slowing for tight corners or unexpected emergency stops.

I wonder how disc brake bikes are overweight when a number of them for years already have gone far under the 6.8kg weight limit.

If that’s overweight then I wonder how many here I riding around on 4.5kg bikes?

And on cost, very light rim brake bikes were always expensive - mine was $18,599 when new in 2017. I know of a 5.4kg Cervelo R5ca that was over $20,000 when new. So not really cheaper than the top bikes of now.

[davehirst]

I did a nasty decent last Saturday, surrounded by lots of traffic.
My duraace rim brakes were not quit up to the job. Added to that i hit a pothole and got a pinch flat.
I now think i will be a late adopter of discs. But i am finding it hard to sell my rim brake bike.

[g-boaf]

I did a nasty decent last Saturday, surrounded by lots of traffic.
My duraace rim brakes were not quit up to the job. Added to that i hit a pothole and got a pinch flat.
I now think i will be a late adopter of discs. But i am finding it hard to sell my rim brake bike.

The other hassle is when some car jumps in the gap ahead of you in high speed traffic - so the braking room you had left is suddenly gone.

Car of course doesn't think about that, he just sees gap and grabs it, forget about anyone else - I change lanes, good luck to you...

I had that happen once on a TCR Advanced SL1 with Dura Ace brakes (9000) and alloy wheels. I ended up jumping up onto the footpath which fortunately was empty. My heart rate was very elevated.

[Retrobyte]

The other hassle is when some car jumps in the gap ahead of you in high speed traffic - so the braking room you had left is suddenly gone.

Car of course doesn't think about that, he just sees gap and grabs it, forget about anyone else - I change lanes, good luck to you...

They probably also do it to trucks and buses as well - one day they'll realise not every wheeled vehicle on the road stops as quickly as their car does

[g-boaf]

The other hassle is when some car jumps in the gap ahead of you in high speed traffic - so the braking room you had left is suddenly gone.

Car of course doesn't think about that, he just sees gap and grabs it, forget about anyone else - I change lanes, good luck to you...

They probably also do it to trucks and buses as well - one day they'll realise not every wheeled vehicle on the road stops as quickly as their car does

That was near the Audi dealer at Five Dock heading into the CBD on Parramatta Road. So naturally I was moving at traffic speed. I had a tip truck behind me who could see what was happening and he had already started to slow down, never knew who he was but good man and good driving.

[Comedian]

No way was I able to slow in that short a space with hands on the hoods on a rim braked bike.

For some reason I can easily get enough force to stop with my rim braked bike on the hoods. I can even have the back just hovering in the air with the fine modulation.

I guess I'm just lucky or maybe I have strong hands. All the shimano brakes I rode when I was choosing groupsets were far less effective than the campy brakes which didn't flex and had more bite and modulation.

Damn I just replaced front brake pads too. First set in 20k. The rears are still fine.

[bychosis]

I haven’t dipped into this thread for a long time. Now we’ve had disc brakes in racing for a while has there been any negative effects?

Any severed arteries from the razor discs? Any dramas with spares or changing wheels? Or any other of the myriad of weird reasons not to use discs in racing?

[Comedian]

I haven’t dipped into this thread for a long time. Now we’ve had disc brakes in racing for a while has there been any negative effects?

Any severed arteries from the razor discs? Any dramas with spares or changing wheels? Or any other of the myriad of weird reasons not to use discs in racing?

I've heard of a few injuries caused by them - but as you'd expect it's rare.

For the most part people have simply given up on wheel changes in racing preferring to go tubeless as a later of protection.

For most people even getting two wheel sets tow work in one bike is quite the feat... let alone being given a random wheel out of the spares car (put one in get one out) as used to happen.

[warthog1]

No way was I able to slow in that short a space with hands on the hoods on a rim braked bike.

For some reason I can easily get enough force to stop with my rim braked bike on the hoods. I can even have the back just hovering in the air with the fine modulation.

I guess I'm just lucky or maybe I have strong hands. All the shimano brakes I rode when I was choosing groupsets were far less effective than the campy brakes which didn't flex and had more bite and modulation.

Damn I just replaced front brake pads too. First set in 20k. The rears are still fine.

Less pressure is required= easier to apply more braking force and better modulation. Yes hadn't really been an issue until that "oh sh it" moment though.

[warthog1]

I haven’t dipped into this thread for a long time. Now we’ve had disc brakes in racing for a while has there been any negative effects?

Any severed arteries from the razor discs? Any dramas with spares or changing wheels? Or any other of the myriad of weird reasons not to use discs in racing?

