I had a carbon disc brake road bike all year. Sold it in September and bought a carbon caliper brake road bike. Similar spend, new bike is 1kg lighter and silent to ride, accelerates faster as 300gm lighter wheels. Braking adequate in wet, not as bad as I assumed after hydro discs.

On a slight tangent, would you buy a 2016 bike without Di2?

I’ve never understood why disc brakes work better when rim brakes are working at the edge of the wheel where they can get a lot more leverage…

Teetosugars – Member
On a slight tangent, would you buy a 2016 bike without Di2?

Cant miss what ive never had 🙁
Sad to sad its out of my price range at the minute 🙁

SRAM e-tap with hydro discs

this is the thing worth waiting for if you’re going to go big – but the current mechanical kit is really good as are dual pivot callipers so if it’s a summer bike I wouldn’t be put off

having had BB7s on my cargo bike I wasn’t that impressed with them, I wouldn’t rush to go to cable discs

if you have one at the moment then hang on, if you don’t just go with what fits you and don’t bother too much about brakes

Hanging on for a year or two myself before splashing on fancy Ti or steel custom build with discs.

Discs will become the norm and will work better, weight will be negligible. I’m firmly in the progress camp

Dunno if it’s really progress or not.

It’d be easier if people just learnt how to ride their bikes properly; that’d be progress and wouldn’t require new brakes.

lightweight spangly summer racer i’d still get rim brakes now without a thought. Get some nice campag and it’ll be good for years.

Winter bike/commuter discs all the way.

Race bike and tt bike bike both run calipers, and don’t really feel either would really be better with disc’s. I do race in all weathers,but be interesting to see how things would shake down in a wet crit when disc and caliper riders are all diving for bends… But I have a synapse for winter/ commuter duties and a gt grade for tooling around on/off road, and both have disc’s and make perfect sense.

I have a touring bike with disks . The breaks are great. The bike is great. Except disk brakes require very strong fork blades. Strong fork blades can give you a harsh ride up front compared to more flexible thinner bladed touring forks.

I’m talking steel forks here. Not tried carbon disk forks so I don’t know if Carbon disk forks are equally unforgiving.

Not even on my radar.

Discs on a winter bike, along with clearance for 28’s and full mudguards is a no brainer… The longer chainstays, beefier frame and fork, minor toe overlap and extra heft that these features bring is by far and away less of a concern than being able to brake safely and consistently in the wet.

For summer use, I want short chainstays, less weight, a good choice of aero wheels and braking concerns are far less important.

I’ve got a nice Wilier on loan at the moment, and trying to get a few miles in on it before it has to go back. Took a risk taking it out twice this week in the less than perfect conditions, and had a few scary moments with carbon rims and 23c tyres on wet roads, that I know I wouldn’t have even batted an eyelid on the same bike in the dry. My winter bike on its 28’s with guards and SRAM Force discs is just rock steady safe and comfortable whatever the conditions, but it’s probably 1.5kg heavier and noticeably harder to keep the average speed up on it.

Discs are definitely the future, but right now they only make sense on a winter/wet weather bike to me. I’ll certainly be buying a new summer road bike in the next few months and it won’t have discs on it. But then as others have rightly pointed out, if you can only have one… The arguments for discs are stronger than the arguments against.

On a slight tangent, would you buy a 2016 bike without Di2?

Really don’t like the ergonomics of Di2 levers, and am fine with fettling mechanical gears to run sweetly all day long. Di2 does nothing for me at all…

SRAM Red eTap on the other hand… I’m all over that like a tramp on a plate of chips! Got to play with the demo setup at the NEC show and just like the original iPhone divided everyone’s opinion (and they have done ever since), I decided straight away that I loved the ergonomics and the simplicity of it and will definitely be buying into it.

Whilst Di2 is lovely, DA9000 shifting is just wonderful. The pinnacle of what is possible with a manual set up. It is so light and slick, that I would choose this over Di2. In fact I did.

Might go to ultegra Di2 one day one of the race bikes, but part of me thinks bikes should be manual devices with bowden cables. My DA9000 Defy SL makes me smile every time I shift. I know I’d get the same satisfaction from Di2, but for different reasons.

I went from a road bike to a fast hybrid with discs and for me, there’s nothing that rim brakes are competitive at. The feel and consistency of discs makes it a knock out- and I don’t even use high quality disc brakes, they’re ancient cheapies but they still beat the best road rim brakes I’ve used.

But I’m not a racer or even a serious roadie so my considerations probably aren’t the same as many others. I can definitely see a place for rim brakes, it’s just not in my garage.

It’d be easier if people just learnt how to ride their bikes properly; that’d be progress and wouldn’t require new brakes.

This.

Been road riding all winter, and can’t remember one occasion where I wished I had disks. Just adapt your riding for the conditions.

yeah, easily. In fact I did.

I’ve also got a gravel with discs, don’t see any real difference.

