[Closed] Disks on road bikes - worth waiting for?

Been on discs all year on a Giant Defy Advanced and love them, the hydraulic options are definitely better than the cable versions. Sram are pushing a different mounting standard for road, but it's not catching on at present.

I'm assuming the power and modulation is different to MTB's to account for a smaller tyre in wet conditions?

I do not really think discs will add much to a summer bike. Rim brakes are excellent. I personally prefer the simplicity and looks of a bike with rim brakes.

However if your dream bike will be used in the crappy weather and on shitty roads then discs are great. I hate wearing through rims, and I hate the noise of gritty rim brakes. I have cable discs on my commuter which are fantastic and have been fit and forget. I recently got hydraulics on my GT grade, which have more stopping power than my road tyres will ever be able to use, but the modulation is good so they are really nice to use.

Modulation is excellent as for power there is plenty to get you stopped, it's not a case of squeeze and crash, they just work and work very well. The best thing is stopping in the wet, unexpected rain shower no problem still stopping.

I was in the market for a road bike earlier this year and since I had no burning desire for either type of brake I was able to go with the bike that be suited me, for what it's worth it was down to a disc braked Defy or a rim braked equivalent.

Whilst i've got no regrets buying my defy and would whole heartedly recommend it I'm also well aware there are lots of happy rim-brakers out there.

Would I wait a few years before buying my dream bike if I was able to now? Hell no. If it stops and goes to your satisfaction then that's all that matters*

*unless you're thinking about racing I suppose and are trying to predict regulation changes etc.

In this case I think yes, wait.

I don't regret buying a rim-braked roadie myself last year, but I think I might if it were my "dream bike".

But is there any need to wait? Why not just go and get the best Defy you can afford this very morning?

Its not a Defy 🙂

It won't be used for racing ad I'm subscribing to the "good bike for everything, replaceable bike for racing" mantra, but will be my bike for club rides all year round and perhaps sportives. I've made no secret its an Enigma I want, and I've always lusted over the Ti bikes but was unsure about the Etape (can come with discs) which is their guarded option as its also not their "best" model in some ways, but recently fell for the Elite HSS in Columbus which has no eyelets, or discs:

[img] ?v=1435785644[/img]*

Like I said, I don't [i]need[/i] it now, so if it meant waiting to see how the industry settles then so be it.

*colour is optional at my request, doesn't have to be orange

doesn't have to be orange

Whatever colour you can think of versus...

[img] ?v=1435785617[/img]

mmm... titanium

Edit : Just noticed that bike has mudguards attached. And it still looks nice!

I'd double bluff it and wait to see what the next braking standard after discs will be - at the current rate of progress there'll be some sort of telekinetic controlled system which uses molecular changes of the rubber compound to decelerate the bike with us within a couple of years. I seem to remember Bikerumor suggesting just that.

The problem is that the new system will likely be incompatible with both rim and disc brakes and require some sort of integrated electrode neurone pick-up channel to function properly. I guess you could go for discs, but don't kid yourself that it'll be a forever bike. All imho of course, YMMV, religion could be a good thing etc.

integrated electrode neurone pick-up channel

I want that. Whatever the **** it is, I want it...!

I think if I was planning a true dream build, I'd hold off until SRAM wireless came with a hydraulic discs option.

Otherwise you could wait and wait until "just next year" and you'll never end up with anything or you'll still always be wanting this upgrade or that extra.

That Etape is my original want Teasel.

Otherwise you could wait and wait until "just next year" and you'll never end up with anything or you'll still always be wanting this upgrade or that extra.

Yes indeed. Like I said, I don't need it now. My original brief is to wait until stop racing / my 50th and by an everyday "special" bike, so I've at least 7 years to wait 🙂 Its just I have a sudden injection of funds, which could actually probably be better spent reducing the mortgage/getting out kitchen sorted etc*

* according to Mrs K.

BUT - it'd have rim brakes. Is this a mistake

Nope...

HTH's

😉

Personally I'd wait a year or two. My next road bike will have discs and electronic shifting. I'm waiting until the disk standards settle down a bit. Some manufacturers are using custom hub spacings (Specialized), some using normal quick releases, some using through axle. Also wheel design will evolve to take advantage of not requiring a braking track.

Waiting for disc standard to settle down -well just get a frame with standard Q/R skewers what wrong with these.

