disc brakes

[IBrakeforPastry]

I've been perusing the web, looking at what's new for 2015. It seems like there are more and more bikes with disc brakes. Do we really need them? It seems like I've been doing fine without them and now they seem like a "must have". (I'm very skeptical when it comes to marketing ) Are they easy to maintain and adjust? Do they add much weight to the bike? Please share any pros and cons. Thanks!

[pll]

They add more weight. At the professional cyclocross level, for that reason, you see a lot of riders reticent to use disk brakes. There is also the risk of injuries, as disks can cut someone easily in a crash (which is why many pro road racers don't want them). If you do not intend to race, I would say than it depends on where you ride. The one occasion I wished I had hydraulic disk brakes was on a 4 mile twisty descent on gravel, with grades over -5% -- I was on my cross bike with cantilever brakes. I would feel the same on a wet descent on my road bike, but I am rarely in that spot (long, twisty, descent on wet roads). My next road bike would have hydraulic brakes (not disk). And I wish there were hydraulic canti brakes... Don't know about maintenance of disk brakes.

Note -- How much weight do the add? From VeloNews: "Discs will add somewhere between 250 and 750 grams, depending on the component choices made."

[SheFly]

They add more weight. At the professional cyclocross level, for that reason, you see a lot of riders reticent to use disk brakes. There is also the risk of injuries, as disks can cut someone easily in a crash (which is why many pro road racers don't want them). If you do not intend to race, I would say than it depends on where you ride. The one occasion I wished I had hydraulic disk brakes was on a 4 mile twisty descent on gravel, with grades over -5% -- I was on my cross bike with cantilever brakes. I would feel the same on a wet descent on my road bike, but I am rarely in that spot (long, twisty, descent on wet roads). My next road bike would have hydraulic brakes (not disk). And I wish there were hydraulic canti brakes... Don't know about maintenance of disk brakes.

Note -- How much weight do the add? From VeloNews: "Discs will add somewhere between 250 and 750 grams, depending on the component choices made."

My racing CX bikes at the moment, both with mechanical disc brakes (Cannondale SuperX carbon frames with carbon wheels) weigh the SAME as my Cannondale Evo carbon road bike with traditional canti lever brakes. The weight argument stopped holding water a couple of years ago. (FWIW - all three bikes are running the same components outside of the brakes). I race CX a LOT, and many of the pros are racing with discs now. Yes, there is the potential for injury in a crash, but there is with cantilever brakes as well (ever missed a remount and gotten caught in the brakes?).

I also use my CX pit bike (same setup) for the gravel road riding/racing that I do, and feel so much better with the stopping power of the disc brakes. Typically, I am riding areas with a lot of elevation, and knowing I can stop when I need to is a huge asset. I will also NEVER race CX or MTB without discs again. In fact, I am looking to move to discs on the road as well.

The only application where I would look to the hydraulics vs. mechanicals right now is on my fat bike.

All that said, I ride A LOT, and in all conditions, so the discs make sense for me.

SheFly

[pll]

(ever missed a remount and gotten caught in the brakes?)

I realized this could happen and then it did. Very unpleasant, big, big bruise and a couple of abrasions. I was trying to remount more aggressively than my skills allow.

[SheFly]

I realized this could happen and then it did. Very unpleasant, big, big bruise and a couple of abrasions. I was trying to remount more aggressively than my skills allow.

Oh - YIKES! I've done this, too, and it HURTS. Now imagine doing it and you are of a different gender... I know of one guy who did that and got himself, um, stuck.

SheFly

[aronan]

[QUOTE=pll;697982]My next road bike would have hydraulic brakes (not disk). And I wish there were hydraulic canti brakes... Don't know about maintenance of disk brakes.QUOTE]

What does this mean? I only know of hydraulic disc brakes for bikes; what other kinds of hydraulic brakes are there out there?

I am in process of getting a new road bike, and am getting hydraulic disc bakes in part because the bike I decided I wanted for various reasons (a Volagi Liscio) only comes with discs. I have ridden with them on a friend's bike and liked them fine. I am going from an old steel road bike to a new carbon one, so a bit more weight in the brakes is just not that big a deal for me. And I do ride through the winter here in Northern CA, not necessarily though rain, but on plenty of wet roads (when we are not actually in a drought). So the thought of having disc brakes for getting down some of our curvy hilly roads is a plus.

