I'm tentatively looking around for a new road bike at the Ultegra-equipped level and I can obviously get a better deal if I forego discs for rim brakes. I've never found rim brakes under-powered on the road (just the opposite really) and actually prefer their look over discs. Am I missing a key benefit to road discs?
Am I missing a key benefit to road discs?
They stop you better in all weathers with less effort, you don't wear your rims out and you get better tyre clearance.
Personally I'd want clearance for 32c & hydraulic discs if buying a new road bike.
I was thinking of it a while back and the Giant Defy Advanced was the one I had my eye on.
Lots of people would say increased wheel life with discs over rims, no chance of overheating rims if alpine descents are your thing.
I have them and wouldn't go back to rim brakes after doing ride London in the pouring rain for 8hrs!
Personally, I find the braking way better in the wet with discs. And I like not having brake dust all over the rim when fixing a puncture.
That said, if the price saving is important enough, I'd be happy Ultegra rim brakes on a summer/best bike.
They stop you better in all weathers with less effort, you don’t wear your rims out and you get better tyre clearance.
They're massively heavy, make wheel changes really slow and ruin the sweet, sweet lines of a bike. There should be no progress, nothing new, nothing better!
Oh, apart from carbon. Gears, I suppose. Aero, obviously. I mean, brakes are OK but discs are an evil abomination of new technology and will slice your leg off if you look at them funny.
The braking performance is just better. Side benefits include wet weather performance and not wearing out nice carbon rims so you can use them all the time.
Negatives are weight, different skills required for maintenance and they can make noise (usually a sign something is wrong though)
Tbh it’s swings and round abouts but if u wanna run carbon wheels and if u ride in the rain I’d have them.
Last year descending alp d’huez on duraace discs was supremely confidence inspiring. Brake later, harder, enjoy the descent more. Guy behind me in the group blew up his carbon rims on rim brakes 🤷♂️
Edit: Oh yeah and tyre clearance 😁
I'm answer to your question
No. But they are better unless you believe weight is everything .
The big advantage of road discs for me is that I can run carbon wheels all the time without worrying about rim wear or braking in the wet.
Am I missing a key benefit to road discs?
All weather braking performance is the normally cited major benefit, but I actually think the major benefit longer term will be rims and tyres. It's already become accepted by many that wider tyres mounted on wider rims run at proportionately lower pressures roll and grip better and should improve rider comfort particularly for longer distances.
It's much easier to fit bigger wheels and tyres if you don't have to squeeze them through a caliper brake.
But do you 'need' them?
Probably not you'll probably be able to squeeze a 25mm (maybe 28?)on a 19/20mm int' rim in most rim braked frames/forks for at least another decade and should save you £500-800ish quid...
Depends where you ride as well. Most of my riding is in the flat Midlands. I've never felt like I needed rim brakes on any of my rides in any weather. I do have rim and disc brakes. I also ride a lot in North Wales, Snowdonia. Its either raining or snowing, and I enjoy the confidence disc brakes and 32mm tyres gives me.
The downside is that they are heavy. Weights are coming down but prices are going up.
If I was to just have one bike with my varied riding I do I would go disc brake. If I was just riding local then rim brake would be more than sufficient.
(I have cheap rim brake wheels that came with the bike for wet weather rides - but that said in all my years of riding I've normally moved a bike/wheels on before I've gone through a rim)
Key benefit is tyre clearance I'd say, there's very little choice in lightweight rim brake frames with good tyre clearance these days.
If you don't think you need discs then I'd say you don't need them, but I guess if you've worn out multiple sets of rims, or had multiple near death experiences etc. etc. then you should already know!
The thing I often keep thinking as well is when will the "gravel/all-road/adventure" niche and disc braked road bikes (with clearance for ~35mm tyres with guards/~40mm without) simply just converge?
I'm sure people will work out that those marginaly different bikes are pretty much just a change of wheels apart and stop buying two bikes?
