[Closed] Where are we with disks on road bikes currently?

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One crash and you'll be cut to ribbons, just like with mountain bikes.

I have some, nice, especially on long descents and in the damp/wet. Cable so the down side is needing to adjust for pad wear. Only problem in a group was being able to brake well when I wanted and getting used to lighter braking.

At the risk of killing many puppies.

I love em. Would not have swapped them on the wet Mixed terrain Audax on Sunday. One bloke did comment he was "over" the cantis on a more traditional bike. But other than than that why worry unless you are buying a new bike.
If buying a new bike I would not worry either way. Buy the one you want whatever stoppers it comes with.

105 hydros on mine if that helps. The Ultegra seem only to have different STI. The caliper and pads are the same.
Discs though are here to stay I believe.

Where are we with disks on road bikes currently?

Stopping quicker and with modulation in all weathers. As long as you don't crash, if you crash your limbs will be ripped off and what's left of your torso will have a plethora of lacerations.

Discs caused Sagan's crash on sunday even though non of the riders had discs, fact.

Discs caused Sagan's crash on sunday even though non of the riders had discs, fact.

unless you are buying a new bike.

I may have ro choose a warranty replacement. Currently is Colnago AC-R 105 Caliper stick wheelset or Eastway Ultegra disk with Dt Swiss RR21 dicut. Name vs package obviously, but i wanted to know if the disks on the latter are somethimg to avoid or not.

Seriously, they'd be brilliant on long, alpine-style descents and in the wet - have them on the cross bike - the one cogent argument i've heard against them is that tight group riding on descents can get really iffy with a mix of disc and rim brakes if you have a rider who corners more slowly, but can slow down more rapidly.

Of course it doesn't sit well with the innate humourless, conservatism of some more 'traditional' rodies - think people who believe 'The Rules' are for real - but technology has a way of generating unstoppable momentum, so I can't see them going away any time soon.

UCI test footage showing disc brakes in action:

Love 'em - would never go back. Hated riding the roadie due to the brakes (they just felt "soft" and I lacked confidence braking) and being spoilt with discs on the MTB for so long.

Bought a bike with cable discs - they were good, but upgraded to hydro - wow.

105 hydro on winter/bad weather/commuter bike and ultegra/RS685 on nice bike. Same calipers on both, so one type of pad required in the spares box.

A

Where are we?

Still talking about them on forums like there's even a discussion to be had 😉

I'm a fan, don't see any downside for the type of riding I do (although bleeding disc brakes on MTBs is one of my least favourite jobs so not looking forward to that). I can see that for some riding they have little or no advantage (and maybe a slight disadvantage when weight or aero are the primary concern) but they're a lots more beneficial areas than just on long alpine descents or in the wet.

IMO there's no way I'd go back to a bike with caliper brakes. Discs are much better in every way for me.

[I]the one cogent argument i've heard against them is that tight group riding on descents can get really iffy with a mix of disc and rim brakes if you have a rider who corners more slowly, but can slow down more rapidly[/I]

I remember my Dad (in the car trade from the 50's to 80's) telling me that when disc brakes on cars first started to appear folk would worry about braking in too short a distance and the vehicle behind running in to them.

So he use to ask was that worse than running headlong into something in the first place...

I have Shimano RS785 disc brakes and they sqeal like a scene straight out of Deliverance and just about bring the bike to a stop. Eventually.

I remember my Dad (in the car trade from the 50's to 80's) telling me that when disc brakes on cars first started to appear folk would worry about braking in too short a distance and the vehicle behind running in to them.

So he use to ask was that worse than running headlong into something in the first place...

Yeah, that's fine for the person with the discs, but more of an issue for someone with rim brakes who finds themselves out-braked with nowhere to go.

Was talking to someone who guides on and off road for a living and he had exactly this problem with a group he was guiding.

Not saying it should stop anyone buying discs btw, just that it's one thing to be aware of.

If I was buying a new road bike I'd probably go for one with disks however initial concerns about the braking on my current road bike were resolved by changing to decent rim brakes (Shimano 105's from crappy Tektros) and, most importantly, decent pads.

