Honest opinion piece on disc brakes
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I switched my moutain bike to disc (cable) in the rear when I broke the last frame. I could change the front but really like the wheel with the Ringle hub I’ve built up 15 years ago. Anyway the rear rim brake never worked well. The disc was a good improvement.
My road bike is rim brake carbon wheels. Work well. Better than the aluminum wheels. Next bike I want disc all around. My issue is I take the wheels off for hauling I the trunk. Cable disc stay open and I can get them back on easy. I’m afraid hydraulic will close up and using a wedge will be a pain. How much trouble do others have?
My road bike is rim brake carbon wheels. Work well. Better than the aluminum wheels. Next bike I want disc all around. My issue is I take the wheels off for hauling I the trunk. Cable disc stay open and I can get them back on easy. I’m afraid hydraulic will close up and using a wedge will be a pain. How much trouble do others have?
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Stop making stuff up. Really. Just stop.
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They're only going to be used on road bikes?
I'm going to have to change brake pads when I swap my carbon wheels and aluminum wheels?
Braking will be worse in wet conditions?
There's a chance my carbon wheels will overheat and delaminate on a long descent?
They're going to limit the size of my tires?
And this is all to save a couple hundred grams?
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I've got a few questions about these new rim brakes:
They're only going to be used on road bikes?
I'm going to have to change brake pads when I swap my carbon wheels and aluminum wheels?
Braking will be worse in wet conditions?
There's a chance my carbon wheels will overheat and delaminate on a long descent?
They're going to limit the size of my tires?
And this is all to save a couple hundred grams?
They're only going to be used on road bikes?
I'm going to have to change brake pads when I swap my carbon wheels and aluminum wheels?
Braking will be worse in wet conditions?
There's a chance my carbon wheels will overheat and delaminate on a long descent?
They're going to limit the size of my tires?
And this is all to save a couple hundred grams?
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Does anyone have a link for the "honest" opinion piece that started this thread?
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EDIT: Here's some input from a few people familiar with carbon fiber in bicycle applications...
Originally Posted by Lennard Zinn
Carbon fiber essentially does not fatigue as long as the carbon-and-resin matrix is not damaged.
Originally Posted by Look
There is no limitation because carbon has a natural flexibility. It can be used a hundred years while maintaining the same stiffness.
Originally Posted by Easton
The good news is the fatigue life of carbon fiber is immensely more than that of metals.
Originally Posted by Kestrel
For carbon forks in general, there should not be any limited life span, as carbon composites themselves are not subject to fatigue failures as metals are. So the fatigue life of a properly made carbon composite is 'infinite'.
Last edited by Eric F; 02-15-21 at 01:44 PM.
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I switched my moutain bike to disc (cable) in the rear when I broke the last frame. I could change the front but really like the wheel with the Ringle hub I’ve built up 15 years ago. Anyway the rear rim brake never worked well. The disc was a good improvement.
My road bike is rim brake carbon wheels. Work well. Better than the aluminum wheels. Next bike I want disc all around. My issue is I take the wheels off for hauling I the trunk. Cable disc stay open and I can get them back on easy. I’m afraid hydraulic will close up and using a wedge will be a pain. How much trouble do others have?
My road bike is rim brake carbon wheels. Work well. Better than the aluminum wheels. Next bike I want disc all around. My issue is I take the wheels off for hauling I the trunk. Cable disc stay open and I can get them back on easy. I’m afraid hydraulic will close up and using a wedge will be a pain. How much trouble do others have?
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I switched my moutain bike to disc (cable) in the rear when I broke the last frame. I could change the front but really like the wheel with the Ringle hub I’ve built up 15 years ago. Anyway the rear rim brake never worked well. The disc was a good improvement.
My road bike is rim brake carbon wheels. Work well. Better than the aluminum wheels. Next bike I want disc all around. My issue is I take the wheels off for hauling I the trunk. Cable disc stay open and I can get them back on easy. I’m afraid hydraulic will close up and using a wedge will be a pain. How much trouble do others have?
My road bike is rim brake carbon wheels. Work well. Better than the aluminum wheels. Next bike I want disc all around. My issue is I take the wheels off for hauling I the trunk. Cable disc stay open and I can get them back on easy. I’m afraid hydraulic will close up and using a wedge will be a pain. How much trouble do others have?
Both of these items come with levers/calipers when purchased separately and, if I were buying a complete bike, I'd ask for the shop to provide them (if they don't immediately throw them away, they should have buckets full of 'em).
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I only have two bikes. My recumbent I bought in 2011 and specifically upgraded to the disc brake version because the primary use for this bike was commuting when I lived in Seattle. I wanted good, reliable wet weather brake performance. I've found them easy to use, not too finicky (really needing about the same adjustment as my old rim brakes) and plenty reliable. I won't say I'd never go back to rim brakes, but I do remember having to be more particular about the pads I selected if I wanted good wet weather performance.