I've heard of a few injuries caused by them - but as you'd expect it's rare.

For the most part people have simply given up on wheel changes in racing preferring to go tubeless as a later of protection.

For most people even getting two wheel sets tow work in one bike is quite the feat... let alone being given a random wheel out of the spares car (put one in get one out) as used to happen.

2 wheelsets for my Revolt.
Both have DT350 hubs. No problem at all swapping wheels.
Surprised by how similar, in terms of speed, the gravel bike is to the (rim brake) road bike at the same power.
The roadie(s) don't do much now.

Loving the wider rims and tyres it allows, with lower pressure and more grip, comfort.
24 and 25mm int rims on the two wheelsets.

I don't do many bunch rides now or race. From what I see almost nobody is still on rim brakes however.

[Comedian]

I haven’t dipped into this thread for a long time. Now we’ve had disc brakes in racing for a while has there been any negative effects?

Any severed arteries from the razor discs? Any dramas with spares or changing wheels? Or any other of the myriad of weird reasons not to use discs in racing?

I've heard of a few injuries caused by them - but as you'd expect it's rare.

For the most part people have simply given up on wheel changes in racing preferring to go tubeless as a later of protection.

For most people even getting two wheel sets tow work in one bike is quite the feat... let alone being given a random wheel out of the spares car (put one in get one out) as used to happen.

2 wheelsets for my Revolt.
Both have DT350 hubs. No problem at all swapping wheels.
Surprised by how similar, in terms of speed, the gravel bike is to the (rim brake) road bike at the same power.
The roadie(s) don't do much now.

Loving the wider rims and tyres it allows, with lower pressure and more grip, comfort.
24 and 25mm int rims on the two wheelsets.

I don't do many bunch rides now or race. From what I see almost nobody is still on rim brakes however.

Lucky you on the wheelset swap. Unfortunately in the races there are no guarantee you'll get your actual wheel. Most of the ones I've helped with locally the only guarantee is if you put spares in you'll get a wheel. Might be yours - might not.

Also agreed on the use of rim brakes in racing. You've been unable to buy rim brake bikes from the major manufacturers for a few years now, and most race bikes are far newer than that.

And yep.. the move to bigger tyres is great and was necessary with the loss of splay from the front fork due to asymmetric brake loads. Agreed.

[warthog1]

Lucky you on the wheelset swap. Unfortunately in the races there are no guarantee you'll get your actual wheel. Most of the ones I've helped with locally the only guarantee is if you put spares in you'll get a wheel. Might be yours - might not.

Also agreed on the use of rim brakes in racing. You've been unable to buy rim brake bikes from the major manufacturers for a few years now, and most race bikes are far newer than that.

And yep.. the move to bigger tyres is great and was necessary with the loss of splay from the front fork due to asymmetric brake loads. Agreed.

I have done plenty of club level racing. At that level cop a flat and you are gone anyway. Choice of braking system makes no difference.
At higher levels they seem to change wheels from what I've seen regardless of them being disc braked.
Several NRS level riders are here and all on disc.
UCI pro tour is all disc.

There are numerous advantages. The biggest advantage for me is carbon wheels.
So much better removing heat and wear from carbon clincher wheels. I ride carbon everywhere on road and this is reason enough, regardless of the better braking.

[AUbicycles]

One of the big criticisms of the approval, back then, was the potential for injury from the rotors. In top level cycling there are crashes, but injury from the rotors has not been so ething I have heard about.

On the other hand, it was good for the bike brands to get everyone to replace their bike. Time for something new… or does everyone already have a gravel bike already.

[Thoglette]

Loving the wider rims and tyres it allows,

I’m running 1.75 inch wide tyres on one bike. Amazingly, with rim brakes. Despite the bike press stating this is, apparently, impossible.

And I can lift the rear wheel of my short wheelbase bike with its 25 year old rim brakes all day long.

Yes, that first stop in the wet is another story altogether. That’s a genuine advantage of discs, presuming you don’t lock the front up.

But I expect Shimano’s next gruppo will have ABS, if it doesn’t already.

[Comedian]

Lucky you on the wheelset swap. Unfortunately in the races there are no guarantee you'll get your actual wheel. Most of the ones I've helped with locally the only guarantee is if you put spares in you'll get a wheel. Might be yours - might not.

Also agreed on the use of rim brakes in racing. You've been unable to buy rim brake bikes from the major manufacturers for a few years now, and most race bikes are far newer than that.

And yep.. the move to bigger tyres is great and was necessary with the loss of splay from the front fork due to asymmetric brake loads. Agreed.

