and the aesthetics…the look dreadful.
Most things take a bit of getting used to, i’m sure the same was said of mountain bikes.
Word on the street is…road bikes will have them in the pro teams very shortly:
http://road.cc/content/news/49670-2012-cycling-trends-predictions
Road discs
This little lot is getting hidden away in 2012
4. Next up a technical prediction. Almost feel bad about calling this one a prediction, but I’m sticking it in to keep the average up… all that talk about disc brakes on road bikes? It ain’t talk.
The UCI technical bods may not have had any enquiries on the matter but they’d better start sharpening their pencils and designing the relevant sticker cos they are definitely coming. After all, they opened the door for all of this when they approved disc brakes for cross something everybody else and especially the bike industry spotted from the get-go.
Our industry spies tell us new road disc set ups have already been tested by some bike manufacturers, oh and get this while we’ve all been banging on about low weight and 140 or even 120 rotors… they’re actually going to be more like 180, with maybe 160 on the back. On a road bike it isn’t just about outright stopping power: it’s modulation, reliability and dependability in all weathers that counts. As the man we spoke to told us, the heat from an alpine descent just won’t dissipate through a small rotor. Of course you can make big discs light and there’s no reason disc brakes on a road bike should be at the cost of any real weight penalty at all particularly when most top end bikes are already easily lighter than the UCI’s 6.8Kg limit.
Some people aren’t going to like all this but basically disc brakes are simply another braking system and one that works better than the ones we’ve currently got. At the end of the day good brakes help you go faster, and while they might look odd at first, like other stuff that really works they won’t look odd for long.
Bonus prediction: Looking slightly further ahead, we wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of integrated set up of a Di2/hydraulic brake kind at Eurobike this year, technically it surely isn’t a biggie. Indeed sticking the master cylinder in to the hoods and then hooking the brakes up to the ‘brain’ opens up the possibility of ABS braking for bikes… which would be nice.
The only thing we don’t know is which of the big three component manufacturers is going to be first to market. We can probably discount Campagnolo because they don’t really have the background in this technology for bikes. That leaves SRAM and Shimano both of whom definitely do – SRAM own Avid. SRAM definitely have the incentive to pull something out of the bag because they have been totally left behind on electronic shifting, and word is that they have a big surprise in store when new Red launches in February, maybe this is it. Problem is if they are launching an integrated hydraulic road set up where will they put the master cylinder cos the lever hoods are full of mechanical bits – something that isn’t a problem for Shimano – unless SRAM shock us all by going electric too.
As we reported last month there are persistent rumours that the new Dura Ace Di2 will go 11 speed this year and disc brake compatible. Knowing Shimano if it’s them we’ll all be sworn to silence. So look out for a lot of nodding and winking come their 2012 press briefing in a few weeks time.
Hard graft this divination lark but pausing only for a revivifying slurp of flat prosecco I’ll press on. Next it’s events.
