[Closed] Life after discs - can I ever trust a rim brake again (road bike content)

Yes. I never felt completely comfortable with my rim brakes on my old road bike. I recently upgraded to a disc equipped bike and am so much happier.

not sure. feels kinda like groundhog day.

Discs are great for working in the mud and avoiding rim wear etc. but both apply less to road bikes.
I'd have discs on the commuter to avoid rim wear, but not sure I'd want to go down any big hills with the weight of expedition kit on the bike and tiny discs to dissipate the heat (large discs are of course available.)

philjunior - valid point, it's charity ride so we'll be luxuriating with a support vehicle and no kit, but I'm not a wee guy so will take that point on board.

On the other hand, I'd rather be trying to slow down an "expedition weight" bike with discs fitted to suit the weight on a steep hill in the wet than with rim brakes that are only adaptable as far as pad choice.

Edit - crossed with skindog.

Depending on what "big expidition" means, I'd better fancy my chances of being able to find replacements/spares for a rim brake in the middle of nowhere if needed.

OP

If you are worried,just put slicks on a mountain bike.
It won't be that much slower,you could even put a road cassette on the back.

all valid points, we'll be a team of 5 riding in rotation around Scotland covering about 2000 miles in 10 days.

So rain is likely, as are some pretty remote parts of the world. I was thinking that the only spares I'd need for discs would be a couple of spare pads each end.

Best fit some wider tires too , you know the limiting factor to road bike brakes is the grip from the small contact patch of the tire right ?

roadie rim brakes are fine, great even - when they're set up well, and it's dry.

in the wet, the performance can drop to 'interesting'.

long term, you'll have to keep your wheels true, and eventually you'll wear the rims out.

but a new bike? - don't worry about it.

I have cantis on my Dawes Galaxy which work brilliantly - never ridden a long descent in the wet though. I have descended the Hautacam in the poring rain on a road bike with normal roadie brakes though and that was pretty scary.

all valid points, we'll be a team of 5 riding in rotation around Scotland covering about 2000 miles in 10 days.

Have I minsunderstood what you've said, or are you only doing about 20 miles a day?

Rim brakes are fine, I've ridden my tourer with 90l of panniers, a 35l rucksack and 100kg of me on it, and it stops just fine with cantis. May have been more interesting in the wet though.

If it's just a bimble round Scotland with a suppourt van then just ride anything that you like, you are definately over thinking the problems.

For touring, I'd go for disc brakes, better brakes are always better (tho the weight puts me off for a lightweight summer bike).

Trailrat...you can lock up your front wheel? 😉 it's easier with discs...

Have I minsunderstood what you've said

Yes, 2000/10 = 200 😉

My discs had no problems with heat when I was in the Franch Alps for the Marmotte this year, descending Alpe d'Huez, Glandon etc.

As important as the brakes that you fit is the technique applied to them. Good braking technique can readily overcome the downsides of a small hydraulic disc setup on a road bike; essentially, just make sure you don't drag them on long downhills so that they don't gradually overheat. Ride hard, then brake hard. In the wet, they'll be considerably more controllable than rim brakes as well as more powerful and as others have said already, avoid the problems of mildy warped rims and destructive rim wear. I can't understand why anyone would want to stick with cantis anymore, even at the top end of local racing. It's not like the weight penalty is enough to have any significance whatsoever and the advantages of controlled, late braking into just one sketchy corner in a race will negate that tiny disadvantage of a few extra gramms. If you're touring heavily in mountainous terrain, I'd maybe suggest putting a fair sized cable disc on the front and a smaller hydraulic on the back. My 'road' bike is a rigid 29er with that sort of arrangement; a 160mm cable BB7 on the front and an old hydraulic XT on the back. With good wheels on it's a flying machine, especially downhill. Not pretty, but it works very well, including on some challenging Alpine passes.

Have I minsunderstood what you've said

Yes, 2000/10 = 200

Depends if it's a relay or not, but it's not 20 miles a day, so yes, TINAS, you have misunderstood 😉

I'd worry less about hot brakes if it's just around Scotland - there are some fairly big hills but nothing of Alpine proportions (and also few with so many hairpin bends.)
That said in the wet with rim brakes you'll be fine on a big hill once the rain's been swept off and a bit of heat gets in the rim to reduce the moisture on it. But you could get through a lot of canti pads at 200 miles a day if you get much rain and are having to brake.
Edit - cantis are easier to accomodate with a rack though.

You'd be fine with rim brakes. I did swap the Tektro pads that came on mine for Koolstop pads and holders though, and rate them.

Thanks all for your points, I am leaning towards the discs for the ride now. In terms of milage, we'll be doing the 2000 odd miles as quickly as possible and riding 24 hours, so best case we'd do 2x 40 mile stints per day and be done in 5 days but realistically we are likely to take a bit longer, especially as we'll have ferry transfers to condsider if we take in the islands. In fairness 10 days doing only 40 miles each does sound pedestrian.

thanks again.

Skindog

Never had any trouble going down into Applecross with V-brakes and that's about as high as you'll get in the UK with lots of bends.

fasthaggis - Member
If you are worried,just put slicks on a mountain bike.

That's good advice. I now ride a 29er with disks. Fat tyres so I can use the brakes hard. It's not slower for general riding.

[url= https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5489/14397785942_074e4772a6_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5489/14397785942_074e4772a6_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Depends if it's a relay or not, but it's not 20 miles a day, so yes, TINAS, you have misunderstood

Fair cop!

I still stand by my point that it's not going to be a very demaning tour on equipment or spares, I've done longer commutes and not changed a single part all summer.

And if he is doing 140-200miles a day (maybe 4 riding and one dirving the van?) I'd be more bothered about having the lightest most comfortable bike I could get.

In either case more stopping power isn't a bad thing, but it'd be a long way down the list of things worrying me, especialy if it limited or comprimised my choice of bikes in some way.

epicyclo - Member
Never had any trouble going down into Applecross with V-brakes and that's about as high as you'll get in the UK with lots of bends.

That doesn't mean discs aren't better.

Why does everyone have to say "what I do is good enough for everyone else"? Put your egos away...

cynic-al - Member
That doesn't mean discs aren't better.

Wasn't saying they were. Just that V-brakes work.

My current opinion I thought was obvious seeing as I'm using disks on the roadbike.

Got to say I would get discs if the bike I was looking at buying had that option.I ride my Canti equipped road bike in all weathers and in the wet it just feels like a backward step compared to my disc equipped mtb's.

Discs are better in crap conditions (less rim wear and more predictable) but good rim brakes are more than up to the job.

Getting to over 40mph is fairly normal and never had any issues stopping in wet or dry. Done numerous wet and dry races as well and found they are good enough.

As always comes up in these debates, you can lock wheels with rim brakes, easily. You might also want to think about how fast you can corner in the wet!

You aren't actually riding that far individually and if the roads are sealed then you shouldn't have many problems. 50-100miles is just a typical club run. You are just doing a few back to back. Individually you are doing 200miles, I know plenty who can do that over a weekend or even in a single day.

Narrowly avoided an otb incident today on the road bike when the rear decided to behave badly under braking - I missed the performance of discs.

Mud/road crud had got onto the caliper and rim when passing some farms, the rim was part coated and I got normal braking followed by nothing followed by full lock, think the crosser will be coming out for the next ride in those parts 🙂

is it me or does that whyte look like it has 180mm discs on for the photoshoot? (the more usual 160 listed on spec sheet)
chainset and brake hoods look a bit pants but otherwise I like the look of that.