vrkelley

Is this it? It looks heavy

CCrew

Lots of disc specific racks out there.. I have one on my MTB. Even a standard (non-disc) rack will fit with the ingenuity of a couple spacers to clear the caliper

-Roger

Dheorl

If it's that cold can't you just constantly lightly apply your brakes.

Just out of curoisity I always thought rubber actually had pretty good grip on ice, so why do brakes struggle so much with it, or is it just that the ice is too wet.

pluc

This is exactly that. It's a bit heavier than a disc brake, but not much. The photo doesn't really give the scale of it, it's not very big.

But I forgot to say it doesn't work on usual external gear hubs (at least not that I know). But I know they make front hubs with it.

ItsJustMe

Yeah, that's convenient. Constant light pressure on my brake levers while for 50 minutes while I'm riding through snow and traffic, for months at a stretch. Add to that the sand and grit that's constantly in the mix from the gravel roads I ride on, and I'll go through a set of rims in a month.

Nothing has a good grip on ice except hard spikes that can dig into it. Ever tried to WALK on ice? Particularly if it has a bit of water on top? Keep in mind that we're talking dynamic friction here, not static. So it's worst than walking, it's the friction you get from your rubber shoes AFTER you've started to slip. At that point the only hope is to catch your balance or land on 3+ appendages; you're not going to regain traction.

I tried kool stops, and they're wonderful in summer, though they still grind my rims down. In the end what fixed my brakes in winter was switching to discs.

One of the things I have to watch out for when I'm riding in the winter with studs is if it really is icy, I can ride the whole way to work and not worry much about it, but then fall when I get off my bike and try to stand on the stuff.

evblazer

I can leave huge skid marks with my disc brakes, or any other brakes I have had. Modulation is easier to control and it is easier on my hands (could just be the levers) to lock em up.

The biggest reason I wanted discs on my commuter was broken spokes and out of true rims. If either of these happen on a commute, or brevet, then on a rim brake I'd have to disengage the brake or loosen it. The discs don't care what the situation is on the rim whether it be dented, bent, out of true, iced over, covered with mud, wet or covered with reflective tape. Also avoids a problem that seems to crop up for a few folks I know with the brake blocks rubbing the tire bead and blowing the tire but that has never happened to me.

JR97

Once broken in they don't make much noise at all.

Are they easily bent? It's not like you can just take one in your hands and taco it. I've dumped my mtb plenty and my road bike with discs has gone down quite a few times as well and have yet to bend one. According to my Avid BB7 manual, a slightly bent rotor is still workable. Much cheaper than a bent rim that won't work with rim brakes.

How are they not easy to work with? Cable, caliper, pads. Maybe hydraulic are more difficult, but once those are set up, you're good to go and will rarely have to make adjustments.

rdubbz

mine don't make much noise either, unless they're wet. and that can have advantages too, like a warning system to people walking on paths. I don't need to yell for them to move.

ItsJustMe

Mine make noise the first 4 or 5 times I use them after installing new pads, or when wet (until I use them a time or two, then they warm up and make little noise.

I can't imagine what I'd be doing to my bike to bend a disc. Maybe if I were trying to be cool and didn't have a kickstand, and just threw my bike on the ground or leaned it against random junk, I might bend it. But I've been through a bit over a year so far and it's dead true.

They're FAR easier to work with than rim brakes. I had never touched one before, and I had it installed in about 20 minutes. They take 90 seconds to true the caliper to the rotor, then all you have to do is spin down the adjuster about once a month, which takes 5 seconds and no tools. Rim brakes are much more of a PITA. A set of $6 pads (eBay) lasted me almost exactly a year (I've only changed them once so far)

Caribou2001

Well if you're looking for a road bike with both the ability to have racks, and disc brakes, I don't see where you'd go wrong with a touring bike.... maybe a bit heavier construction, but that's not a bad thing if you're going to be loading it.

https://devinci.ca/11628_an.html ...is a Devinci touring bike with disc brakes

Dheorl

Yes, I have tried to walk on ice and with the right shoes it's very easy (how else do you think people manage to take part in curling).

I suppose over here it just never gets that cold (applying the brakes quickly is enough to shed any ice, and takes quite a while to get back), it gets stupidly wet but never had any problem with that.

Just curious though, whats stoppping the disk from getting a thin layer of ice on it?

harleyfrog

ItsJustMe: Thanks for first-hand information and experience with disc brakes.

harleyfrog

Looks sweet.

