Are disc brakes the future on road bikes?
02-24-15, 11:45 AM
#451
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The UCI basically killed the Softride system by banning it's use in racing. Alex Stieda was involved with the company and would come down to Seattle as a rep. for the company. I actually saw one in a bike shop not too long ago in a bike shop.
02-24-15, 11:50 AM
#452
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No, what is sexy and can be marketed as such is what relegates other innovations to the scrap heap. As I've pointed out many times in this thread, functionality and efficiency are not often the key determiners of what technology survives and what doesn't.
Discs have several disadvantages, none of which you're bringing up. They don't look as good on a bike as current braking systems, aren't an easy upgrade on current bikes and don't address a need most people are feeling.
Others have pointed out they stand a better chance of success on entry-level rides because few others really need them. My 2011 Giant TCR SL3 still has the original brake pads on it. Given how much I'm actually using my brakes, you can understand why I feel the current system works fine for me.
There's a huge difference between the value proposition of discs and things like lightweight vision lenses. The latter was an improvement anyone who has a prescription and wears glasses will notice. Very few people will ever notice the advantages of discs, especially long-time riders who don't muck around in the mud.
Discs have several disadvantages, none of which you're bringing up. They don't look as good on a bike as current braking systems, aren't an easy upgrade on current bikes and don't address a need most people are feeling.
Others have pointed out they stand a better chance of success on entry-level rides because few others really need them. My 2011 Giant TCR SL3 still has the original brake pads on it. Given how much I'm actually using my brakes, you can understand why I feel the current system works fine for me.
There's a huge difference between the value proposition of discs and things like lightweight vision lenses. The latter was an improvement anyone who has a prescription and wears glasses will notice. Very few people will ever notice the advantages of discs, especially long-time riders who don't muck around in the mud.
Sexy? Looks? Eye of the beholder.
Cost/Upgrading? Through-axle. Everyone's frames are already obsolete. At least forks can be replaced.
You're mischaracterizing logistical problems as performance degradation. Better brakes = Better bikes.
Anyone who's ridden Shimano's new hydro road disc brakes will tell you they smoke rim brakes across the board, and when marketed at the same kit level/ price point the decision is simple for the performance appreciative cyclist. They simply outclass everything rim brake in existence.
Anyhow...I'll revisit this topic in...5 years...
02-24-15, 12:02 PM
#455
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I've ridden one and saw some lady riding one in a charity ride last year.....IMHO, totally unnecessary because wider tires are just soo much easier.
02-24-15, 12:06 PM
#456
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Just saw a super kewl road bike on another thread. Of course it has disks:
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...ss-amazon.html
Super aero alu frame, deep-dish alu rims, and handlebar mounted gripshifters and suicide levers. And a kickstand. An upgrade from your Denali.
There... now that road bikes with disks are showing up in department stores, the party is over. Time for the cool kids to move on to something else. The road bike armageddon is soon upon us.
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...ss-amazon.html
Super aero alu frame, deep-dish alu rims, and handlebar mounted gripshifters and suicide levers. And a kickstand. An upgrade from your Denali.
There... now that road bikes with disks are showing up in department stores, the party is over. Time for the cool kids to move on to something else. The road bike armageddon is soon upon us.
02-24-15, 12:06 PM
#457
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Anyone who's ridden Shimano's new hydro road disc brakes will tell you they smoke rim brakes across the board, and when marketed at the same kit level/ price point the decision is simple for the performance appreciative cyclist. They simply outclass everything rim brake in existence.
Anyhow...I'll revisit this topic in...5 years...
Anyhow...I'll revisit this topic in...5 years...
Make it 10-15 years and I think we will see disk brakes as not the norm for road bikes....center pull will be all the rage. 5 years it's possible that the manufacturers will still be pushing it as the latest and greatest. That's my prediction.
And disk brakes still have disadvantages with weight and aero-ness....not to mention squeaky-ness.
02-24-15, 12:23 PM
#458
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Dropping for now the debate about whether disc brakes will always be heavier and have worse aerodynamics than rim brakes, there are plenty of counter-examples to this claim. Carbon bikes with big, fat tubes and the complete displacement of 300g tubular rims are the ones that come immediately to mind.
