Are Shimano road discs better than their mtb brakes?

I have just ordered a new road bike that comes with shimano di2 and hydraulic discs. I have tried plenty of shimano brakes on mtb’s but never liked them compared to my hopes. They always seem initially powerful but then no more powerful regardless of how hard you squeeze. I know they also suffer from reliability issues from reading on here, friends with them and the mechanics at my lbs. It’s not too bad on the mtb brakes where the lever is stand alone but it sounds like it would be expensive to replace a brake / shifter di2 hood just because of a seal that’s failed. Regardless really I’m stuck with them and I’m sure they will be fine.

I can’t say much about reliability as the ones on my Defy are only a couple of months old, but they are certainly smooth, powerful and easy to modulate. When pressing the brake resting on the hood it does take a bit more effort than on the drops

But then I have always found XT brakes to be reliable and powerful. I have Hope X2 Evo’s on my 29ers and I find them less easy to modulate than the XT’s and require a harder pull.

It was a defy I wanted until I saw the new 2017 tcr disc. I guess anything will be better than the current campag rim brakes I have. Not that there is anything wrong with them just not as good as any (good) hydraulic discs I have tried.
I agree to a point about the x2’s I have them on my anthem and for an xc bike they are perfect. I wouldn’t want them for a bigger bike as they would lack power but I still think the modulation and feel is excellent.

I have an RLT9 with ultegra Di2 and hydros and they are the dogs danglies. I wouldn’t worry about them. G

If your worrying about Shimano brakes then you really are a stress head. They are quality stoppers – get out and ride 😉

I’m definitely not stressed I just don’t like any of the mtb brakes shimano make and I’m hoping the road ones are better. Like I said the bike is coming with them regardless so I’m sure I’ll get used to them.

It’s a legitimate question to ask.

I’m not anti disc brakes on road bikes, but they’re bound to be less reliable than calipers. And despite having shimano brakes on my MTBs, I must admit they have their quirks.

Love mine – totally reliable and well worth it, especially in the wet. Great brakes …

You think disc brakes on road bikes need to be as good as mtb brakes?

You think disc brakes on road bikes need to be as good as mtb brakes?

Better.

Using discs on my 700c commuter and use them much harder than I do on my MTB, tons of grip on tarmac, you can really explore a brakes power limits, not so off-road as the surface is usually the limiting factor.

My R785s have done over 10k miles since installed in November 2014. No problems at all so far.

Better.

Using discs on my 700c commuter and use them much harder than I do on my MTB,

That’s just ridiculous! I’ve never needed anywhere near the full power of my Shimanos on the road. Would be skidding all over the place. One day maybe I’ll need to emergency stop and haul on them but until then its just gentle feathering.
Exploring a brake’s limits 😆 😆

Exploring a brake’s limits

😀

I still stand by the comment that I use my brakes much more aggressively on road than I do off, the loose surface is often the limiting factor off road and not so many 30+ mph descents into a T junctions/lights etc.

Have a think about why road bikes still have caliper brakes that mtbs evolved from back in the 90s…

Bloody UCI that’s why

Absolutely with dirty dog… I use my r785s hard. Probably harder than mtb brakes where the loose surface breaks traction easier.

Dez you are probably not riding fast enough on the road hey? 😉

One think to watch with the shimanos is the lever travel. Search back on my previous threads…. Many people report long travel (almost to bars). Swapping hose to xt/slx version solves the problem.

Shimano brakes do have quite a lot of free lever travel, but I think this is the trade off for better pad clearance. I’ve got Shimano on one bike, and SRAM on the other. Much less free travel on the SRAMs, but also seem to be much more sensitive to caliper alignment.

Not sure about rim brakes being more or less reliable. The rate at which rim brakes eat pads (and rims..) on wet group rides has caught me out out a few times. I guess that’s poor maintenance rather than reliability, but they’re not exactly fit and forget.

Braking is so much about feel tbh. Shimano (very rough stereotyping) tend to ramp up fast and have a lot of initial bite, which I don’t really like. Hope tend to be much more progressive and subtle, which some people don’t like as it can feel less immediate and less impressive. But people like everything to be better/worse and talk about “better feel” so it makes these conversations all a bit of a bollocks tbh.

Reliability’d be my only concern, and parts availability, for inexpensive mtb parts where Shimano shine it’s not that massive a drawback that you can’t get most parts- a new deore caliper is a reasonable way to obtain a set of seals and a lever isn’t the end of the world. But brifters ain’t cheap.

Bloody UCI that’s why

Absolutely with dirty dog… I use my r785s hard. Probably harder than mtb brakes where the loose surface breaks traction easier.

Dez you are probably not riding fast enough on the road hey

UCI? Holy shit.. some one back me up on this? Its coz caliper brakes aren’t powerful en… I can t believe I’m needing to discuss this!
You definitely aren’t riding fast enough OFFROAD (or riding offroad at all?, if you’re braking harder on the road!!
Utter bollocks that you need better brakes on a road bike, utter and complete bollocks.

Who plopped in your pudding Dez? Chill out man! Its not bollocks at all… You have your opinion I have mine.

The limiting factor in how hard you can stop is the grip of your tyres. On tarmac you can brake harder because you have more grip.

Thats nothing to do with how powerful the brakes have to be.
It’s not even a matter of opinion, its bloody obvious!
But I know you’re just winding me up, so I’ll leave you to it.

Why is it obvious? Road bikes have more grip therefore can make use of more powerful brakes.

I know you’re just winding me up

Tbf you appear to be doing as pretty good job of it yourself…

Speeds are (much) higher on the road and grip is also generally higher so more powerful brakes for the road make lots of sense to me.

I thought one of the long-standing arguments for NOT having disk brakes on road bikes was that the thin tyres couldn’t handle any more braking force anyway?

Yes under braking a 25c tyre at 100psi with its massive footprint has loads more grip than a 2.3 soft compound tyre at 20psi.

I feel more confident doing very fast road descents on my Shimano RS685 disc braked CX bike than my Campag Super Record rim braked road bike. The discs are always consistent no matter the weather and the modulation is better.

tarmac has much more grip than gravel

Velcro Has more grip than the crap I just did.