My own collection of drop-barred nonsense has a rim braked carbon summer bike, a rim braked steel winter/commuter bike (guards and bag mount) and an aluminium "Gravel" bike with discs and more tyre clearance... I reckon if I really wanted to I could consolidate the three bikes down to one with two wheelsets and I'd be content enough...
I'm sure someone will tell me the geometry and ride character of those bikes are very different... But I don't reckon they really are TBH.
Need, no..want, like, would prefer, yes.
i once went discs, then in some moment of insane madness bought a rim brake bike, it was beautiful, but it couldn't stop for shit, so got chopped out for a disc model
The big ones for me are the tyre versatility (assuming the frame doesn't constrain it) and the lack of brake pad gunge. The outright effectiveness thing wasn't something that bothered me until I went back to trying to slow a rim-braked road bike whilst on the hoods: the difference is much more apparent there than in the drops.
That said, if you know you'll continue to be happy with using narrow tyres and it's a fair-weather-only bike, it's not as if rim brakes work any worse than they used to.
You do not need discs on a road bike. Riders have survived for many years racing across the Alps in the rain without them. You may want them though!
Genuine question: Have any of the pro peloton won a race which finished with a wet descent due to having discs over their rivals on rim brakes?
You do not need
discsgears on a road bike. Ridershavesurvived for many years racing across the Alps in the rain without them. You may want them though!
😀
My carbon rim brakes stop just fine in the dry. In extremely wet conditions they take a second of doing nothing and then work fine.
I live in Cambridgeshire, and in the old days the bike frequently went to California (steep and hilly but usually dry, or insanely wet), so braking is never a problem.
If I was commuting on it in the rain regularly, or I lived in Scotland, I think I would get bored of sketchy braking and want discs.
Rim brakes look nicer. That's just an objective fact.
Rim brakes look nicer. That’s just an objective fact.
No it's your opinion. That's not what an objective fact is.
The clincher for me is to turn it round. Imagine if discs were the old fashioned ‘norm’ and someone said they could lop a few grams off the weight of a bike.
To do this they’d have to move the brakes to the rims, in the wet and filth, and operate them with an archaic system of levers and cables. They also wouldn't work as well as the normal brakes and you’d have to run really skinny rubber and your rims would wear out which means you need to rebuild your wheels.
But you’d have saved those grams.
You’d be laughed off kickstarter!
Genuine question: Have any of the pro peloton won a race which finished with a wet descent due to having discs over their rivals on rim brakes?
Genuine question: How many people on this thread will at some point in their life be part of "the pro peloton"?
Course we don't need. Need isn't the question, want is the question.
I went with discs, even though it's a dry weather bike, because I hate adjusting calipers and I'm a good enough wheelbuilder to make disc wheels but not really good enough to reliably make rim brake wheels. Good enough reasons for me!
Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I'm a very average road rider in Devon and I use the same bike all year round so I'm starting to edge towards discs now. I really like Lister's analogy; I'd never consider putting rim brakes on the MTB. Guess I'll just have to save up a few more pennies.
Genuine question: How many people on this thread will at some point in their life be part of “the pro peloton”?
Genuine answer: he wasn't asking about us.
I'd have four more teeth and countless ones without chips/cracks, a titanium plate-less upper jaw, plus two metacarpals without screws in them... If I'd been on a hydraulic disc brake bike on 23/12/2013.
This was discovered in May 2017 when I bought my first hydraulic disc brake road bike. I will never go back in terms of a purchase.
Basically if rim braking was an issue for you then disk brakes will solve those issues.
For me, commuting type riding with aluminium rims isnot much of an issue - sometimes just takes the brakes a bit longer to reapond in the wet.
But racing in a large peloton with carbon rims in the wet is an issue, braking is one more thing to stress about.
I’m sure people will work out that those marginaly different bikes are pretty much just a change of wheels apart and stop buying two bikes?
“Don’t know what you mean”, said the man who just rode home from work on a PX Tempest with 32mm tubeless GP5000s.
In my defence 20 miles each way with panniers - it’s a good compromise.
Oh yes - OP no, you don’t need discs, yes, you will like them.