I'm ambivalent, I went to discs for mtb in 98, when no one else had, also went (cable) disc on road 7 years ago. Admittedly that bike is a Trek Portland so it has the disadvantage of handling like an Austin Allegro.
What I've really been waiting for is proper integrated hydro discs, for regular road riding - so in the absence until the last 2 years my best bike has a full Campag Chorus caliper groupset. I've always been a Campag rider, but they've really dropped it on discs - an EPS hydro groupset would have been fantastic.
However, that's clearly 4 or 5 years away so I've got an Etap HRD groupset on order - originally to be delivered Jan 17, but now tentatively May 17.

I've got one road bike of each type. I prefer the rim braked one in good weather as it's lighter and I like the ride a bit better. I keep the disc bike at work as it gets ridden in all weathers and, disintegrating BB30 aside, it's more confidence inspiring on a descent.

I'm not sure this 'out braked' argument stacks up. I have to adjust my rim brakes off to avoid them locking up the wheels. Hence Campag making single pivot rears etc.

Even hitting alpine desents hard stopping power just isnt an issue.

Not to say discs dont have virtues btw.

just about bring the bike to a stop. Eventually.

If like me you are typical STW body-shape this may be a pie related issue not one caused by the brakes per se! 8)

I've never seen a problem with riders in groups having differen types of brakes. I've used my canti equipped cross bike as my winter bike and the brakes on that are no where near as good as normal road brakes and it's never been a problem riding in groups or doing chaingangs etc.

I've also been in crit races where the odd person is racing on a cross bike with cantis. Ian Field (CX National Champion) used to.

It seems odd that you are allowed to race on the road with crap brakes but not good ones.

[Edited to make more sense]

wilburt - Member
I'm not sure this 'out braked' argument stacks up. I have to adjust my rim brakes off to avoid them locking up the wheels. Hence Campag making single pivot rears etc.

What I meant to say above is that in any given group of riders (on road bikes) with people of different weights, with different tyres and different types of rim brakes - some set up better than other - there will be a pretty wide range of braking ability. I'm not sure adding disks to the mix makes any difference.

I've got a 2013 Giant Defy with 105 calliper brakes, and a 2016 Arkose with 105 Hydros.

The Giant has decent rims (Pacenti) and Swisstop green pads.

In the dry, the Giant stops fine, I've only ever had once incidence of brake fade (big road decent in Wales) which might have been due to me dragging the brakes.
It can be a bit crap in the wet though.

When they are working properly, the brakes on the Arkose are really good - especially in the wet.
However, I've had big issues trying to set them up/bed them in.
The front is now fine, but the rear brake is on its second disc and 3rd set of pads.
They are very fussy about contamination (one spec of oil and they are squealing)
Neither end is as good as the 2 year old Deores on my MTB, which just work.

I don't think I'd buy another bike with these particular brakes, as they are just too 'high maintenance' for my liking.

I'm not sure this 'out braked' argument stacks up. I have to adjust my rim brakes off to avoid them locking up the wheels. Hence Campag making single pivot rears etc.

It's a real life example recounted by a real life guide. I'd agree that in ideal situations, well set up rim brakes work just fine and arguably the main issue in that scenario was that the rider with disc brakes was less confident and was cornering at lower speeds, but braking later. Maybe the discs enabled that, but it seems reasonable that there were other factors at play too.

Anyway, if I were speccing a new road bike, I'd go for discs, no question. I'm more concerned with long, alpine descents and wet weather performance along with not wearing out expensive rims.

aP
I've always been a Campag rider, but they've really dropped it on discs - an EPS hydro groupset would have been fantastic.
However, that's clearly 4 or 5 years away so I've got an Etap HRD groupset on order - originally to be delivered Jan 17, but now tentatively May 17.

Campagnolo are notoriously fussy about releasing new stuff only when it's been properly tried & tested - the eps gear was floating around for donkeys on pro bikes before it got released - the most recent pics of their disc brakes look pretty close to being finished though, not sure if 2017 is being a bit optimistic mind...