My velo has drum brakes (90mm). They seem to stop well in pretty much any condition and haven't done anything to them since I bought it (used, it was already all set up). I like them so far, but again, wouldn't be averse to switching to discs if there was a good reason. I don't think rim brakes are a thing with velos.
My velo has drum brakes (90mm). They seem to stop well in pretty much any condition and haven't done anything to them since I bought it (used, it was already all set up). I like them so far, but again, wouldn't be averse to switching to discs if there was a good reason. I don't think rim brakes are a thing with velos.
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Wedging them back open isn't difficult, but I still like to be proactive. Shimano has orange spacers that you can pop in between the pads and they also have yellow doohickies (technical term) that slide in under the brake/shift levers and prevent both inadvertent shifting and braking actuation.
Both of these items come with levers/calipers when purchased separately and, if I were buying a complete bike, I'd ask for the shop to provide them (if they don't immediately throw them away, they should have buckets full of 'em).
Both of these items come with levers/calipers when purchased separately and, if I were buying a complete bike, I'd ask for the shop to provide them (if they don't immediately throw them away, they should have buckets full of 'em).
But based on my limited one on the rear experience disc on a bike is like when I went from a motorcycle with drum breaks all around to a single disc on the front.
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If disc brakes had been the norm for decades and the “industry” decided to introduce rim brakes would anyone be able to defend using rim brakes.
Can you imagine the response from the suggestion of using the rim as a braking surface? Having to buy a new bike with rim brake caliper mounts because none of the existing bikes had any way to mount them. And having to replace a rim one day from brake wear?
John
Can you imagine the response from the suggestion of using the rim as a braking surface? Having to buy a new bike with rim brake caliper mounts because none of the existing bikes had any way to mount them. And having to replace a rim one day from brake wear?
John
The added stress to the frame from the single thru-bolt or side mounts at the top of the seat stays constantly being flexed. "OMGee! that'll cause metal fatigue at 45,000 miles & you will be dedz!"
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Yeah I looked up The Russian Crank and found nothing related on his blog. Only a few articles are visible. Maybe it was in a newsletter that isn’t on his blog. I just remembered seeing that Cycling Weekly thing on the same topic.
Otto
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If CF bikes were fragile they wouldn't make most if not all of the high end MTB market, plastic bikes are ugly but they're not delicate and they age just fine.
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Back on the topic of disc brakes. I’ve been rocking my cheap 80s builds in recent years. Really no benefit for me to switch my skinny tire (road frame) bike to disc brakes. I’m running the same Superbe calipers I’ve used for over 40 years and might just run them another 40.
OTOH, I ride my big tire (26er) bike on dusty/muddy trails and rim brakes can get messed up. The rear u-brake froze up on my last ride due to accumulated mud and water that froze on the frame, brake and cable during the ride. Quickly fixed with water from my water bottle to unfreeze and clear away the ice mud. Still, the rims and tires are always a complete mess this time of year, which doesn’t help with braking
So, I’m thinking at some point I’ll get a bike that runs disc brakes and can do 27.5 or 29er, since that’s what most of the groovy new tires are made for. I’m thinking perhaps a Surly Ogre or something like that, since it can run as a proper SS without needing a chain tensioner.
Otto
OTOH, I ride my big tire (26er) bike on dusty/muddy trails and rim brakes can get messed up. The rear u-brake froze up on my last ride due to accumulated mud and water that froze on the frame, brake and cable during the ride. Quickly fixed with water from my water bottle to unfreeze and clear away the ice mud. Still, the rims and tires are always a complete mess this time of year, which doesn’t help with braking
So, I’m thinking at some point I’ll get a bike that runs disc brakes and can do 27.5 or 29er, since that’s what most of the groovy new tires are made for. I’m thinking perhaps a Surly Ogre or something like that, since it can run as a proper SS without needing a chain tensioner.
Otto
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At least my bikes are cutting edge.
John
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Where will you use those items when the order arrives? The discovery of fire will become obscure while everything else is at the mercy of serendipity.
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“Tullio, it is a brake and shifter combined together. It will make you a lot of money. Yes, I like the Gran Sport too, but this is the future, well technically the past, but it will change the bicycle industry. We could be partners. I’d like to call it CTI, Campagnolo Total Integration.”
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V-Brakes work fine, I see no particular need for disc brakes. Any more stopping power would just throw me over the front wheels.
The bicycle industry is a fashion industry. The manufacturers have no sentiment, the split second a new design comes in they stop making their old one and move the entire production over to the new type, no matter how daft it is.
Personally I think the massive tyred 29" bikes they sell now and all those beachcomber type bikes are the worst things the industry has made since the dragsters and ten speed racers in the 1970s.
The bicycle industry is a fashion industry. The manufacturers have no sentiment, the split second a new design comes in they stop making their old one and move the entire production over to the new type, no matter how daft it is.
Personally I think the massive tyred 29" bikes they sell now and all those beachcomber type bikes are the worst things the industry has made since the dragsters and ten speed racers in the 1970s.
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