Road disc bikes are here already. I would just buy a frame or get one custom made to the axle standard you want. 5mm Q/R is well estabished and so is 142x12mm. DT Swiss make hubs which are easily converted between both. the other standards 135x10 e.t.c are newer.

Then build it up with the parts you want. You also get to choose a BSA BB shell rather than BB30, PF30..... yawn.

My Ti equilibrium disc is a fantastic bike but currently has Record 10 speed and Tetkro Hy-DR's on it. Feels like a race bike almost apart form the long headtube. When Rotor UNO groupset comes out next year I will get that.

so go for it you wont regret it. Waiting for standards to settle down will mean never buying something. When have standards ever settled down recently.

post mount calipers ... been on mtb for years and work. di2. guards
as an option. all ticked by a Mason definition. that's me sorted
then, and ... 30mm tyres work so that's gnarmac covered too 🙂

I've made no secret its an Enigma I want

*koff*
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On the one hand:-
Do it - Enigma were fantastic to deal with, the bike rides like a dream, and (in the dry) there's absolutely no issue stopping (ride in the Peaks, so I do have some proper hills to play on)

On the other. It's just too nice to get covered in shite. I've got caught out a couple of times - once in a blizzard (looked beautiful in Sheffield, was abysmal in Hathersage) and I've hated what I've put it through. There's also no way I'm putting guards of any type on it for winter. So I'm now looking for a steel, hydro disc, mudguard, tapered fork* winter roadie that I don't mind getting utterly cakked up. However that's not quite as easy as it seems either, especially as I don't want to end up spending dream bike cash on it. Current favourites are an 18bikes Monsal or a Kona Roadhouse. Neither of which really fit the cheap/cheerful bill.

*The tapered fork has been a bit of a revelation - the front end of the bike is just SO much more planted and (on dry tarmac) you can get away with all kinds of combined braking/cornering silliness that on a straight 1 1/8" carbon fork would have it twisting all over the place. Add the extra power of discs in, and to me its a no brainer to go tapered again.

I loved the Etape until they changed the seatpost to 31.6mm which doesn't seem right for a winter/audax type of bike where stiffness is secondary to comfort.

I have an original rim braked Etape, it's my only road bike - love the geo and planted feeling it gives. I miss the braking performance when I get on it even in the summer. In the winter it's bad enough I've considered a disc fork for it.

Double post.

If it's for "general mooching about" I'd recommend getting discs for practicality.
Rim brakes might be your choice if you want to save a little weight on a bike used for racing, or just because there's still more choice in rim braked bikes at the moment.

I wouldn't worry too much about waiting for standardisation. I've been using discs on the road bike I do most of my cycling on (commuting/touring/winter training/Audax etc) for 12 years and two different frames. I think QR/135mm spacing and post/international caliper mounting will be around for a while yet.

I loved the Etape until they changed the seatpost to 31.6mm

What im curious about with the disc vs non disc debate is when manufacturers start bring aero profiled rims for disc bikes out not very existing I know but surely they wont be far away ?

I'm quite close to writing a big cheque to Enigma for something that would probably be my contribution to the 'money no object' thread. The one dealbreaker for me is disc brakes- I wouldn't dream of anything else. I've been riding on the road round the Dark Peak with hydraulic discs since the start of the year and they are just so consistent.

Lovely Bike Jon Edwards. I get what you mean about winter riding - I have alu Defy 105 which I could keep - i certainly wouldn't get much from selling it - for bad weather I suppose. But 3 bikes isn't really that practical.

My other bike is a Bianchi Sempre Ultegra which would default to the Race bike, but it seems a shame that it wouldn't be ridden otherwise and there's no way I'd risk the Enigma in a race scenario.

Adsh - so you'd recommend the Etape disc? I get that but its not where my heart is - my heart is screaming for that HSS in orange... Did you mean you'd run disc front / rim rear just by changing the fork?

Of course, the other disc frame they sell is the evoke, but again not guar eyelets:

[img] ?v=1435788875[/img]

I treated myself to a nice carbon road bike a couple of years ago, full Campag Super Record groupset and the brakes are fine, but the R785 hydraulics on my CX bike are better in every situation.

As Enigma already do disc braked bikes in other styles why not ask them if they can do a special version of the HSS for you if you give them a few extra pennies.