[pll]

SRAM and Magura make hydraulic rim brakes.

SRAM: https://www.sram.com/news-articles/s...ad-brakes-2015
Magura: http://www.magura.com/en/bike/produc...im-brakes.html

Perhaps there are others, but those are the ones I have heard of.

[aronan]

thanks. Interesting. I had only known about hydraulic disc brakes before this.

[TigerMom]

I've been perusing the web, looking at what's new for 2015. It seems like there are more and more bikes with disc brakes. Do we really need them? It seems like I've been doing fine without them and now they seem like a "must have". (I'm very skeptical when it comes to marketing ) Are they easy to maintain and adjust? Do they add much weight to the bike? Please share any pros and cons. Thanks!

When the disc brakes for road bikes trickle down to the Shimano 105 range, the price of road bikes with disc brakes will not be as expensive as it is now. I look forward to the road bike disc brakes because then the carbon wheelsets won't wear down like they supposedly do now (racers use carbon wheelsets in races but practice on aluminum wheelsets because the caliper brakes supposedly clamp down on the carbon rims in carbon wheelsets and thin them down too much plus the grip is supposedly not as good when you go down steep inclines). But, the hydraulic brakes do squeek more on road bikes, at least they seem to squeek a lot on my friend's road bike's disc brakes. My mountain bike disc brakes don't squeek much at all compared to his road bike's. Weird.

[ny biker]

The only time I've had a problem stopping with regular brakes on a road bike was when my brakes needed to be adjusted. I don't see a need for heavier brakes that might injure me.

[shootingstar]

I never associated disc brakes with much more noticeable weight. But then I don't ride skinny tires and dropped down handlebars.

I never have.

I have them on my folding bike. My bike is light, actually the lightest out of 4 bikes. So... We've done some multi-day touring bike trips with loaded panniers on them. I understand they are less maintenance --terms of frequency.

[ridebikeme]

TigerMOM: When you were talking about disc brakes and carbon wheels/rims, did you mean canti or linear brakes? Disc brakes do not clamp down on the rim; they clamp down on the rotor.

I do not have a road bike with disc brakes, but do have a mtn and FATBIKE with them. I will say that they are definitely better when things are wet, but like many of you, we certainly could go without them. Like TigerMOM mentioned, there is an advantage with carbon wheels.

[TigerMom]

TigerMOM: When you were talking about disc brakes and carbon wheels/rims, did you mean canti or linear brakes? Disc brakes do not clamp down on the rim; they clamp down on the rotor.

I do not have a road bike with disc brakes, but do have a mtn and FATBIKE with them. I will say that they are definitely better when things are wet, but like many of you, we certainly could go without them. Like TigerMOM mentioned, there is an advantage with carbon wheels.

Oops. I meant to write Caliper brakes. I just edited my post response

[ny biker]

I never associated disc brakes with much more noticeable weight. But then I don't ride skinny tires and dropped down handlebars.

I never have.

I have them on my folding bike. My bike is light, actually the lightest out of 4 bikes. So... We've done some multi-day touring bike trips with loaded panniers on them. I understand they are less maintenance --terms of frequency.

My current brakes don't really need much maintenance.

[rebeccaC]

You get better more precise modulation and more stopping power and that's a good safety issue. As the technology moves forward there will be wheel and frame designs to further disc brake use. Giant has a 2015 road model with discs that weights less than the 2014 rim brake model through redesigning the frame. If not in 2015 then by 2016 the UCI should allow them in professional road racing which may be the one of the reasons we have seen more r&d in frame design and aerodynamics for disc brakes and now production.

I try not to be so traditional that it keeps me from accepting new designs. I haven’t given much thought to a next bike let alone disc brakes. Very little rain here and my serious descents are in mountain areas so if my braking becomes a problem I’ll stop and enjoy the view until they are ready for more…..and that hasn’t happened often. I will certainly put more thought into it when I'm ready for a new road bike. Now on a commuter in a hilly wet city……i'd be there