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Pfffffffffffffffffft
Can't argue with that logic.
in as much as they would look better without, yes. Rims too deep-section for that frame to pull off too IMHO.
It'd still look much better without the discs tho
Blue seatposts are ugly!
I actually think that's mingin,
Silly skinny 'guess how light my saddle is' chair, silly shaped drops, shimano, discs. Not for me sorry boss.
its nicer looking than any mountain bike with disks.
standard brake calipers are invisible from the rider's perspective.
so from that perspective - they might look even more ugly.
It'd still look much better without the discs tho
All round ugly bike, weird stem and seatpost colour combo, spacers under the stem and no matter what Shimano do their chainsets are ugly.
All those spaces in the steerer tube and you're discussing ugly discs.
Blue seatpost and stem, very early 90's
It could have done with a more inspired paintjob, but it's a nice bike.
Black seatpost, stem and handlebar tape that would look fine.
Don't like that at all, and yes, disks are ugly.
Discs on road bikes aren't ugly full stop
They ARE ugly. And stupid. Double full stop.
If someone can remind me how to stick up a piccie i'd put one up of my C-59disc.
I appreciate i may be biased, but it is just about perfect!!!
and don't get me started on just how much better they are!
Sniff
I may be ugly, I may be stupid.
But my bike sure isn't!!
Sniff
Road bikes are ugly. I can't quite get my head around anyone looking at a road bike with lust. Maybe it's a Lycra thing...
If someone can remind me how to stick up a piccie i'd put one up of my C-59disc.
The Colnago disc equipped bikes are better than the others, especially with Campag kit on, but they non disc bikes they do are better looking.
C59 Disc:
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Hidden brakes look even better:
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All disc equipped road bikes just look like 'cross bikes. Not necessarily a bad thing, but they're at odds with the often 'delicate' looking nature of them.
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C59, non disc.
All disc equipped road bikes just look like 'cross bikes. Not necessarily a bad thing, but they're at odds with the often 'delicate' looking nature of them.
Carbon road bikes with aero wheels look a lot less delicate than old steelies - it's just about what we're used to.
Black wheels and groupsets on bikes are a bloody abomination. They make bikes (or anything lse) look "heavy" and a bike should be pretty.
disc brakes on road bikes are function over form.
they just make a road bike look all a bit .... agricultural.
Carbon road bikes with aero wheels look a lot less delicate than old steelies - it's just about what we're used to.
Don't disagree, but discs take it up a notch!
What's the STW collective verdict on this one:
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RM.
[i]Hidden brakes look even better:[/i]
I win! I win! They're there, just the top of the forks, like most other road bikes with non-disk brakes!
the thing that most makes the Stoempen in the OP look ugly is the industrial/agricultural frame tubing dimensions - not for me, sorry
^^^ that Cannondale is the worst of all.
Look OK in a farmer's field going round and round.
Or on a commute.
I win! I win! They're there, just the top of the forks, like most other road bikes with non-disk brakes!
haha, was thinking rear, more than front. The Madones do look really clean. The downside is that the brakes are shit, but y'know.
^^^ that Cannondale is the worst of all.
Agreed, hideous.
C59 disk is lovely too, I prefer the look of having all the gubbins round the hubs, cleaner forks and seatstays.
First bike is ugly and it is not the disks that make it so. Aero brakes, however are less ugly, although modulation is not as nice as dual pivots. And don't get me started on swapping wheels with different rim widths
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The C59 with normal brakes looks much nicer.
Lifer,
I concur! When you take a close look at the disc set up compared to callipers, you start to realise how ugly callipers are. in the case of road bikes, we are just too used to seeing them!
Sniff
Orbea Avant.
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First bike is ugly and it is not the disks that make it so. Aero brakes, however are less ugly, although modulation is not as nice as dual pivots. And don't get me started on swapping wheels with different rim widths
That's gopping because you're running 6600 STIs with that TT cable routing, I'd be convinced I'd be catching my hands on those loops!
😆
Oh I never claimed it was a looker (it isn't 🙂 ), but I like the brake detailing. The 6600 is from the old bike (and shifts better than the 6700) and I've rerouted the cables now after the crash. It is aero though!
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The BMC Time Machine has proper hidden brakes, but angular aero frames are not pretty imo.