What's involved a different fork, rear disc mount and some cable guides job jobbed.

my next road bike, assuming everything else works out standards-wise, will be my current frame with a disc fork on it

If you plan on riding your best bike through the winter in bad conditions, then yes disks may be of use. In reality... you'll take something more weathered anyway, so the decision is moot.

My "best" bike would be a Pegoretti. It won't have disks. For bad weather I have other options. My best as in best performing bike is my Propel SL. I'll race it in any conditions and disks aren't yet allowed.

Be honest about when you will ride the bike and when you will default to another.

Orange you say
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The trp hylex have a great feel to them and the levers are a lovely shape

But 3 bikes isn't really that practical.

Still, it's probably the correct number if you're racing and you ride a lot.

Best bike
Winter bike
Race bike

I don't need a race bike because I don't race, but I'd build one up if I were doing so regularly.

Has anyone ridden a disc braked road bike down a proper alpine descent (i.e. 15km switch backs a la the Alpe, Joux Plane or something? It might be me misremembering but I thought there was concerns about over heating, no?

I'm not trying to stir things up, I'd love the answer to be aye I have, naw probs son! 😀

(Having just bought a giant TCX I'm wondering if it would be okay for weeks roadie in the alps/Pyrenees).

Maybe 3 bikes then - as I mention my Defy is worth more to me than a sale of it, so perhaps it becomes a poor weather/spare.

Has anyone ridden a disc braked road bike down a proper alpine descent (i.e. 15km switch backs a la the Alpe, Joux Plane or something? It might be me misremembering but I thought there was concerns about over heating, no?

I'm not trying to stir things up, I

Yes.

I built a aluminium Kinesis Tripster for commuting in around 2010 and then got invited on a colleagues roadie holiday in the Alps. The Avid BB7s with 160mm rotors were great. Standard pads etc.. no problems at all.

Here's a few pics...

[img] [/img]

It was in September and there was snow/ice at the edge of the road at the summit...

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

I'm pretty sure the overheating concerns came from a journalist who road a bike fitted with superlight Ashima rotors (meant for CX only) down a big descent whilst dragging the brakes.

GCN did, dragging the brakes all the way down then put a sausage on the spinning disc. Not a great deal of damage compared to the spokes.

For me if this was going to be a best bike for summer days and no racing I'd have zero problems choosing a non-disc bike and would be about 80-90% in favour of normal brakes.

Winter = discs though (I'm amazed at how much cleaner my disc brake winter hack stays).

Racing is currently up in the air and I wouldn't buy a race bike until this shit calms down, there's def advantages and disadvantages to discs on a race bike and I'm currently kinda 50/50, it'd be nice to have reliable braking what ever the weather on carbon rims and if I had discs I'd probably have clinchers too...

Non racing best bike for any conditions, discs.

Thanks ribena, good to know!

If you are not racing I'd get discs. The only reason my next bike is rim braked is because of the racing restrictions.

I wouldn't worry too much about standards, things are changing all the time and it is still possible to get parts for most things. As soon as discs are mainstream it will be something else that you are waiting for.

Biggest advantage for me on my CX is the modulation and lightness of touch required. Makes it nicer to ride on long hilly days (gravel stuff). On the road it would give the confidence to run some lighter carbon rim as well, knowing they wouldn't get chewed up on a few bad rides. I tend not to ride my race bike in bad weather but sometimes it rains on race day, sometimes it rains half way through a ride - sometime the roads are just rubbish and covered in mud and filth.

Metalheart check out GCN's channel on YouTube, they've done a few disc V rim tests including long alpine descents.

Cheers ctm, found a couple. Doubt mine will boil the fluid (seens as their cable...) 😀

Non racing best bike for any conditions, discs.

I'm thinking this. The hydraulic Evoke Ultegra though is £3800. Lovely machine though. Enigma have a review of the mechanical braked disc Evoke up on thier front page if anyone's interested. Edges out a Spesh.

Let's imagine a situation.....

The UCI, for whatever counts as a "reason" in their book, mandated that any racing mountain bike would be 9mm QR only and could only use cantis. (We could get sillier and ban droppers and suspension, but bear with me).

So, in this world, to race a mountain bike, you would have to have antiquated, early 20th century technology, designed for road bikes. In this world, wouldn't your ordinary, go out to ride and enjoy mountain bike choice say, "Sod the rules. I want discs and bolt throughs, dammit!"?