[img] ?itok=lYR6AfY9[/img]

As for discs, I have Spyres on my commuting bike & they've been pretty good as long as I remember to adjust the pads every now and again, Campagnolo Athena calipers on one road bike & Ultegra 6800 calipers on another - the calipers on both are easily as good as the Spyres (probably better in fact) but both of those bikes are much better maintained, the commuting bike barely gets touched week to week & gets exposed to all sorts of crap & just works well pretty much all the time - had the cables freeze a couple of months back though - wouldn't be an issue with hydros.

For a money-no-option bike, i'd probably go for something with hydro discs & fancy wheels, but you'll always get much more for your money with calipers - especially for a "nice day" bike that won't see massive miles per year where discs might not be a huge advantage - but if it's going to be run in all weathers then discs are a good bet. Upgrading is something to think about too - you won't get many disc wheelsets under 1700g for less than £400 & many of the disc wheelsets on bikes are 2kg+

Ok, so its comes down to a Colnago with shit wheels & 105 vs and an Eastway covered in Ultegra & Ritchey with good wheels.

Whats in a name... 😀

They're still to expensive or shit IMO.

I've had discs on my roadie/commuter for a year and wouldn't go back, but the cheap cable calipers I can afford are toss. One's gone in the bin already, second isn't far behind. Had to replace with one of similar dubious quality due to financial constraints and I can't see it lasting.

I'm going to get a set of spyres when the next one dies (hopefully just before!) because upgrading to hydros is far far far far far too expensive aftermarket. Not least because I'll have to replace at least part of my groupset too.

Go with the best vfm, says way more than a name.
I recently bought my first road bike with sportive style in mind rather than racing so went with hydro spyres as a compromise.
Fwiw I'm not much of a bike fettler and fall into the camp of finding hydros great when they work and a screechy pita when they underperform. I've a mix of road/mtb so have 2x shimano hydros, 1x hydro spyres, 1x cable discs and 1 x rim brakes. The Avid bb7s have so far been the best overall combo and I've yet to do anything but grimace when the hydros show sign of a problem.

Kryton57 - Member
Ok, so its comes down to a Colnago with shit wheels & 105 vs and an Eastway covered in Ultegra & Ritchey with good wheels.

One of these? They look great value for the price - the 105 version with carbon frame & hydros is £900 😮

[img] ?itok=bnL-h4ov[/img]

Was thinking about the 105 one as a new commuter but then bought a bargain Genesis Volare 853 on bloody ebay instead 😆

Yes one of those albeit the Ultegra version.

However, my Wiggle voucher for it would be valid for a year and they've confirmed my broken warrantied Bianchi won't be coming back ever if I accept it. I could wait around for more bargains but would go a summer without a "good" bike.

Hmmm

I dont understand why all road bikes dont have hydros now, or at the min cables. They are so much better than than the "old fashioned brakes". There is a reason why MTB's all have them - they are a zillion times better. Plus there is no rim wear. I have gone through about 5 sets of wheels on my commuter due to brake pad wear on the rim. Currently looking for a hydro drop bar bike that isn't stupid money. If they increase in popularity then hopefully the price of them will decrease.

Where are we on riding so tightly together on public roads that you can't respond to someone else braking without crashing into them?

😉

I dont understand why all road bikes dont have hydros now, or at the min cables. They are so much better than than the "old fashioned brakes".

Better in some ways, maybe not in others (weight/value for money perhaps). A lot depends on usage - lots of "best" road bikes won't get much use in wet weather so for those hydro's can be a disadvantage as they'd add weight at the same cost point. For an everyday commuter bike doing big mileages then I'd definitely go hydro discs (in fact I did). For a proper roadie bike I'd also probably prefer discs but not so much that I'd change my current bikes to get them.

I've got two road bikes with discs and two road bikes with rim brakes. One disc braked bike gets used for 30 miles in all weathers every day, the other barely gets used at all. Similarly, one rim braked bike gets used weekly (some racing, lots of training) and the other barely gets used at all.

I've done around 3k miles on the disc braked commuter - in that time I've done three sets of pads (TRP Hy/Rd) and it normally needs a cable adjustment on a weekly basis (a previous post on here pointed out that Hy/Rd's are very sensitive to how the cable is adjusted). I've since got rid of them and the last 200 miles have been done on RS785's.