Genuine answer: he wasn’t asking about us.
Yeah, I realise that, but it's a bit like someone asking whether they should buy a car with ABS and someone pointing out that Lewis Hamilton gets by without.
Well of course he does, he uses the other pedal for getting by people.
Yeah, I realise that, but it’s a bit like someone asking whether they should buy a car with ABS and someone pointing out that Lewis Hamilton gets by without.
To me it's an interesting question that's an aside to the thread.
Having had 3 road bikes with rim brakes and commutes in all sorts of weathers and then moving to a disc brake road bike it was a revelation.
Even in the dry it’s got more power than any of my rim brakes had - and reliably - with no adjustment really ever required.
In the wet it’s on another level - yes sometimes it might squeal a bit - but I hated the noise you got from rim brakes when they were covered in manky road crap - you could literally hear it wearing the blocks / rims away.
And then coming into punctures (although which touch wood I don’t think I’ve had more than 1 in the last 2.5 years - running tubed on 25c GP4000’s) you don’t get covered in manky brake stuff as you fight to get your tyres off - especially in the dark / wet winter commute.
I don’t think I’ve ever thought (to a point made above) that it takes me longer to insert a disc wheel than a road wheel. Apart from having to be marginally more accurate putting the wheel in so the disc goes between the pads it’s actually easier as you don’t have to open the lever to widen the calipers apart then squeeze your tyre through the gap between the pads.
I wouldn’t even slightly consider a rim brakes road bike now.
Genuine answer: he wasn’t asking about us.
Genuine answer: that ^^ plus that's not how a pro peloton works. It's not like everyone has an equal chance of winning and he who dares descend fastest wins.
I wouldn't consider a rim brake bike now. Another few years and the range of wheels for them will be tiny. Most of the mid to high end frames/bikes now are disc specific.
For where I live and ride brakes are not used a great deal and if I only rode in good weather I would not be looking out for disc brakes as I don't like the look of them on a road bike (objective fact!)
However, if you live in an area where you brake regularly and ride in all weather they are an obvious choice.
I wouldn’t consider buying a new bike without disc brakes. Note I did not say specifically ‘road’ bike. Disc brakes are just more efficient, more consistent and will very quickly become the standard. Plus the well noted advantages of rim wear, tyre clearance and maintenance (no cable stretch, pad replacement is less messy).
We are in a transition period, just as we were many years ago from v-brakes to discs off road. Within 1 model year rim brakes will be obsolete. Think about future availability of parts, and don’t forget that the new they axle standard and wider spacing will probably be the minimum requirement for next gen groupsets.
A few £’a saving now will lead to less resale value further down the line, lower performance now and not taking advantage of the best form of braking.
The old bike buying advice still stands - frame first, wheels second, groupset third and non consumables last. Brake choice is only in the mix right now during the transition phase. Do you ever consider brake choice when buying any other form of transport (including a mountain bike)? Nope, you just buy the default disc braked bike.
Don’t even think about the rim brake bike.
For dry weather, summer bikes I would say that it makes bugger all difference. If you ride all year round then discs will be head and shoulders above rim brakes in everything from maintenance to performance to mechanical wear.
They are not, it must be said, without their problems though...
Like many here, I've been running disc brakes on MTBs for 20+ years and in all that time, I've never had so many problems with brake squeal as I've had with a handful of road bikes. It seems to all be down to contamination from road muck (especially in poor conditions) and at the first sign of them starting to get noisy, I'll whip the pads off and cook em with the blow torch which seems to do the trick.
They're also fussier to setup, especially bleeding and caliper alignment. I've got a few sets of wheels and all will need minor caliper tweaks when swapping onto a bike. To be fair, this is often the case on rim brakes as well.
Oh,and OEM pads cost a bloody fortune too, at least for Shimano!
But for all this, the power, reliability and consistency, plus not needing to worry about turning my zipps into carbon paste on a wet ride easily outweigh any of this.
