anielsen

When riding through snow and ice, rim brakes require constant attention to make sure they are not frozen when you actually need them. I put a nexus hub on my commuter with the roller brake (the front is still a v-brake) and it was so much nicer in the snow.. no ice build up on the pads. It's also nice to know that in the rain, the brake works the same as in the dry.

A rear brake is really important is riding with very little traction, like ice, where you want to be able to bleed off speed without worrying about locking up the front wheel. But normally the front is so much better that I think upgrading the front would be a great idea.

cycledog1

this is an old forum --------------- but very timely, considering the acceleration of the road/cx disc brake inclusion in '15 and on to improve safety and control.

there are MANY Ti and high end steel newer road bikes out there that would perform nearly as well even with the change out of the fork to add the disc brake, and add under a pound for fork and wheel weight. no everyone has 1200(low high qual-3000 upper high qual) to pay for a new full disc bike, and like their old early 2000 rode bike with rim brakes. if you don't race but do most everything else, you won't notice the 1 lb diff and you WILL realize much better stopping power in wet/muddy conditions, especially if you live in that type of environment at least 6mo out of the year.

I've been dealing with road/gravel disc bikes and rim brake bikes for a few years, and finally converted a Lemond Ti frame to front disc. worked ok, but the geometry was set for standard rim brakes, and the fork raised the front of the bike up about an inch. that bike would have worked, but I didn't like the conversion. the other ride is a road ti Quiring, its about done now and was a better conversion. trp brake in front, ultegra in rear, stans wheelset with the front only in disc. doing it yourself with good lightweight and strong components can cost700-800, keeping your shifters and everything else.

it comes down to whether or not you like your existing ride enough to convert. a front disc conversion will be unique now, but in about 5 yrs you will see many more.

you commuters need to value your lives enough to do it, a second or two could be worth that money in adverse conditions.

if you never have those conditions, don't bother.

fietsbob

a more modest substitution is a wheel built around a Drum brake hub *.. then the wheel is all you are replacing .

thy are not going to stop like someone stuck their pump through your wheel , but to my mind that is a good thing..

Ive been running drum brake hubs on my winter bike since the 80's.

* Sturmey-Archer makes a 70 & 90 mm drum.. drum shoe pads will last your lifetime ..

CrippledKonaBoy

Go disc; superior IN EVERY WAY except weight, they do weigh a little more. Less than a 2nd full waterbottle.

If your frame isn't disc-ready, go V's in the back and the best pads you can get.

HINT: ceramic disc pads will SPOIL you.

dscheidt

The goal is to get a brake that works in the wet. Not one that works poorly in all weathers.

PatrickGSR94

Before I got my Marin Pine Mountain frame I was using an old late 90's MTB frame, running a disc brake up front on a Nashbar rigid fork, and a Tektro v-brake in the rear with Kool Stop salmon MTB pads. It was a great setup. But considering I use only the front brake most of the time, I don't think it would really matter what pads I had on the rear.

bmthom.gis

I always laugh at people who say they are great for the rain...my experience with discs is once they get wet they end up squealing like a banshee. Of course, I'm sure there is a difference in rain vs the wet and mud mine get when mountain biking. Personally I don't really care for discs. I find them finicky and unnecessary. Koolstop pads have great stopping power, and if you are still having problems, if you have cantis or v, you can add a brace. Dual pivot brakes are very effective. Disc pads wear quicker, if you have hydraulic, you have to bleed the lines, there's no real weight savings, and then you need compatible wheels.
If buying a new bike, sure go for it, but retrofitting one not made for discs can be unnecessarily expensive when we have been using rim brakes with no problems for a long time

PatrickGSR94

If you regularly ride in mucky conditions (like commuting in the PNW) then disc brakes might be good alternative to rim brakes and wearing out the brake tracks on the rims. For me personally, I think they just look cool. A disc-only wheelset with no brake track looks cleaner, and then you also have more options for attaching reflective tape to the sides of your rims.

fietsbob

a poor mechanic blames his tools .. Mine work quite well . & have for 30 years.

CrippledKonaBoy

Opinions vary.

Squealing does nothing to diminish braking capacity. If you found them finicky and unnecessary, then you had weak cheapies. Disc pads wear quicker? Again, weak cheapies.

I have to laugh at your 'brace' suggestion; those were tested about 15 years ago, and found to be WORSE than nothing at all.

No one has ever touted weight savings for discs; but if you can't handle that tiny bit of extra weight................

Retrofitting a frame not disc-ready is something best limited to a new fork; front discs/rear V's are a viable combination.

The rest of your yak is Luddite offal.

InTheRain

I did retrofit my commuter/e-bike to disc brakes. I don't have complaints about how they function. They are much better than my cantilever brakes. However, it was expensive. I should have just replaced the front fork with a surly disc trucker fork ($110) rather than have the disc tabs welded on the existing fork. I could have lived with the canti's on the back as the e-bike has regenerative braking... but I haven't got that working again since converting to the disc brakes... but, it's not necessary with the discs on the back as well.

I think I would have plenty of braking power with discs just on the front. I've got them front and back now... but it was a pricey conversion. The extra weight of the the e-bike conversion kit made it necessary. But discs on front would have been adequate and a much cheaper way to go.

PatrickGSR94

When I first installed my front disc brake, it squealed quite a bit. Then I followed the break-in procedure and now it doesn't really squeal at all, at least not when it's dry. Not really sure how it acts in the wet. This was my old bike frame before I moved the parts over to a disc-ready frame:

SJX426 

Oh good! Another chance to post a picture!

I bought this bike with the thought that at some point in the near future, I would install a suspension fork. Well it was more like 8 years later that I found a used one. I didn't have a disk brake so I bought the v-Brake parts and used it that way. It really was less than optimal.

A couple of years later, I found BB-7 NOS on CL for under $40 and a front disk wheel with XT hub for about the same price. I have way too much invested in the front end but it is a sweet set up. Weight wise, it is not much heavier. I used it commuting and found that there was no definitive difference in average MPH between the rigid fork and the suspended fork. I do like the disk brake! The only reason I don't commute with this is the lack of a good fender

[IMG]P1020526, on Flickr[/IMG]