02-24-15, 12:35 PM
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Yeah...weight weenies/aero weenies will always win...cause that is what the racers want.
There are plenty of great road bikes that don't fit the mold of what the ultimate road bike should be according to Trek/Giant/Specialized. That doesn't change the fact that what sells to roadies, and carries a price premium, is generally lighter and/or more aero.
But all this disk brake thing boils down to one thing....do you have a problem stopping your road bike now? I would say certain people in certain situations may have issues, but the majority just don't.....and that isn't even starting the debate of some rich dentist fred in his club paceline slamming the brakes on his one-finger disk brake equipped, softride-suspended, electronic automatic shifting, wunder-bike, causing the entire paceline to crash.
There are plenty of great road bikes that don't fit the mold of what the ultimate road bike should be according to Trek/Giant/Specialized. That doesn't change the fact that what sells to roadies, and carries a price premium, is generally lighter and/or more aero.
But all this disk brake thing boils down to one thing....do you have a problem stopping your road bike now? I would say certain people in certain situations may have issues, but the majority just don't.....and that isn't even starting the debate of some rich dentist fred in his club paceline slamming the brakes on his one-finger disk brake equipped, softride-suspended, electronic automatic shifting, wunder-bike, causing the entire paceline to crash.
02-24-15, 12:49 PM
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trek's new wheels seem ideal:
The disc options use centerlock hubs and come with interchangeable axles so they’ll fit on all types of disc brake road bikes.
Bontrager claim weights of 510g (front) and 640g (rear) for the disc/tubular version of the Aeolus 3. None of the wheels has any rider weight restrictions.
The disc options use centerlock hubs and come with interchangeable axles so they’ll fit on all types of disc brake road bikes.
Bontrager claim weights of 510g (front) and 640g (rear) for the disc/tubular version of the Aeolus 3. None of the wheels has any rider weight restrictions.
02-24-15, 12:53 PM
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I seriously believe that if discs were to become commonplace on road bikes, they would soon be regarded as a detriment to safety, rather than a boon to it.
02-24-15, 01:02 PM
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And it's funny, because we keep hearing over and over as justification for road discs, that "they allow greater control/modulation"- but the people who have such an issue, being so clumsy as to not be able to control and modulate their rim brakes well, would, because of their lack of mastery of such a basic skill, be the very same ones who unintentionally lock-up their discs- and go flying over the bars and/or cause others to crash.
I seriously believe that if discs were to become commonplace on road bikes, they would soon be regarded as a detriment to safety, rather than a boon to it.
I seriously believe that if discs were to become commonplace on road bikes, they would soon be regarded as a detriment to safety, rather than a boon to it.
Ignorance is bliss.
Carry on.
02-24-15, 01:14 PM
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THAT goes beyond mere ignorance, to downright illogicalness- a baseless argument used only by someone who wants to maintain his position although all logic and evidence clearly refutes such a position.
02-24-15, 01:19 PM
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LOL! You, my friend, are one of the prime proponents of "You need discs because they allow you to modulate better" argument- so tell me how it is that those who can not manage to effectively modulate their rim brakes, will somehow be able to use more powerful discs with enough finesse so as not to inadvertently lock them up? Huh? HUH?!
THAT goes beyond mere ignorance, to downright illogicalness- a baseless argument used only by someone who wants to maintain his position although all logic and evidence clearly refutes such a position.
THAT goes beyond mere ignorance, to downright illogicalness- a baseless argument used only by someone who wants to maintain his position although all logic and evidence clearly refutes such a position.
Try those, facts.
02-24-15, 01:40 PM
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If you knew what you were talking about you'd realize it takes the same numbnutness to lock up discs as it does rims. Your proposition that a more effective safety device is less safe is the only ridiculously illogical premise here. You're ignorance, and lack of experience leads you to draw such conclusions with no basis in fact.
Try those, facts.
Try those, facts.
You can't have it both ways....