For a summer bike I wouldn't bother, extra cost, slightly more potential for faff (lost count of the number of threads on this and other forums about Shimano calipers with slow oil leaks). Even previous generation ultegra brakes are fantastic in the dry. Only a deal breaker on a summer bike if you want large volume tyres. Guess you should be able to pick up a rim brake bike with clearance for 28mn.
For year round then I'd pay the extra.
Oh, and you can run one set of nice wheels all year round without worrying about grinding expensive rims to paste.
Am I missing a key benefit to road discs?
Only if you ride in the wet a lot, or do enough miles to get through rims in a couple of years. But in the wet on ~28-30mm tyres I'm not going as quick downhill anyway. And for the number of folk who insist on discs because of wet-weather braking I see very few of those bikes with guards on so I do wonder how far and often they ride in the wet. Anyway, whatever you prefer - some of it's aesthetic rather than logic just like my liking of skinny steel forks and rim brakes on old bikes. These day, for road bikes, I go for guards as a priority and discs as take-it-leave-it secondary to that.
If you're going for 35-50mm tyres on a gravel bike then yes get discs to go with the off-road ability.
Do you actually need Ultegra? Personally I’d choose 105 and discs over Ultegra and rim brakes.
Having snapped spokes in the past rim brakes are a bastard. Much easier to roadside true a wheel to miss the frame than pads.
The ease of braking on the drops for discs versus yarking on the rim brakes I can see being less strain on the back/neck on the likes of, say, alpe d’huez where you have to scrub speed for the hairpins...
However if you want to be traditional about things, save some money to supplement your PED programme... 😜
Wouldn't have a road bike now without disc brakes. You can obviously get the same power from rim brakes but not as consistently. Having sailed across the roundabout with both levers clamped to the bars tends to motivate you.
Downsides is that they can squeal in the wet. Not had any other issues.
Additional upside is that if you get Di2 you totally divest your bike of needing bits of string to work gears and brakes, which means that all you ever need to do from a maintenance point of view is hose it down from time to time.
Wouldn’t have a road bike now without disc brakes. You can obviously get the same power from rim brakes but not as consistently. Having sailed across the roundabout with both levers clamped to the bars tends to motivate you.
What rims/blocks/brakes?
This is why I have such a hard time understanding how popular discs are, I've never had anything remotely close to that happen to me with rim brakes. They don't work as well initially when wet, but I just have to pull the levers a wee bit harder (e.g. difference between one finger at tip of lever or two fingers). Also (not to preach) but if I'm approaching a roundabout in wet conditions I've probably already sat up and started dragging brakes...
Downsides is that they can squeal in the wet.
In terms of my overall enjoyment of a wet ride, the negatives of rim brakes (less power, occasionally more effort at lever) are completely eclipsed by the noise of disc brakes. I'm almost enthusiastic about riding in the wet now that I have a decent jacket and nice quiet brakes, whereas when I commuted with disc brakes a wet morning would see me on the bus...
At the end of the day it's a moot point given how ubiquitous discs have now become, I'm slowly coming to accept that I'm in the vanishingly small minority who just doesn't like them. For the OP's sake - if you know you're fussy about noisy brakes and don't want to spend an eternity pissing about with rotor choice, pad choice, sanding pads, blowtorching pads, repeatedly bedding pads in again, checking alignment of callipers etc. etc. etc. then just go rim brake, stick some decent pads in, maybe learn to toe them in (I don't think I even bother with that now).
Of course you might get lucky and get a set of discs that works the way the marketeers say they are supposed to, in which case happy days!
Might be a moot point in a few years- I think the new Trek Emonda range doesn’t have rim brake options.
You already know you're not fussed on discs for the braking itself, so it all depends how big you want to go with tyres.
That's what prompted me to make the jump, and I'm glad I did.
28mm tubeless tyres are awesome, Ultegra discs are very nice and the bike is 1kg heavier than my old rim-brake CR1 SL - but faster everywhere.
For the most part, I find braking limited by the rubber/tarmac interface than how the braking force is applied.
I'm surprised at all the people criticising rim brakes for power, I've always been able to lock the wheels, in pretty much any kind of conditions.
