prj71

Eventually all good road bikes will have disc brakes. Caliper brakes will be probably remain on entry level road bikes.

The transition is already happening with the big 3 and everyone else will soon follow. It only makes sense due to their superior performance.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/bi...-advanced-disc

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/bikes-defy-advanced

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...mp-disc/118207

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...ultegra/118388

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...x-elite/115487

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...erge-a1/118415

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bi...sequoia/116171

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bi...crux-e5/115138

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...colorCode=grey

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...?colorCode=red

corrado33

Good job picking out all of the "disc" versions of those bikes. All the caliper brake versions exist as well, lest we not forget.

The one I bothered to look up.

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/me...duraace/128538

Dave Mayer

So I've been watching the Dauphine race. And I watched the Tour of California. You would think that the elite-level pros would take every possible advantage on their bikes, but alas: nobody is on discs.

Not even on the sprinter stages. At the minimum, you'd expect the bike vendors to be showcasing their new disc wares on the pancake-flat stages. On the mountain stages, discs would present an insurmountable weight penalty/disadvantage, and expose embarrassing performance gaps.

And despite what must be intense pressure from component manufacturers and bike brands, the rider favored to win the upcoming Tour de France: Nairo Quintana comes out with the condemnation of discs saying that they are unnecessary, heavier, less aero, and dangerous. Tsk tsk: Nairo: get with the program. The pro tour and its riders exist to sell stuff, such as the latest and greatest bike bling to dentists/lawyers. Remember who feeds you.

I admit, that discs enable carbon clinchers. It removes the heat dissipation and the some of the structural integrity issues that are inherent disadvantages of clinchers.

But since the pros are not on clinchers, and never will be, this is a moot issue. Tubular rims practically overcome these problems. Plus save 100 grams per rim - an insurmountable advantage.

So to recap: road discs only make sense on dentist/lawyer bikes. This is the most attractive market for the industry, with the highest profit margin and best aftermarket service potential. You want customers whose response to every bike issue is to pull out the Gold Card. Folks who are willing to pay $500 for a 'bike fit', who don't even think about paying triple mail-order for parts and accessories, and are willing to pay $100 quarterly for a 5-minute derailleur adjustment. And in the end, are willing to drop at least $5k every few years on the latest bling bike trend.

LesterOfPuppets

I don't think that's true. Disc road bikes have been built that are below the UCI weight restriction, so I imagine pro teams would run disc bikes right at the limit. There is talk about lowering the limit, so at that point there might need to be some work done lightening the bikes.

LesterOfPuppets

Here's one. I'm sure there are others.

https://hongfu-bikes.en.alibaba.com/..._HF_FM079.html

FBinNY 

One of the killers for traditional canti's in OEM was the issue of legal liability.

There were a number of serious injuries caused by cables either breaking, or simple disengaging from the hanger.

That allowed the yoke cable to snag the front wheel, locking it and putting the rider over the bars. A number of suits based on this type of accident resulted in large settlements, so there was a drive to find an alternative design.

FWIW - this safety issue related to cantis resulted to a European mandate to install a "safety stick" above the front wheel to catch the yoke if the main cable broke. Unfortunately, until the advent of mtn bikes in the USA, our experience with cantis was more limited and we had no safety stick requirement.

Maelochs

Discs aren't any advantage on the flat in thedry. Muontain stages are the only place they would really offer much benefit ... and frankly, for most riders, skill and lack of imagination .... called "bravery" ... is what determines how fast they descend.

hueyhoolihan

mtbs and road bike braking requirements WRT safety and performance vary quite a bit.

Currmudge

Heavier? Slightly.
Uglier? Only to a priss.
Less aero? REALLY, YOU THINK IT MAKES MORE THAN 1 SECOND IN A 40K TT DIFFERENCE?!??
More expensive? Please.
More mechanically complicated? Not from a user-serviceability standpoint.
Don't stop faster? Dream on.

LesterOfPuppets

Once upon a time I went to remove the front reflector from my Bridgestone, then I thought about it for a second...

alcjphil

Don't forget that at the pro level they sometimes have to add stuff to meet the minimum bike weight requirement. There is no weight penalty to discs at that level

caloso

4 seconds in a headwind; 10-12 seconds over 40km in a crosswind. Are bikes with disc brakes faster? - Cycling Weekly

coominya

All true. MTB downhill riders all use them now, that's a sport where you need good reliable braking and minimum weight, and where dropping your bike is a common occurrence. I image there was a whole cadre of road cyclists who turned their noses up at CF when it was introduced too but now they all aspire to have it.

Some people just have to be dragged into the 21st Century.

coominya

Great article, thanks for posting.

Sangetsu

Agreed. But they are "different", and being different is marketable, as Steve Jobs once said.

BlazingPedals

I was going to use nicer words. "Uglier" is a subjective evaluation, arrived at because discs don't look match some pre-conceived image. I think they look just fine, more business-like than rim calipers.

edit: My avatar bike was designed for a disc in front. No room for anything else.

FBinNY 

Interestingly, in the one case where I was directly involved as an expert, the bike originally came equipped with a similar reflector bracket, which was the most common version used OEM. Like yours, the bracket would have served as a safety stick and prevented the injury, but unfortunately had either been removed or never installed.

The maker opted not to raise this point in defense because nothing in the literature warned against removing the bracket, and in fact, the company couldn't provide any evidence in their own records that the bracket was intended to serve this purpose.

prj71

The caliper versions do exist and the disc versions are relatively new. It will be a slow transition for sure but eventually all the more expensive bikes will be disc brakes and the caliper brakes will be reserved for road bikes $1000 or less.

rydabent

As I have stated in a past thread in only a very few years disc brakes will be standard on better bikes. It will be driven by economies of scale which will make the discs cheaper.

Maelochs

As others have stated in those same threads, your timeline is overly optimistic. All opinions based equally in fact carry equal weight.

We have seen discs' introduction ... but Not wide acceptance on the "better" bikes simply because in their current form, discs are not a significantly "better" braking system.

Figuring that new systems are introduced seasonally, we are at least two seasons---a couple product iterations---from discs which equal rim brakes in every way or are close enough that people will accept either equally.

Heavier and harder to maintain? Not selling points for most people. (And the liars who say they are no harder to maintain ... yeah, because one bolt to change a pad and one bolt to adjust for rim brakes is not any simpler than pressure lines, fluid, and finicky pad adjustment. Because air bubbles in the system happen to rim brakes. Because a lot more moving parts is simpler than fewer. Right. As a person who owns discs and rims ... yeah, whatever.)

I agree with Rydabent that discs will become more popular. Not sure they will become ubiquitous, and certainly not in current forms. And not in three years ... or even five.

prj71

As Trump would say. "Wrong!"

Stopping power and wet weather...Discs are superior.

Within the next 3 years disc brakes on road bikes will be the standard.

indyfabz

And there we have it...Another best braking system cage match.


The OP has done well with this one.

prj71

Maybe you should remove the bike from the reflector instead.

cthenn

fify

rydabent

I take issue with the posters here that say disc brakes are harder to adjust and need to be re-adjusted all the time. On my 2012 trike, I doubt that I have had to do any adjusting more than 2 or 3 times in the 5 years I have had it.

Hard******************** Read and understand how to adjust them, do it right, and they are extremely trouble free. The operative word here is---------------understand----------the adjustments.