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They are ugly but not as ugly as derailleurs or excessive logos and we seem to put up with those.
The Propel is a good looking bike in the flesh, like most Aerobikes are, in pics however they often look weighted or static and we all know thats not the best image to take with you for an Aerobike is it.
As for Discs, phah! No place on a Roadie, the C59 sans discs is a winner, both the BMC and Propel are neat.
If you are a commuter then discs are fine anything other than going to/from the office though is well, embarrassing 😆
I think this looks quite nice but I don't know why.
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Synapse disc is the disc road bike by which others will be measured in the future, if the rave reviews are anything to go by. I've just ridden the ali 105 disc version and it handled as well as my Roubaix SL4.
globalti - Member
Synapse disc is the disc road bike by which others will be measured in the future, if the rave reviews are anything to go by.
Can you point us to these reviews? I was looking at this bike earlier today and I'm strangely drawn to it ..... must resist
It's all about the cycling though, isn't it? What matters about a bike is whether it enhances your cycling by being lighter, or faster, or more comfortable, or more reliable, or more fun, etc. I can't ever remember riding along in the moment thinking about how my bike looks!
how's about this then.
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Synapse disc is the disc road bike by which others will be measured in the future, if the rave reviews are anything to go by. I've just ridden the ali 105 disc version and it handled as well as my Roubaix SL4.
This is interesting - as above a nudge in the direction of some reviews would be great. All I saw when I previously looked were 'preview' type write ups.
It caught my eye on line and I took a quick peek at one over the Easter weekend - didn't feel particularly lightweight, but maybe I was expecting too much.
RM.
Floating rotors. That is all.
Sloping top tube is never going to look pretty.
Discs neither improve the looks nor make them uglier, certainly no more than Shimano chainsets and derailleurs with big ugly motors.
Those cannondales both look hideous, the front wheel looks like its a mile from where it should be. The angles look all wrong.
Gary_M - MemberÂ
Those cannondales both look hideous, the front wheel looks like its a mile from where it should be. The angles look all wrong.
Okay, let us benefit from your wisdom; post a picture of what a road bike should look like
The Synapse looks like a hybrid with drops retro-fitted.
I'm very conservative re bikes looks, until I ride something that works demonstrably better, at which point some switch in my head flips and it instantly becomes better looking*.
*The bike, not my head.
Something like this?
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7322/11664668684_9deb8313e8_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7322/11664668684_9deb8313e8_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/iLLtBj ]Singlespeed Peregrine[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/36022173@N08/ ]paulfulford[/url], on Flickr
The peregrine is nice in an old style classic way. Looks great for touring or audax but it doesn't conjure up images of speed, just comfort.
Its very subjective but what do you lot expect to see when you think of road bike?
Meh, you're all picking the wrong Cannondales...
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What's the point of such a big cutaway?
Seems like a terrible engineering solution to me
Frame and fork built heavier to cope with the stresses of the brake forces & torque being applied at the furthest point, Wheels have to be heavier to cope with the same so the spokes don't rip out of the rim.
Quick wheel changes pretty much gone (obviously an issue for pro riders, not the rest of us)
The 'hidden' brake on the Trek shown above was a genius idea - the brake is positioned at the stiffest point of the bike (Ah, U brakes, there's a memory!)
Why are quick wheel changes gone?
Weight not an issue unless minimum weight limit comes down.
The BMC is nice - looks like a proper racing road bike should look, fast and aggressive and low.
Problem is that because disc road bikes are currently illegal for racing, the only disc road bikes out there are "sportive" models with stupid angles, short top tubes and long head tubes so that fat mamils can fit on them. So none of them look "right".
What I'd love to see is a Di2 and full hydraulic equipped bike with full internal routing including having the hose run inside the fork leg, popping out just above the caliper. And the bike should look racy. Low front end, proper angles, close clearances. When I win the lottery, English Cycles will be getting a call from me to make a bike to that description!
Tell them to make two!
Is this thread a competition to post the most gopping disk brake road bike, because they're steadily getting worse!
I think they make a nice option for a winter / commuter bike. I'd have something like this...