I’ve never understood why disc brakes work better when rim brakes are working at the edge of the wheel where they can get a lot more leverage…

Because the rim is aluminium alloy and will flex very slightly – they’re also doing the job of holding the tyre and being a structural part of the wheel so it’s already a compromised design. The brake calipers are being pulled by a cable, there’s some flex and inefficiency in the whole system and the contact area is quite limited and probably also compromised by road filth, water etc.

On a disc, you’ve got a flat steel braking surface with zero flex, bigger pads pushed in by hydraulic fluid and a flex free caliper. You can apply loads more force to it but it will still be applied in a progressive consistent manner.

To go back to your leverage analogy, it’s like using a thin weedy long lever versus a big tough short lever; you actually end up with more power on the shorter one.

IT must have Di2. I thought it wouldn’t be all that but it is very good. If you are not planning on racing then get discs. It is the future. I ‘ve just bought a rim brake bike and while they work fine in most conditions discs are just nicer (I have them on my cx so occasionally use them on the road).

Also you can run nice carbon rims without fear of wearing the brake surface down of bad weather braking nightmares.

If you are looking at Canyon, also consider Rose. Same idea, a bit cheaper.

Umm I guess it depends on whether I wanted discs on my bike 🙂

If you were looking to buy a road bike and didn’t know the answer to that question then the default should probably be yes!

Facepalm.

Mtbs, tandems, 50lbs touring bikes and cars need discs.

Road bikes do not. What ‘innovation’ will the manufacturers think of next to make people shake their heads in disbelief that everybody managed for so many years without, and proceed to throw thier cash at whichever cycling+ says is the best. In all my experience racing and riding road bikes, I can’t remember any occasion where my calipers were not powerful or effective enough; only when my tyres did not have enough grip for the road surface under braking.

If it ain’t broke, don’t innovate it.

I love the discs on my cross bike. I’ve never felt underbraked in the road bike however. I’d buy Di2 but for the road I’d stick with calipers

It’d be easier if people just learnt how to ride their bikes properly; that’d be progress and wouldn’t require new brakes

Except, bikes that ride notably better are a) nicer to ride b) nicer to own

It’s only natural to want to put ones money in camp a & b

I can continue working on becoming a better rider in the meantime.

Every time MTB’ing progressed over the last couple of decades there was a huge uprising of ‘if it ain’t broke’. I sat in the old school camp for years before eventually trying out a modern bike. It was night and day. I no longer turn my nose up at innovation. Disc wheels are better in practicality as well as aesthetics. Disc brakes are more effeicient when you really need them to be. No brainier

This old chestnut… Why worry about it?

I am pretty certain that I will eventually end up owning a road bike with discs, I already have a CX/gravel bike with them and the benefits are as obvious as the minor drawbacks (IMO), we all know the various points by now, on balance I will be happy jumping on the disc braked road bikes bandwagon sooner or later, as no doubt will many others…

However rim brakes do still work, they’ve not become an utterly ineffective technology overnight. I am certainly going to get my money’s worth out of my current road bike, and there’s still some very good rim braked road bikes out there, well worth the asking price today with a long functional life ahead of them…

Let the manufacturers, Pro-teams and UCI all piss about for a couple more years, what’s the rush? When they do all finally settle on what a “proper” road bike is deemed to be, then customers can decide if it’s actually worth it or not…

What ‘innovation’ will the manufacturers think of next to make people shake their heads in disbelief that everybody managed for so many years without, and proceed to throw thier cash at whichever cycling+ says is the best.

Maybe next year I might think about replacing my rim-braked road bike. If I do, I’ll get one with discs, because I can’t really see why you wouldn’t, based on my experience with them on my MTB.

Will the industry Man have taken me for a ride and made a sucker out of me? How?

What ‘innovation’ will the manufacturers think of next to make people shake their heads in disbelief that everybody managed for so many years without

This has been said many times, but people were managing perfectly well on sold tyres, lever-operated brakes, steel rims etc. etc. etc… If you’re riding anything that doesn’t have those things then the industry sure saw you coming, right?

Wout van aert, currently smashing every cross race he does, chooses cantis for his race bikes. So discs clearly don’t make much if any difference!

previous bike:

current bike:

just come back from riding in the rain, current bike seems to work safely enough with the blue swiss stop pads?

I really like the lack of brake lever rattle (a problem with the shimano hydro levers), lack of brake noise when climbing or sprinting, and overall lighter weight (1kg)of the current bike

the previous bike was a great bike for slower, longer distance riding in bad weather; if you have the time for long rides which I don’t anymore

would be interested to try something like a Tarmac Disc to see what hydro discs feel like in race platform

Wout van aert, currently smashing every cross race he does, chooses cantis for his race bikes. So discs clearly don’t make much if any difference

A few days before the Milton Keynes WC round Nys and Compton did a QA session at the local Trek store.
The disc question came up, both preferred cantis and went on to explain why. I did think ooh and in front of the Trek bods. Compton said she liked to use them ‘back home’ in dry conditions. Perhaps these world champion types can feel things we can’t?