There's no two ways about it, disc brakes stop you better. My riding is through London, so a lot of swerving and braking required and rim brakes simply can't compete on stopping power and modulation compared to discs. HOWEVER, even now with fresh discs and perfectly aligned calipers they still rub. The other bike also has RS785's and they do similar. Both bikes have decent wheels, decent brakes and I spend time keeping on top of maintenance yet I still can't get them to stop rubbing.

There's also the weight factor. The non-commuter disc bike has quite a pimp build, the top end hydro's, Hunt wheels, light frame and decent finishing kit. It's still 8.1kg. My Cervelo with a similar build and similar weight frame and fork still comes in nearly 1.3kg lighter. On a sunny day when I want to do a decent mileage at a decent pace I'll ALWAYS take the rim braked bike.

For me, were I to buy another disc braked roadie, it'd need a decent set of wheels and either Force/Rival hydro or RS785's. Would also need the proper shimano rotors as I'm forever warping or bending the one piece avid style ones.

Finally, I think you really need bolt-thru on a disc roadie - QR's are (from my experience) the main culprit for brake rub. That Eastway looks to have QR's which would be a deal breaker for me..

Bez - Member
Where are we on riding so tightly together on public roads that you can't respond to someone else braking without crashing into them?

You've obviously never had me draft you for 10 miles on a Friday night heading home 😆

Interested in more comments re QR on disc bikes?

Note here I could get an Ultegra Vitus with QR15 for my Warranty Budget and have £200 left for a pair of Oakleys I need...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vitus-zenium-sl-pro-disc-ultegra-2017-road-bike/

You've obviously never had me draft you for 10 miles on a Friday night heading home

That wouldn't happen. Anyone trying to draft me tends to find that depending on how I'm feeling I either drop the hammer or I gradually slow down until they get fed up 😉

Interested in more comments re QR on disc bikes?

To be fair, QRs and discs have been mainstream for, what, nigh on 20 years now? And they show little sign of disappearing. I don't think futureproofing will be a compelling argument against them for a while, unless you want to always be at the leading edge of technology in the market.

QR disc bikes are OK, as long as you use decent QRs.

And by decent I mean Shimano, and nothing else. And then they have to be done up tight.

I've done about 10000 miles on a QR disc bike, when I got new wheels I had to nick the QRs off my old ones as I was pulling the rear wheel out of line and the front was creaking.

I'd like to think that was due to my enormous power, but I've not had an issue on any other non disc bike (and I had the same problem on my old Voodoo Bizango)

Aye, been using Shimano skewers with discs on and off road for over 15 years, haven't had a problem yet. Ooh, anecdata 😉

I'm a bit ambivalent.

I've got Campag SR rim brakes on the summer bike and RS685 discs on the winter one.

In terms of brute stopping power the discs win hands down, they still work in the wet, and you're not knackering your rims up.

However I really struggle with modulation/feel with the discs - especially in thick gloves, not helped by Shimano's awful ergonomics*. Feeling the limit of traction on the rear wheel in the wet is nigh on impossible and after a couple of "moments" I've now ended up mincing wet twisty road descents far more on the disc bike than I used to on my old rim braked one, which kind of defeats the point.

In comparison the sidepulls have a much heavier pull and much more feel. In the dry I can still stop very quickly indeed - as much as the tyres will allow - it just needs more effort. Stoppies aren't a problem either, although as above it needs a bit more effort put in.

The hydro ones are also SODDING heavy compared to sidepulls. I was genuinely shocked by how much of a lump the RS685 STI is.

*I've relatively small hands for a bloke. To be able to actually get a finger tip [i]round[/i] the end of the Shimano lever in big gloves, I have to run them wound very close in.(mostly because if you put any sideways pressure on the lever it just moves out the way). The levers have loads of freestroke in them, (and yes I have adjusted it as far as it goes) and so they bite very close to the bar.

What my ideal setup would be is a Campag lever running Shimano calipers and mechs. We'll have to wait and see what happens...