I have disc and rim braked road bikes.
Whilst I find rim bakes fine in rain and for general riding for me the disc has a clear advantage in the wet weather emergency stop during commuting scenario.
The other advantages of discs can be negated by better anticipation on rim brakes but not a sudden stop in the rain.
I have found the down sides being the great joy of bleeding road discs and good old leaking Shimano calipers. Also hope calipers don't like road salt...
What rims/blocks/brakes?
I know you weren't asking me : ) but on that point I built a bike recently with Shimano R650 deep-drops, Kool Stop Salmon pads and a non-compressible disc outer for the rear and I'm really impressed by the brake power and feel, and how even they feel between front and rear. The only thing that's better with my Ultegra road brakes on the other bike is how the Shimano pad compound seems to build in power in the first few seconds as it heat up. Some magic stuff in those pads, they're amazing in the Alps.
Personally I’d want clearance for 32c
I am all for disc brakes on road bikes, but as for tyre size, do I remember incorrectly in thinking that the aero and drag advantages of larger tyres are lost after 28mm?
Brakes?
I have an Kinesis Aithein with Bontrager Speed Limit callipers and Swiss Stop pads. I ride in the Lakes and have never felt I absolutely NEED disc brakes on it.
BUT dropping down Honister there is no doubt in my mind discs would be a lot more 'comfy'. I also avoid riding my road bike in the wet!!! I have a mountain bikes and cross bikes for that (with disc brakes).
So for me the answer is it depends on the riding you do - if you only ride your road bike on sunny days in a relatively flat bit of the country I'd not bother with discs.
The only thing that’s better with my Ultegra road brakes on the other bike is how the Shimano pad compound seems to build in power in the first few seconds as it heat up. Some magic stuff in those pads, they’re amazing in the Alps.
Ditto, my Ultegras with stock pads on Fulcrum alloy are astonishing, I got a fright the first time I used them this year! They've never seen rain right enough
The only downside I've found with road discs is the noise. The Shimano on the BMC and the Sram on the PlanetX both scream like banshees. I've never had that a bad noise on an MTB.
I have my ‘nice’ road bike with rim brakes and carbon wheels. No issues with braking whatsoever. As has been said above it’s normally the road interface that causes braking issues.
I also have a CX bike with discs for winter, crappy weather.
Personally I prefer the look, simplicity and performance of rim brakes.
Also (not to preach) but if I’m approaching a roundabout in wet conditions I’ve probably already sat up and started dragging brakes…
Sure, but the whole point of disc brakes is that you don't have to signal to the engine room for reverse ten minutes before you need to stop.
For the most part, I find braking limited by the rubber/tarmac interface than how the braking force is applied.I’m surprised at all the people criticising rim brakes for power, I’ve always been able to lock the wheels, in pretty much any kind of conditions.
(talking average day-to-day riders here, not pros but...) You can overtake any rim-braked road bike on a descent because you can brake later and harder on discs.
There's plenty of descents near me (Peak District) where I'll be sitting up and dragging brakes on a rim-brake bike because they simply don't have the all-out stopping power and modulation of discs.
With discs, I can freewheel or pedal down it, brake far later and still slow down to the same speed to get round the corner. My DB CX bike is far faster on descents than my RB road bike, in spite of having lower gearing and much fatter tyres.
I mean, if a car salesman today said to you: "certainly Sir, would you like the Ferrari with carbon-ceramic discs or with drum brakes?" - which are you going to answer...?
I went for calipers when I got my (cheap) carbon road bike the other year as I was trying to get in to road work and wanted a bike as light as I could afford. They've been fine for what I need, good enough to not think I need discs. Saying that, I don't ride it that often and always in good weather. No plans to buy another but if I did I'd probably go disc unless the caliper option was significantly lighter/better spec'ed.
With discs, I can freewheel or pedal down it, brake far later and still slow down to the same speed to get round the corner. My DB CX bike is far faster on descents than my RB road bike, in spite of having lower gearing and much fatter tyres.