Now, imagine another world.....The UCI mandate the use of early 20th century technology, which has been far surpassed for decades in other cycling arenas, meaning that if you want to race, you have to have caliper brakes and spindly little QRs. In this world, wouldn't your go out to ride and enjoy road bike say, "Sod the rules. I want better brakes, dammit!"? Oh, hold on, this one isn't an imagined world. The UCI really have kept road racing brakes in the dark ages.

Has anyone ridden a disc braked road bike down a proper alpine descent

Can't comment on hydraulics, but I've ridden Alpe d'Huez, Stelvio and various other passes with full camping kit in front and rear panniers, using BB7s, and had no problems.

3 bikes that not enough. You need at least one mtb. I am at 14 bikes.

Would you ride a mtb now with canti's regularly. I have a canti equipped bike it does not get used much. Apply the same logic to road bikes. The axle standards that will stick are 5mm q/r and 15mm/142x 12.
It is possible that the rear spacing may grow in time but the 148mm boost is not exactly dominant for mtb yet.

Soon road bike for rim brakes will grow to 135mm rear spacing. Dt Swiss are expecting this to happen over the next year or so and it makes a lot of sense.

Id say it all comes down to how heavy you want it.nifnits a city slogger then yup discs are where it's at, if it's a thing of beauty then rims are where it's at.

So many choices it seems too wide a scope for one thread on the subject, we need more threads on the disc/rim conundrum.

One per week should cover it.

That enigma looks lovely. Rim brakes have stood the test of time and work really, really well. Yes discs will probably become more prevalent but that will still be a lovely bikes and nice spares will be available for decades.

Has anyone ridden a disc braked road bike down a proper alpine descent

I've ridden a Defy with Shimano hydraulic discs down both sides of the Col du Glandon. Performance was exceptional. The noise was horrendous though.

That Enigma does look lovely, and spares will almost definitely be around for ages, but it's occurred to me that with that frame having vertical drop outs and being steel, there's probably nothing to stop you having a disc tab brazed onto the back at some point in the future, and and applicable disc brake cable guides too, and getting a replacement disc fork at a later date if you regret not going disc.

I've recently come across this, which has sparked ideas of buying a mid 90's vertical drop out Italian steel frame in nice tubing, and having some forks like this made for it, and a disc tab brazed onto the back and mixing retro niceness with disc brakes.

I rode a Defy with RS785s up and down Col du Galibier, Col de Jox Plane and my local col, Col du Pierre Carre this summer and the brakes were excellent. I'm used to riding those cols on rim brakes. The discs were more progressive and confidence inspiring, even if not necessarily more powerful. Then there's wet weather performance, which is a good argument for disc brakes in its own right. Disc brakes on road bikes are here to stay. It's like the whole 650b thing: whether we like it or not, it's here to stay and will quickly become the norm. Personally, I think it's a great idea.

Just to echo the above really. Discs are great for bad weather, however I am in a minority in that I like small discs on the bikes rather than caliper brakes.

Would I wait, probably not given that you are going for an enigma and the forks etc can always be upgraded later.

Can't comment on hydraulics, but I've ridden Alpe d'Huez, Stelvio and various other passes with full camping kit in front and rear panniers, using BB7s, and had no problems.

I've got a Sabbath September ar1 which has the rs685 hydro brakes. Used it with bike packing kit for some long alpine descents, including mt ventoux, col de montgenevre and even the gravel descent from colle dell finestre. Absolutely fantastic, and quiet as a mouse.

I quite like discs on a 26 wheeled commuter bike, you can pick up speed away from lights and doofus drivers, and stop quickly too.

Going to get my alu Kona hardtail repaired and have it for commuting. 🙂

If going dream bike it's a bit silly to be worried about having contemporary features, it'll probably seem even more outdated in a few years than if you'd gone for something with a classic look that won't date as much.

I've been on a hydro disc brake endurance road bike since November last year.

I've just bought a new bike and got a caliper brake road race bike. This will be my good weather and climbing bike.

Will get another hydro disc bike as soon as stock is available in 2 months. Best choice for foul weather and commuting.

The main thing I'd be concerned about if I was going for a once-in-a-lifetime bike right now, would be the axle/hub standards for discs, and spacing/chainline.

I would've thought that 12mm 100/135 would be where things will convererge. But who knows.