I have done plenty of club level racing. At that level cop a flat and you are gone anyway. Choice of braking system makes no difference.
At higher levels they seem to change wheels from what I've seen regardless of them being disc braked.
Several NRS level riders are here and all on disc.
UCI pro tour is all disc.

There are numerous advantages. The biggest advantage for me is carbon wheels.
So much better removing heat and wear from carbon clincher wheels. I ride carbon everywhere on road and this is reason enough, regardless of the better braking.

Yep all new road bikes are disc. All the teams - everyone now. They have reached critical mass in the peloton.

I like big wheels too. My enve's are 25 internal, and the hplus sons 21 which was out there for the time.

I'll stick with my rims because I don't need new bikes and I can brake plenty well enough with what I have. And they are low maintenance and cheap off the scale.

I still think rim brakes have lots of advantages on road bikes.

[warthog1]

Yep all new road bikes are disc. All the teams - everyone now. They have reached critical mass in the peloton.

I like big wheels too. My enve's are 25 internal, and the hplus sons 21 which was out there for the time.

I'll stick with my rims because I don't need new bikes and I can brake plenty well enough with what I have. And they are low maintenance and cheap off the scale.

I still think rim brakes have lots of advantages on road bikes.

I probably felt similarly until my recent moment. Well over 100k km on rim brakes in the last 10 years alone.
No way do they brake as well on the hoods and no way do carbon wheels on rim brake stop anywhere near as quickly even more so.
Carbon wheels are just faster for the same effort so I am not getting off them. Sooo much better on disc.

Yes some maintenance issues are better with rim brake. Certainly simpler.
Maintenance is a piece of cake compared to car maintenance in any case.
That turbo change I just did on the Trol makes any bike task pale into insignificance.
Disc hasn't caused me any maintenance concern yet and I actually prefer the through axle to quick release. It is more rigid and locates the wheel perfectly each time.
They work better and save my wheels. I am sold. Were I to buy a new bike it would certainly be disc but tbh the gravello does everything well enough that there are no plans for this ageing neverwas.
My rim brake bikes are still fine too, it seriously isn't a huge issue in any case. Keep riding your rim brake bikes if you are happy, that is what is most important.

[g-boaf]

No way was I able to slow in that short a space with hands on the hoods on a rim braked bike.

For some reason I can easily get enough force to stop with my rim braked bike on the hoods. I can even have the back just hovering in the air with the fine modulation.

I guess I'm just lucky or maybe I have strong hands. All the shimano brakes I rode when I was choosing groupsets were far less effective than the campy brakes which didn't flex and had more bite and modulation.

Damn I just replaced front brake pads too. First set in 20k. The rears are still fine.

If it rains, the old rim brakes were a pain. Stopping performance is awful. I've been caught with both carbon wheels and alloy wheels equally in the rain with negative effects. Even just muddy/dirty standing water is a pain with them too, I have to deal with it at the moment where there is some flooding where I have to ride through. After going through there slowly the brakes are crap for a while afterwards.

In my own experience, comparing both disc and rim brakes going down Alpe D'Huez and the very poor Sarenne descent, I prefer disc brakes. The discs stop better but also the feel of them is a lot nicer.

That said I'm riding a rim brake bike with carbon wheels at the moment because it's a bit more comfortable (climbing bike). Just in normal riding it doesn't have anything like the stopping power of my S5 on disc brakes. That thing really stops - it has saved me a few times in panic stop situations, a few of them being when a stick started moving and no way around it.... Occasional hard braking when a car charged through a roundabout without stopping like it should have as well. On the rim brake Canyon I just slow down earlier.

[Comedian]

No way was I able to slow in that short a space with hands on the hoods on a rim braked bike.

For some reason I can easily get enough force to stop with my rim braked bike on the hoods. I can even have the back just hovering in the air with the fine modulation.

I guess I'm just lucky or maybe I have strong hands. All the shimano brakes I rode when I was choosing groupsets were far less effective than the campy brakes which didn't flex and had more bite and modulation.

Damn I just replaced front brake pads too. First set in 20k. The rears are still fine.

If it rains, the old rim brakes were a pain. Stopping performance is awful. I've been caught with both carbon wheels and alloy wheels equally in the rain with negative effects. Even just muddy/dirty standing water is a pain with them too, I have to deal with it at the moment where there is some flooding where I have to ride through. After going through there slowly the brakes are crap for a while afterwards.

In my own experience, comparing both disc and rim brakes going down Alpe D'Huez and the very poor Sarenne descent, I prefer disc brakes. The discs stop better but also the feel of them is a lot nicer.