Are you sure that's not because fatter tyres, thus increasing the contact patch?
I'm in the Peak District too, and have both disc and rim braked road bikes. For the most part I don't think that discs make too much odds. If anything, the rim braked ones descend better, but I think that's geometry rather than braking performance.
With discs or rim brakes, I'm always more worried about braking hard and sliding off the road than lack of power.
Rim brakes look nicer. That’s just an objective fact.
They look shit and old fashioned. They’ve been superseded and will hopefully disappear in a few years.
Rim brakes look nicer. That’s just an objective fact.
You need a new dictionary mate. You’ve just just stated it’s influenced by your opinion FFS.
Disc brakes have greater power and modulation. Rim brakes are lighter. Both objective facts.
I think <anything> is subjective.
IANAET.
Personally I think it depends on how you intend to use it.
For me I don’t need discs, because I’m not commuting in all weathers, and I’m not riding for fun in crap weather.
If I was then discs are definitely better, they work better, they don’t need much in the way of maintenance and you don’t wear out you rims.
Rim brakes are lighter, cheaper and easier to fettle.
I’ve got discs at the mo, because I got it for commuting originally.
I’ve have a road disc bike and road rim brake bike - both decent quality.
My observations:
Braking - Disc are more efficient, that’s not up for discussion imo.
Rim wear - Disc will not knacker your rims.
Tyre clearance - if you want to run bigger tyres discs will enable this.
However........ I prefer my rim bike, it feels more lively for some reason, but on a long ride I take the disc bike as it’s more relaxed. (Both bikes are hand built with very similar geometry so in theory should ride the same).
Someone was mentioning road disc setup.
Personally I think it depends on how you intend to use it.
For me I don’t need discs, because I’m not commuting in all weathers, and I’m not riding for fun in crap weather.
Exactly, which is why there is no right or wrong about it. The type of riding I do mean I don't need any brakes other than my fixed wheel (boo, hiss, brakeless fixed gear rider)
If I rode where I needed to actually slow down quickly or even stop I would run a calliper brake.
If I commuted all year round I would run a disc brake
As many have said for commuting or lots of riding in poor weather discs win.
How much of a fair weather cyclist are you? I generally only take the road bike out on decentish days. I’ve got ultegra discs on my nice bike but if I was buying again I’d get rim brakes. The asymmetric front wheel is a horrible thing to look at as you cycle along and for nice weather cycling rim brakes are great.
The asymmetric front wheel is a horrible thing to look at as you cycle along
Possibly the weirdest objection to disc brakes I've seen…
People look down at their front wheel ? Is that how people ride into parked cars and the like.
How much of a fair weather cyclist are you?
OBJECTION! 😉 2 of my 4 rim brake bikes are designed specifically for the miserable conditions (yes, I have the luxury of a winter bike AND a shoulder season bike 😎 )
People look down at their front wheel ?
I do, gives me a good indication of how squint my pelvis is if I can see more of one side of my front wheel, or the other 😁
So coming back to the OPs use case.
He's already stated he's looking for a year round bike, which would tend to nudge most people towards discs and was sort of looking at the trade off (VFM wise) between his current budget either covering Ultegra (with rim brakes) or having to drop down to 105 to get discs...
And I think if I were in the same position shopping for a new road bike I would choose the 105 disc option myself, despite being happy enough with rim brakes and their performance in various conditions, the world is heading towards roadbikes using hydraulic disc brakes and overall that's a positive thing...
What I certainly wouldn't choose now would be mechanical discs (I have BB5s on my gravel bike and IMO/IME they're not that great). Fortunately mechanical discs are appearing less often on spec sheets, but there are a few companies still using them to hit a price point...
I’m still a big fan of cable discs and have no desire to use hydraulics; for me there’d only really be disadvantages. That’s just me, though 🙂
The world does appear to be divided Bez
Those who can set up cable disks and those who miscall them at every opportunity 🙂
I can set them up, they've been on my gravel bike for almost 4 years, I used them this afternoon and I am still alive, but they are more faff, requiring more maintenance and more frequent adjustment and (IMO) aren't that much better than a cable rim brake for feel or 'power'...