No. Rim brakes can’t die fast enough for my liking.

The disc question came up, both preferred cantis and went on to explain why. I did think ooh and in front of the Trek bods. Compton said she liked to use them ‘back home’ in dry conditions. Perhaps these world champion types can feel things we can’t?

When I first used disc brakes I really didn’t like the way they felt. I can’t really explain it, and I even posted a topic about it at the time somewhere and made no sense then, but the only thing I can attribute it to, is the way you’re gripping the centre of the wheel, and the lack of feel this gives you. Whereas gripping the rim, it’s almost like a different gear. You feel more connected to the motion of the wheel. I could see why some might prefer them if they rode in dry conditions all the time.

In this country it’s a no brainer, and I’d go for discs every time if money were no object. Rim brakes are more than adequate 95% of the time on the road though, so it’s not a deal breaker, and I recently bought a brand new road bike with rim brakes.

Rogan Josh – Member

Facepalm.

Mtbs, tandems, 50lbs touring bikes and cars need discs.

Facepalm- using the word “need” in this thread.

Wout van aert, currently smashing every cross race he does, chooses cantis for his race bikes. So discs clearly don’t make much if any difference

At pro level CX, discs have been slow to catch on for the fairly simple reason that the supply wasn’t there.
Each rider will have at least 3 bikes, quite often 4 or 5. I’ve been to a Belgian CX race where one rider had 8!
Each bike will then have 2 or 3 sets of wheels (one set with slicks, one with semi-slicks and one with mud tyres).
That’s a HUGE amount of kit and certainly at first, Shimano simply couldn’t supply that much. Bear in mind that at that time, SRAM had all just been recalled and Campag – well they don’t have a disc brake at all.

The other thing about CX is you don’t stop, you just have to slow down occasionally so discs aren’t really the be all and end all.

It’s getting there – more and more riders are seeing the benefits especially on really muddy courses.

But it’s a point well missed anyway. Comparing your normal ride to a World Cup CX race is like me comparing my drive to the shops with Lewis Hamilton’s drive around Monaco…

Ive just bought a Focus Mares, with canti’s. But that’s a CX bike innit.

As for road bikes with discs, who really cares?

I have both, CXer has discs, new CXer has canti’s, roadie has canti’s …

I like canti’s ..

What do you like?

roadie has canti’s

eh ? 😯

I will be in 2016 – can’t see why you wouldn’t go disc. For me a lot of it is about wearing through expensive wheels regularly – with discs wheels can go on and on. I’m fed up of replacing wheels on the road bike which i commute on, can’t wait to upgrade to discs. Also better control and looks better too!

Well I replaced my summer roadie and my commuter last year. Neither remotely expensive enough to get a hydro disc groupset but discs for the commuter and rim brakes for the roadie.
I wouldn’t be getting a disc braked summer roadie even money no object. They’re more expensive and slightly heavier and less aero, and I just can’t get past that in my head. Plus the rim brakes work fine, if you don’t mind the sound of grindy rims-this may not be the case if I was wearing out full carbon rims…

I ride club runs every weekend and today was the first time I rode with someone with discs… overall I dont think road biking is quite as ‘latest technology’ obsessed as MTB + for summer/dry weather riding, the use case just isn’t there. I’m still on my original brake blocks on my summer bike after 6 years…

That said, there does seem to be a use case for winter/commuting although you really don’t brake that often on a winter ride so I’m still not convinced. I had a Roadrat for commuting for 5 years with Hope Minis on and I really never needed the power they had to be honest although I suppose it did mean my rims lasted without any wear.

IMO it’s the manufacturers doing a 27.5 on road bikes – pretending the demand is there whilst deliberately pushing built-in obsolescence on us. Bit of a con really, just bringing the same ethics as ‘fast fashion’ and consumer electricals to bikes…

bigdaddy said what I was planning on saying. Bear in mind that with discs the rims should last the lifetime of the bike.

I will be in 2016 – can’t see why you wouldn’t go disc. For me a lot of it is about wearing through expensive wheels regularly – with discs wheels can go on and on. I’m fed up of replacing wheels on the road bike which i commute on, can’t wait to upgrade to discs. Also better control and looks better too!

In fairness, my commuter has Open-Sport rims, and at £19 a pop they’re cheaper than a new bike with disks unless the disks last 30+ years.

I’m not against disks, and I’d probably spec them on a winter/tourer/commuter bike just for the tyre/guard clearance, but in the dry )which is 99% of my road riding) even my ultralight CNC’d callipers are powerful enough to be a non-issue.

I think rim wear is a cleaning issue as much as anything else. Even riding year round, wheels on rim brakes must be capable of 10s of thousands of miles when looked after. I don’t know, I’ve never worn through a set. That said, I’ve never paid more than £100 for a set of wheels. Maybe I’d think differently if they cost ten times that.