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Nothing has to be built stronger for discs, unless the braking force that they can provide is increased....assuming you have the grip available from the tyres to use that extra braking capability. The bottom of the forks may have to be stiffer, but the crown of the fork doesn't have to be as strong as no caliper is being bolted there, so you gain a bit of weight in one part of the fork, and loose the same in another.
When you are braking you're trying to twist the rim around the hub. This is the same with disc brakes as for rim brakes, the spokes will not see a difference.
The thing I struggle with regarding disc brakes on road race bikes, is that you're limited to the grip available from the tyres. In can easily lock up with rim brakes, so the extra braking force of disk brakes is useless. Also from an aerodynamic point of view I can't see how you can make a disk setup as aerodynamic as calipers which can be faired in on sculpted carbon bikes, especially TT bikes.
But for normal recreational bikes disc brakes make sense. They're better in wet conditions, easier maintenance and with bigger tyres with more grip, offer better braking performance. Horses for courses, there is no one size fits all solution.
This kinda disputes the OP's theory
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Lots of things make a bike ugly:
Any frame design other than thin, straight round steel tubes.
Deep section rims.
Black components (not including cables, saddles, tyres or bar tape).
Slammed stems.
Stickers.
Cross levers.
But discs?
Discs are fine, providing all the above rules are followed.
When you are braking you're trying to twist the rim around the hub. This is the same with disc brakes as for rim brakes, the spokes will not see a difference.
Think about that again 😉
[quote=wobbliscott ]Nothing has to be built stronger for discs, unless the braking force that they can provide is increased....assuming you have the grip available from the tyres to use that extra braking capability. The bottom of the forks may have to be stiffer, but the crown of the fork doesn't have to be as strong as no caliper is being bolted there, so you gain a bit of weight in one part of the fork, and loose the same in another.
If anything, the crown of a disc brake fork has to be beefed up even more than the bottom, as not only do you have the reaction torque from the brake acting there (which you don't get with a rim brake), that force is also asymmetric resulting in a twisting at the crown which has to be resisted. The strength required to support a rim brake at the crown is minor in comparison. It's not a huge, huge difference, but like for like a disc fork will be noticeably heavier.
just noticed that synapse a few posts up has radial spokage on the front 😯
[quote=bob_summers ]just noticed that synapse a few posts up has radial spokage on the front
It does indeed 😆 - though that is possibly a photoshop job or some other sort of mockup, as the otherwise identical show bike doesn't seem to have that problem
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(I note there's also no sign of any valves in the pic above)
[i]Okay, let us benefit from your wisdom; post a picture of what a road bike should look like[/i]
That comes across as though you sound very offended. I apologise for not liking the look of a bike that you clearly do like
Ok bob, I did think about it again and see where I went wrong 😳
Not a brake in sight, simply stunning.
No disks on (proper)road bikes please.
[img][URL= http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff215/sputnik_photos/5D052D68-0DCD-4B7B-8B46-85BE0EA644B9_zpsnqy5jsmg.pn g" target="_blank">
http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff215/sputnik_photos/5D052D68-0DCD-4B7B-8B46-85BE0EA644B9_zpsnqy5jsmg.pn g"/> [/IMG][/URL][/img]
A clubmate has one of those ^ and was saying the brakes felt a bit vague. Also, the OE Look chainset seemed to confuse the Di2, though that might be sorted by now. Not a bad looking thing though, certainly can't see how discs would spoil it.
The paint and decals are too lairy for me but this is lovely
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http://www.englishcycles.com/custombikes/zachs-road-race-disc/
Bob, you have to be taking the piss...that's [b][i]GOPPING[/i][/b].
despite, or because of the discs? 😀
Despite, it's truly awful
I hadn't noticed the discs...I can't get past the God-awful rims!
most of us could never afford the most of the bikes on the photos
So saying they look great or shit is academic, you'll never ride it anyway
it's not tho, saying they ride shit would be.
[quote=bob_summers ]despite, or because of the discs?
As Rusty says, the one advantage of the rest of it is that you don't immediately notice the discs.
[quote=ElShalimo ]most of us could never afford the most of the bikes on the photos
So saying they look great or shit is academic, you'll never ride it anyway
Rubbish. Most of us could easily afford all the bikes in the pictures. Plenty of us own and ride bikes more expensive than a lot of them. In any case that issue is totally irrelevant to the point.