That said I'm riding a rim brake bike with carbon wheels at the moment because it's a bit more comfortable (climbing bike). Just in normal riding it doesn't have anything like the stopping power of my S5 on disc brakes. That thing really stops - it has saved me a few times in panic stop situations, a few of them being when a stick started moving and no way around it.... Occasional hard braking when a car charged through a roundabout without stopping like it should have as well. On the rim brake Canyon I just slow down earlier.

It's all about what you do and where you ride. For me I've never had any issues being able to stop for anything I've needed to. Both my bikes (one with carbon rims) can stop going down the biggest hills around SEQ. I can run vitoria 28's on them so can't really see me wanting to run bigger on a road bike. I prefer not to ride road bikes in the rain so I typically only get caught out a couple of times a year. If I ever find myself flying to europe to ride the alpes with my bikes this might be something that I'll have to consider.

If my needs were different I would 100% consider buying a disc brake bike. In the meantime buying a bike with disc brakes would be like the people buying a landcruiser because one day they might want to do a big lap.

[warthog1]

It's all about what you do and where you ride. For me I've never had any issues being able to stop for anything I've needed to. Both my bikes (one with carbon rims) can stop going down the biggest hills around SEQ. I can run vitoria 28's on them so can't really see me wanting to run bigger on a road bike. I prefer not to ride road bikes in the rain so I typically only get caught out a couple of times a year. If I ever find myself flying to europe to ride the alpes with my bikes this might be something that I'll have to consider.

If my needs were different I would 100% consider buying a disc brake bike. In the meantime buying a bike with disc brakes would be like the people buying a landcruiser because one day they might want to do a big lap.

Agreed it is about what you do and where you ride.
I ride carbon wheels on the road exclusively.
They brake ok when it is dry and haven't previously appreciated the difference in braking that much.
Reduced lever pressure = better stop from the hoods and better modulation. Generally not a problem though.
I have done the alpine classic on rim braked Zipp 404s.
Just stayed off the brakes a fair bit. It did hammer the front Zipp pads though.
I would be happier not to be adding heat to the area that is responsible for holding the tyre on the rim.

[Comedian]

It's all about what you do and where you ride. For me I've never had any issues being able to stop for anything I've needed to. Both my bikes (one with carbon rims) can stop going down the biggest hills around SEQ. I can run vitoria 28's on them so can't really see me wanting to run bigger on a road bike. I prefer not to ride road bikes in the rain so I typically only get caught out a couple of times a year. If I ever find myself flying to europe to ride the alpes with my bikes this might be something that I'll have to consider.

If my needs were different I would 100% consider buying a disc brake bike. In the meantime buying a bike with disc brakes would be like the people buying a landcruiser because one day they might want to do a big lap.

Agreed it is about what you do and where you ride.
I ride carbon wheels on the road exclusively.
They brake ok when it is dry and haven't previously appreciated the difference in braking that much.
Reduced lever pressure = better stop from the hoods and better modulation. Generally not a problem though.
I have done the alpine classic on rim braked Zipp 404s.
Just stayed off the brakes a fair bit. It did hammer the front Zipp pads though.
I would be happier not to be adding heat to the area that is responsible for holding the tyre on the rim.

I agree .. if you were riding down big hills you'd would have to be less careful if that makes sense.

[warthog1]

I agree .. if you were riding down big hills you'd would have to be less careful if that makes sense.

Yes
Campag Zondas I also have would have been a better choice.
They sit on the trainer now. I like my carbons too much.
An old neverwas needs all the free speed he can get

[Comedian]

I agree .. if you were riding down big hills you'd would have to be less careful if that makes sense.

Yes
Campag Zondas I also have would have been a better choice.
They sit on the trainer now. I like my carbons too much.
An old neverwas needs all the free speed he can get

It's probably a bit moot.. I reckon if I went to europe I'd probably hire a bike.

But if I didn't and took my own - I have a set of Mavic R-Sys wheels. They are stupidly light and have an exalith coating on the rim. They stop spectacularly well and don't heat up. They actually have a texture which tears the pad apart rather than heat the rim. Pretty wild. The dowside is they have round carbon spokes which means they aren't good at high speeds. If I look back at things I've spent money on in cycling, one of my few regrets are those wheels! Anyway I can't sell them so might as well keep them just in case.

[warthog1]

Yeah we all have regrets with respect to bike purchases.
Silly over priced pass time that it is.

It is fun though and not bad for your health (if you can avoid our drivers)