02-24-15, 01:48 PM
#466
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Actually lots of people did back when they started taking over lol. People said all the same crap that gets posted in all these disc brakes on road bikes threads that pop up. When I first started MTBing I remember threads just like this one and my first mtb had rim brakes because plenty of people said disc brakes didn't really matter.
We are still in the era were disc brakes aren't a must have but are nice to have on road bikes like the early days of disc on mtbs. I have no idea if we will ever get to the point to were they become a must have in road bikes like they did on mtbs though.
We are still in the era were disc brakes aren't a must have but are nice to have on road bikes like the early days of disc on mtbs. I have no idea if we will ever get to the point to were they become a must have in road bikes like they did on mtbs though.
Last edited by Canker; 02-24-15 at 01:58 PM.
02-24-15, 01:59 PM
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Actually lots of people did back when they started taking over lol. People said all the same crap that gets posted in all these disc brakes on road bikes threads that pop up. When I first started MTBing I remember threads just like this one and my first mtb had rim brakes because plenty of people said disc brakes didn't really matter.
We are still in the era were disc brakes aren't really a must have but are nice to have on road bikes like the early days of disc on mtbs. I have no idea if we will ever get to the point to were they become a must have in road bikes like they did on mtbs though.
We are still in the era were disc brakes aren't really a must have but are nice to have on road bikes like the early days of disc on mtbs. I have no idea if we will ever get to the point to were they become a must have in road bikes like they did on mtbs though.
02-24-15, 02:02 PM
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Power brakes less safe!
02-24-15, 02:40 PM
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with all the talk of modulation, i thought i would google it and get a better idea of what it means. the only mention of it in any online dictionary or just about anywhere else according to my google results, related it to electronics or pitch. references, other than in bicycling forums, where people think there is some sort of consensus, are very few and far between.
so understandably, when just about everybody has their personal definition of a word and use it as a lynchpin for their arguments, there is little hope for agreement.
so understandably, when just about everybody has their personal definition of a word and use it as a lynchpin for their arguments, there is little hope for agreement.
Last edited by hueyhoolihan; 02-24-15 at 02:48 PM.
02-24-15, 02:58 PM
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with all the talk of modulation, i thought i would google it and get a better idea of what it means. the only mention of it in any online dictionary or just about anywhere else according to my google results, related it to electronics or pitch. references, other than in bicycling forums, where people think there is some sort of consensus, are very few and far between.
so understandably, when just about everybody has their personal definition of a word and use it as a lynchpin for their arguments, there is little hope for agreement.
so understandably, when just about everybody has their personal definition of a word and use it as a lynchpin for their arguments, there is little hope for agreement.
now don't you feel silly for being okay with your road bike brakes. Hail progress!!!! Now go out and buy a real bike.
It goes to 11!
02-24-15, 03:58 PM
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with all the talk of modulation, i thought i would google it and get a better idea of what it means. the only mention of it in any online dictionary or just about anywhere else according to my google results, related it to electronics or pitch. references, other than in bicycling forums, where people think there is some sort of consensus, are very few and far between.
so understandably, when just about everybody has their personal definition of a word and use it as a lynchpin for their arguments, there is little hope for agreement.
so understandably, when just about everybody has their personal definition of a word and use it as a lynchpin for their arguments, there is little hope for agreement.
02-24-15, 11:53 PM
#473
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.
02-25-15, 01:28 AM
#474
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Why is it all about marginal gains (a little lighter, stiffer, more aero) when it comes to sexy stuff like frames and wheels, yet when it comes to brakes it's good enough as long as it works at all?
02-25-15, 05:50 AM
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Actually lots of people did back when they started taking over lol. People said all the same crap that gets posted in all these disc brakes on road bikes threads that pop up. When I first started MTBing I remember threads just like this one and my first mtb had rim brakes because plenty of people said disc brakes didn't really matter.
We are still in the era were disc brakes aren't a must have but are nice to have on road bikes like the early days of disc on mtbs. I have no idea if we will ever get to the point to were they become a must have in road bikes like they did on mtbs though.
We are still in the era were disc brakes aren't a must have but are nice to have on road bikes like the early days of disc on mtbs. I have no idea if we will ever get to the point to were they become a must have in road bikes like they did on mtbs though.