jameso – you sound like my wife! They all do very[/u] different things!
The Vamoots is the summer/nice days road bike. The Psyclo X is for off-road (I no longer have a mountain bike since being over here). The Genesis is for winter/not-so-nice days on the road.
With regards to cables. The brakes are extremely firm and responsive on all 3 bikes (which all have closed full length cables). I was very careful to trim and file the ends dead square. So no problem at all with the full length cable runs, and at such time as hydraulic brakes become the norm, I don’t have to worry about frame mounts. The open mounts already existing for hydraulic lines.
I have had the pleasure of a few weeks and a few miles on the bike now, and I am even more convinced that this is the future of road bikes.
The lower rotating mass at the rim is noticeable. I know you can achieve this with very light carbon rim brake rims, but at the expense of braking capability. These are mountain bike rims remember (so relatively robust in the grand scheme of things), but weigh significantly less than 280g, so imagine what would be possible if manufacturers turned their attention to road-specific rims without a brake track.
The braking performance is just amazing. With 140mm at the back and 160mm at the front, and the steepness of climbs over here, braking has been consistent, powerful and unaffected by weather. I have had no problem with overheating at all.
I honestly can’t see a drawback. The usual responses are:
weight? – the bike is well under 17lbs for a 58cm frame built with standard parts. For somebody my size, that’s very respectable, and the ride quality is sublime. I dare say you could get well under 15lbs with a bit of effort (and cash).
wheel changes? – I don’t race, so who cares!
danger? – If I crash, the small rotor is the least of my worries. Have you seen what a chainring can do in a crash?! And having lost the top of my thumb in a crash as a result of getting it caught in a wheel with bladed spokes, there is far more danger from both wheels than the rotors.
cost – OK, so here we reach the major stumbling block for most people I fear. At the point of changing over to discs, it means frame, forks, wheels and brakes need to be changed (plus making any spare wheels redundant). It isn’t exactly a ‘running change’ I appreciate, but at the point of changing to a new bike, then it is definitely worth making the move.
