RJM

Stopping progress? The debate over hydraulic disc brakes in the pro peloton - VeloNews.com

Here is a good read on the discussion surrounding disk brakes in the pro peloton. It looks like opinions are mixed.

The UCI is scheduled to run Paris-Roubaix in 2016 as a "road disk test" so that should be interesting.

hairnet

Oh dear god, the discs are coming.

cafzali

Opinions will largely stay mixed on discs because, while they're superior in some situations, they're not in others. It's not going to be a "clear cut" situation, such as the shift from aluminum frames to carbon, or for pros the switch from alloy wheels to carbon wheels.

But just as the vast majority of recreational riders didn't adapt carbon wheels, there's nothing that says the majority of recreational riders are going to do with disc brakes. Many who are like me and are on their original set of brake pads despite riding 1,200 miles or more a year since the bike was acquired in 2011 just don't see the need.

GlennR

I'm sold on disc brakes for off road use where water, mud, sand and dirt will degrade rim brakes. But for the road, i'll stay with cable operated rim brakes. After all, they're "slowers" and not "stoppers".

OldsCOOL

My old MTB had stoppers. I've been faceplanted by those things. There was zero slowing down. It was full on STOP.

GlennR

After doing some minimal riding my my son's old MTB with rim brakes and seeing how they sucked when wet, I recently rode is current MTB with disc and it's night and day.

OldsCOOL

Wet would be the factor.

Leinster

Manufacturers are already switching bikes over. Within 2-3 years of the UCI allowing them in the peloton, it'll be very hard to find a high level road bike with rim brakes. Within 10 years, they'll be as rare on new bikes as downtube shifters are now. Tri/TT bikes may stick with the rim brakes for aero/"slowers not stoppers" reasons, but your Tiagra/Apex equipped $1000 road-bike-for-the-masses is going to have 11spd, compact, brifters, 25c tires, a sloping top tube and disc brakes because that is what the bike manufacturers will have in stock in mass quantities, and it's what the average punter with $1000 to spend on said bike will want.

RJM

I will do a gentleman's wager on this and say that it won't be very hard to find a high level road bike with rim brakes in 2 to 3 years.

If the UCI adopts them, it sounds like (according to the article) that it will be a complete swap from rims to disks and the rules will be changed accordingly. That may take some time because the technology isn't up to snuff right now.

I do love the disk brakes on my Trek mountain bike though...but I also love the brakes on my rim brake equipped road bikes.

cafzali

Manufacturers are swapping them over on high-end models because they know that a certain segment will buy them. There's no assurance that would happen on other models. Manufacturers like to try and have the tail wag the dog, but the consumer is the ultimate "boss" in terms of what gets adopted. If they don't want them, they won't spread across all models.

There are clear advantages to modern drivetrains and other advantages that just aren't there for most people in terms of discs. America perhaps more than any other country in the world is obsessed with the concept that a new advance has to mean the death of something else, but if you look at history, this has rarely happened -- especially in areas where gains are marginal for most people. This isn't like HDTV versus standard definition where there are compelling advantages.

This is at best a marginal improvement for most riders and people don't go out and buy a new bike for marginal improvements unless they are going after high-end models. That segment will likely get them en masse because a certain percentage of the population loves to spend money just because they can.

Leinster

The consumer is the boss within certain limits. If you ask any consumer what calipers and cranks they want to go with their Ultegra groupset, they'll say "Ultegra." 9 bikes out of 10, It's not what they'll get, though.

The fact that the likes of Cannondale, Spesh, Trek, Bianchi, Focus, BMC, Giant etc etc are all going road-disc now, before the UCI, should tell you that either they don't care what the consumer thinks, or they think the consumer wants stopping power, and they're willing to give it to them.

Discs will take over. It's no skin off my nose, I'm going to ride my CAAD10 and its calipers until it (or I) falls apart, and when my brakes break in some accident, I will replace them with something similar off eBay. But if in 5 years time somebody backs a Tesla X over my CAAD, I'm open to the possibility that most of my off-the-shelf options will have disc brakes.

Black wallnut 

look to CX. The women have adopted disc widespread but the men, other than Lars VH., have not. In spite of the major brands going 100% disc, just try to buy a new model non-disc CX bike.

FWIW I test rode an S-works Tarmac Di2 with disc and liked everything about the bike except the price tag. That said I also have ove 7K miles on my road bike this year on the same brake pads which still have lots of life left. My CX bike on the other hand eats through brake pads. I can see the usefulness of disc in the spring classics when rain and worse is to be expected, the summer grand tours not as much.

Lazyass

You need to learn how to properly set them up.

K.Katso

Didn't this topic get beaten to death less than a month ago?

GlennR

This is the interweb... where everything is new a week later.

hueyhoolihan

the article mentions something about discs, and safety improvements and wet weather. i would think it discs would be of no consequence or maybe even disadvantageous. after all, most accidents in the pro races i watch, and i watch way, way, too many, involved losing traction between the tires and the wet road surface not the inability to slow down the wheel fast enough or with less effort.

just to be fair i looked into what it would take to retro-fit one of my carbon bikes with a front disc brake. with what i found available online, it would set me back about 500-1000 dollars. ain't happen'. not to mention about 3/4 of a pound of extra weight.

and, BTW, despite whati hear to the contrary, they seem to squeal like a stuck pig. if in doubt, watch any pro cyclo-cross race sometime. or follow a MTB with discs down a long decent. and my carbon tubular rims are not much better in that regard either.

and, no, i'm not complaining. i don't have them. but if i did, i would.

bt

where's bob?

wvridgerider

I am not sold on discs for the road. It is a big investment if you already have parts. I think they are great for mountain biking though. I have cantis on my bike and I have no problem slowing or stopping.

Leinster

I think this is going to be one of the reasons why all bikes end up going disc. Manufarcturers don't like having to make different parts for different bikes where they can get away with it, so if they can make one set of brakes for all bikes, that's what they'll do.

Don't get me wrong. They'll still tell you that you need a MTB, and a cross bike, and a fixie as well as your road bike. Oh, and you'll need a relaxed geometry ride if your'e planning on doing any double centuries, but you want something with a bit more aggressive geometry for the Wednesday evening club sprint ride. But at least with disc brakes, they'll all stop the same way.

datlas 

You mean dopolina?

bt

datlas 

he is a smart guy. smart enough to stay out of this.

wvridgerider

Just like press fit BB's. The big guys tell Bicycling you need this or that then people read it and think they have to have it.

pallen

Do disks increase or decrease profit margins on bike sales? THAT is the question.

OldsCOOL

Oh they were set up just fine. I just learned not to ride with my fingers on the triggers on certain trails when I do a full exhale of a large fly. Yup, squeeze reflex on both brakes. I had a face ache and needed a himelich simultaneously.