ItsJustMe

Holy wah... look at the range on that baby. 11-34R/30-52F

JoebikerLa

I added disc brakes to my Surly 1x1 that I converted into a commuter. I have had none of the problems that you speak of except the noise. Only when the front disc gets wet does it make noise, and only when I use it. It never fails to slow me down though. I find them much easier to work with than V brakes. Much easier. BB7's BTW. I wore out at least two front rims before I switched to disc. Best money I've spent.

dynaryder

Mine only make noise when they get wet. After a couple stops they quiet down. I've had cantis and V's that wouldn't shut up no matter how I adjusted them.

Meh? I've bent two discs. The first occured during shipping on an eBay bike. The second happened during polo. All kinds of stuff can get messed up during shipping(even steel frames can get bent) so the first one doesn't count. And I doubt most commuters regularly have collisions with wooden walls and other bikes,and get smacked by polo mallets. In both cases I used that Park Tool fork to bend the disc back,no prob.

Again,meh? Avid BB7's require no tools. Even on ones that do,all you're doing is moving the pads in and out. There's no up/down,no cant,no toeing in. Way easier than V or canti pads.

I call user error on them.

I've dealt with drums on motorcycles. No thank you. Heavy,not very powerful,can fade,no way to inspect them without tearing them apart.

BTW,the Roller brake and iBrake aren't true drum brakes. They're basically cable-actuated coasters.

vrkelley

Please explain. Are you saying these are like the old breezer coaster brakes where you pedal backwards to apply the brake?

nivekdodge

Aren't road brakes basically discs? They certainly arent from the drum family so. The idea of a disc brake is to have pressure being applied from both sides unlike drums that rely on the structural integrity of the drum to back it up. I think they are discs with HUGE rotors.

pwdeegan

i commute with discs brakes and notice an over-all improvement from my old rim brake bike. they don't make more noise than rim brakes, but maybe a slightly different squeal, when they make noise at all (they're mostly silent); i also find that they're not any harder or easier to work with than rim brakes, but ymmv.

down steep grade wet hills, in the snow/slush/ice, traffic round me, it's one less thing to worry about.

another reason i really like them is that when hauling a load, whether it be panniers loaded down with books, and/or with a trailer attached, breaking is much more reliable. the weight still increases brake time, but braking is consistent and solid.

they can get awfully hot under prolonged use; you can steam water off of them (though i can't recommend that). but there's no reason to get off your bike and grab the disc directly after braking.

imo, they're a brilliant no-brainer option. i won't go back to rim brakes.

cyccommute 

Absolutely. Any rim brake is a disc brake.

CCrew

That's a stretch.

1: rim brake has no stationary pad
2: stops via the rim surface

Both the above are departures from what is the recognized design for discs. If you're splitting hairs, sure. But for the sake of the OP's question they're different.

-R

cyccommute 

Who says that a disk brake needs a stationary pad? The only reason that disks have a stationary pad is to simplify the brake system. A disk brake is a spinning disk that you use a friction pad against to slow or stop a vehicle. The only difference between a 'disk' brake and a rim brake is the size and thickness of the disk. They both work in exactly the same way. A caliper squeezes on the the surface to apply friction.

No hair splitting needed because they are exactly the same.

dynaryder

In function,yes. Internally they operate the same way,and both require a torque arm that connects the hub to the frame. It's just that coasters are actuated by reverse-pedalling where as rollers use a cable. You can search around for exploded diagrams and see the similarites.

BTW,coasters are still in production. My '07 Swobo Otis has one.

nmanhipot

Disc brakes rule! Racks & fenders are easily done and discs are easily adjusted, quiet (except when it's pouring rain) and durable. I just changed my pads after about 7-8k miles, I estimate. The rotors are still going strong. I think there's just a bias at a lot of bike shops against them. It doesn't fit the chic 700x23 carbon fiber, 24-spoke road-bike culture. Very few people understand why my bike is set-up the way it is and most mechanics don't do a respectable job on the rare occassions that I take it in.

Getting back to the original questions, I did a fabulous nose wheelie when a pedestrian stepped off of a bus in front of me. The rear brake doesn't lock the wheel very easily, though, because disc brakes have so much modulation and require less hand force. I'm dreaming of a hydraulic brifter.

dynaryder

I can't believe you folks are arguing about discs and rims being the same.

I'll send you a used set of pads from my M495's. Please install them in your V brakes and report back with the results.