If you're going to have disc brakes why opt for the inferior version? (aside from cost, which is ironically enough why I have them)...
A friend of mine came off his road bike this morning when a combination of a speed-induced wobble and completely ineffective (rim) brakes in torrential conditions caused him to hit his son and take both of them down.
Yes, there's a pile of things that were probably done wrong - too fast for conditions, poorly seated tyre (seems to have been the starting point), poor/worn out brakes and the fact that he's not the world's greatest descender, but the reality is that, had he had disc brakes, a gentle application of the rear brake would have been guaranteed to stop the wobble in 100% of conditions.
Speaking personally, I've had a car pull out in front of me in wet conditions and I only just managed to avoid a collision thanks to some pretty heavy emergency braking. Had I not had discs, in anything other than perfectly dry conditions with a perfectly configured rim/brake setup, I'd have been pulling teeth out of her bonnet.
Yes, they can squeal a bit in the wet (blow torch!), but I'll take a bit of noise over expensive dental repairs any day of the week.
What I certainly wouldn’t choose now would be mechanical discs (I have BB5s on my gravel bike and IMO/IME they’re not that great). Fortunately mechanical discs are appearing less often on spec sheets, but there are a few companies still using them to hit a price point…
Went to an LBS earlier this year and was really disappointed to see piles of Giant bikes with their daft mechanical/hydraulic hybrid system. I thought that this had been relegated to history by proper hydraulic groupsets, but it seems that Giant must still have a warehouse full of them and are determined to use them up. It would certainly put me off buying any of these bikes!
Thanks again for all the many responses, I'm definitely saving up and going for discs. If anyone has any interest left, are Ultegra discs significantly better then 105?
Cheers
If you’re going to have disc brakes why opt for the inferior version? (aside from cost, which is ironically enough why I have them)…
Two fold.
1. Cost.
2. Ease of maintainance.
I have them on the touring bike because most faults can be repaired with a single hex key.
My hydraulic ones are better but the mechanicals are still streaks ahead of the rim brakes. (6600 and 6700 and Mavic sac's on carbon rims. )
Yes, there’s a pile of things that were probably done wrong – too fast for conditions, poorly seated tyre (seems to have been the starting point), poor/worn out brakes and the fact that he’s not the world’s greatest descender, but the reality is that, had he had disc brakes, a gentle application of the rear brake would have been guaranteed to stop the wobble in 100% of conditions.
I really don't get how you reckon disc brakes are the answer.
Worn out brakes affect discs too, and I really don't get how it helps with a poorly seated tyre.
are Ultegra discs significantly better then 105?
No
Two fold.1. Cost.
2. Ease of maintainance.I have them on the touring bike because most faults can be repaired with a single hex key.
A friend on TransCon used cable disc brakes, her reckoning being that as she wasn't very mechanically minded, she'd find it easier to work with cables (and local shops probably more able to supply cables) than potentially ending up with a hydro leak or other problem.
Ended with her up at about 3000m in some mountain range in the pouring rain, bitterly cold as she tried to unfreeze cables and adjust pads. Hydros would just have worked.
IME, cable disc brakes are the worst of both worlds.
I have things the wrong way round. My all year round commuter bike (Genesis Equilibrium) has rim brakes - TRP-RG957s. My nice bike, which only really sees the summer months (Canyon ultimate) has disk brakes.
Tbe genesis gets ridden in all conditions - rain, sleet and the small amount of snow we might get in London. The TRPs are actually excellent - so no you don't NEED disks, but if I was buying a bike, I doubt I'd be looking at rim brakes. Disks are better, they modulate more effectively and make a lot more sense. I've had some high speed scares with cars turning across me on the canyon and managed to avoid crashing - I don't think I would have avoided the crash with rim brakes.
Just got a new bike and gone from 105 to Ultegra - can't say I've noticed any real improvement in braking or shifting to be honest.