ksryder

Hi, what's this thread about?

indyfabz

Disc brake dancing?

Metieval

My road disc is totally looking like a mtb.
Too bad the picture was immediately walking out of bike shop and the dork disc was still on it.

Dave Mayer

I feel sorry for the team mechanics and neutral support who are going to have to now carry double the hardware. Disc-equipped bikes and wheel spares for the flat sprinter stages, and non-disc bikes for the stages that involve any kind of climbing.

There is no way that anyone in the pro peloton can overcome the inherent performance/weight penalty of discs on the climbing stages. We're talking about a 4,000km, 3-week race where the overall winning margins are just seconds... a race where riders will be on unbranded $5,000 stealth wheels in order to shave a precious 50 grams.

Discs are acceptable on the flat stages as a way for vendors to showcase the latest bling hardware for their target audience (dentists with disposable income). Especially when showcased by a dominant sprinter such as Kittel, who can win stages despite the disc handicap. Actually, in last year's Tour he probably could have won the sprints on a Huffy..

But trust me, when the roads start to go up and down, the pros will be back on rim brakes..

Hiro11

I like disc brakes, you don't. I'm OK, you're OK.

TimothyH

Actually the opposite is true. It's more like trickle up.

There isn't much room for technological leaps in road disk brakes. Everything has trickled down from mountain bikes and road bike disk brakes are pretty much the same as mountain bike disk brakes apart from the size of the rotors. I don't know what technological leaps there could possibly be.

The only thing that will happen when pros get disk brakes is that pros will have caught up with the rest of the world. Road bikes with disk brakes are all over the place and this is a case where the technology has left the pro peloton behind and moved on without them. You can thank (or blame) gravel in part.

The one similar case was the introduction of derailleurs and freehubs in the Tour de France in 1937. All the organizers were really doing was embracing what was becoming popular or already in popular use.


-Tim-

ddub

I have to agree with Dave Mayer. Climbers can't afford a mucked up wheel change when things are going uphill. So I would think that until the UCI mandates discs for all competitions and a standard spacing for the wheels being used, the grand tours won't see an entire field of disc brake bikes*.
*I could be wrong.

jefnvk

Yeah, too bad you've got a piece of plastic that could save you from catastrophic wheel issues if a piece of road debris gets tossed into your drivetrain

Gyro

Ahhhhh, but the "piss fits". Will be very entertaining.

AndreyT

Because of the recent controversy caused by that [obviously manufactured] wave of reports about injuries supposedly caused by disc brakes.

About two years ago, as you probably know, the road cycling world en masse switched to disc brakes. Expectedly, sales of rim brakes dropped like a lawn dart. In a futile attempt to sell some more of the dying rim brake technology (and parts), some "effective managers" somewhere decided to concoct some stories about supposed "dangers" of disc brakes...

It is hard to say whether they managed to achieve their initial objectives, but the undeniable aftermath of that attempt is the temporary resurrection of already-forgotten "disc vs. rim" debates.

AlmostTrick

Whether you are right or wrong, what effect does this have on any cyclists in this thread?

jefnvk

Hopefully none, but I learned long ago to never underestimate marketing.

bogydave

Consider it a “which chain lube” thread

bogydave

39 effects so far
(Well 40 with this post)

bogydave

Bet they’ll like them on the rainy day rides

OldTryGuy

Make discs the required braking method at TdF = problem solved.

bogydave

Like the article says
In some situations, disc brakes may be better:

“And riders will continue to face tricky situations where the speed modulation of disc brakes is a benefit, like the descent of the Mont du Chats in last year’s Tour, where slick roads helped cause Richie Porte to crash out. All the pieces are finally in place for disc brakes to roll out more broadly. Now, it’s just down to the riders to choose. And 2018 might go down as the year that discs finally took hold in pro racing.”

Canker

too solve this issue I mandate NO BRAKES on the Tour. Think of the weight saving plus it will be way more fun to watch.

tyrion

It's going to be a bloodbath. Carnage. Oh the humanity!

Dave Mayer

I suppose it is good. It allows sensible bike purchasers to pick up lightly ridden but 'obsolete' second-hand rim-brake bikes from gullible early adopters and trend followers because they see (some) pros on them.

Notwithstanding that the pros don't want disks due to the performance and safety penalties; nevertheless they may have to ride them due to intense sponsor pressures. In the end, the sponsors pay the bills.

Same occurred during the transition from 10 to 11 speed drivetrains; bargains galore on second-hand gear, despise 11 speeds was an absurd and unnecessary 'upgrade' purely driven by marketing and planned obsolescence.

joejack951

I love this tactic. Post BS then deflect

TimothyH

Disk brakes are already widely used apart from and in spite of what the pro peloton is doing.

All the pro's will be doing when they start using disks is catching up with the rest of the world.


-Tim-

MikeyMK

Price and development is where it's at, especially with composite discs (which are currently 50 quid each, even for cheapy ones).

Lazyass

Explain why I should listen to you, and you're nobody, over a professional race team mechanic who's riders are flying on the cobblestones from hell in France at 30+ miles per hour and is paid to build wheels that won't come apart.

jefnvk

Do I really believe that when dealing with the best riders on the best equipment set up by the best mechanics in the world, that the perceived inability to modulate rim brakes caused a crash that would have been prevented by discs?

The answer is no. Then again, now that I realize this was a Bicycling article, it all makes sense.