[Closed] Road bike disc brakes

Unless you are racing and the race expressly forbids them then I see no reason not to have disc brakes. My road bike is the only one I have without disc brakes but it's eight years old and they weren't really a thing back then. If I replaced it then it'll be a disc brake equipped bike.

Disc Debate Quokka is sad...

Theyll be as much of a fad in road bikes as they have been in MTB.

Here to stay, but at any given price point you'll be buying a slightly heavier slightly less aero bike with better brakes. The standard (flat mount, through axle) is probably relatively settled for now at least (and tbh you can work around the older standards).

I use discs on the commuter road bike (with racks and mudguards) but for a fast road bike wouldn't bother for now.

Hope not, genuinely don't like them and don't need them, and that includes my winter bike/commuter.

Suspect non-disc bikes/frames will become more niche, but the components should be around forever, especially as long as the big tour teams refuse to buy in to them wholesale.

Ask yourself what you genuinely want disc brakes for, sure the lever feel is lovely, sure the stopping is better*, but you'll pay more and/or they'll make for a heavier bike, plus in my experience they are typically noisier in the wet (cue a million suggestions for why I've 'set them up wrong' or haven't bedded them in right or am running wrong pads etc. etc.)

you’ll be buying a slightly heavier slightly less aero bike with better brakes.

Has the aero thing actually been studied and quantified, or is it just something people assume?

Have you seen the height of some of those brake hoods? The new Campag ones were described as 'Frankenstein's Forehead' 😀

I say more pictures of Quokkas, sad or otherwise.

I'm not convinced they're really that great.

Definitely on a commuter, for riding in all weathers.

But for a shiny road bike that only goes out when it's sunny, I can't see the point.

I’ll chuck my hat in the ring.  Can’t normally be arsed arguing with dyed in the wool roadies on the subject.  I’m a lifelong 25 year road bike user along side MTB.  I’ve raced on the road full time and ridden my fair share of crits, road races as well as big ass European mountains.

I just sold my Colnago C60 caliper bike and I’ll not buy another non disc bike.  The slightly heavier slightly less aero thing, does it really matter? Really??

Disc brakes sometimes make noises, sure, but the brakes feel and work the same 100% of the time.  No allowing for water on rims, carbon surfaces etc.  disc brake road bikes are much more confidence inspiring to ride quickly down twisty mountain descents.  There’s some way to go, but IMO discs are a no brainier.

You can manage with caliper rim brakes, like you can manage with drum brakes on your car or motorbike, but no one ever buys a car and says “don’t bother with the good brakes please, I’ll manage”

Ive actually started looking at caliper bikes and think they look very old fashioned already.

I use my road bike mostly for commuting but some occasional sunny rides. I’m more into mtb so don’t like to use time up on the road bike when I could be on the gnarpoon whooping over some jumps / smashing down a welsh hillside.

For commuting, hands down the discs are better than the last 3 sets of rim brakes I’ve had. Even in the dry grey have the edge with hard braking efforts. The lever feel is also nicer - and you don’t get that grinding feeling and noise when you brake in wet mucky weather.

The weight difference can’t be huge I wouldn’t have thought (and I don’t race). Leaving the main downside as henhouse you get sometimes in the wet - they can squeal a bit until you get them hot. I’m not sure if that’s a setup thing, or just what they do.

If they're not "here to stay", does that mean I'll have to get canti bolts welded onto my Tripster when the fad passes?

What a pointless discussion. 😆 I enjoyed it though.

But for a shiny road bike that only goes out when it’s sunny, I can’t see the point.

Yeah, I used to have one of those and came to the following conclusion:

a shiny road bike that only goes out when it’s sunny, I can’t see the point.

So I sold it and built a road bike with discs 😉

I've been using discs on my road commuter for 15 years now, and upgraded to full hydro this year. I think we're well past the fad stage.

The only reason i would buy a non disc bike now would be if it was an exceptionally good deal compared to the disc options. Even the racing issue has gone away now that BC have approved discs.

Other things being equal, hydro discs are easier to set up and maintain and don't grind away your rims and cover the bike in crud.

yes but. WHIRLING BLAYDZ OF DETH!

They are here to stay.

Disks changed the mountain bike world. Going from a bike with V's or canti's to a bike with disks was night and day. The difference was incredible and changed what we rode and how we rode it. Disks on a road bike is not a night and day difference, you can still only ride same old roads regardless of what stoppers you have.

Ask yourself what you genuinely want disc brakes for

To not wear out my rims in a year.

For many of us with a nice light summer road bike, an upgrade to discs would cost £££, and not offer huge benefits.

We still ride it in the wet BTW, just not so much.

It's certainly here to stay tho. (User of discs on commuter road bike for 13 years, still with summer road bike on rim brakes).

I have a commuter with discs and a "nice" summer bike without. My ultegra rim brakes stop about as well as the cheaper disc brakes. However my commuter rides through winter and I suspect my rims will now last a hell of a lot longer with discs. I don't think the difference is as stark as with MTB, but discs certainly have their place.

Disks on a road bike is not a night and day difference, you can still only ride same old roads regardless of what stoppers you have.

To a point. Steep descents on crappy lanes in the cold and wet are a far better experience if you have disc brakes.

I doubt they'll catch on, the aerodynamic imbalance created by the rotors clearly robs you of a significant percent of watts. Speaking of aero gains, my money's on the resurgence of these babies - after all, it's not really about stopping.

Interesting comments.  Looking at a 2019 Giant TCR Advanced 1 for another £100 odd pounds you can get the TCR Advanced Disc and must say its a nicer colour! I will have a look at them in the flesh and check for fit before hitting the buy it now button.

If this thread doesn't go to at least 3 pages I will be disappointed.

Also: you can now race with discs in the UK.

I quite like my rims wearing out because it means I get to lace a new pair or spooge some proper cash on some quality hoops and who doesn't like buying wheels.?

Disc Debate Quokka is sad…

I reckon I could flip that little critter up and slice him in half on the rear rotor 😉

Considering Froome lost a leg this year in the tour and another lad an arm I'm not sure they are safe yet.

What nobody told you about this crash was a bloke was behind him with disc brakes 😉

Have them on the Defy and really nice when the rimes get wet, got Hydros on the Grail and love them but in reality they are not going to take off just like carbon fibre didn't

I've been toying with the idea of going back to rim brakes for my commuter but I've decided I'm happy to stay with discs at lesrlfor commuting.

If I was buying a bike for general roadie-ing I'd be happy with either. In fact I'd prefer rim brakes to cable discs.

My road bikes are either for winter, or for exploring,  or for Alps/Pyrenees/Dolomites.

And I weigh 80 kilos, and have a lot of potential energy!

I will win nothing in racing, so all three of those things are better serviced by disk equipped bikes.

Next disk only frame &fork arrives chez SP on Friday: I am excited about my Bokeh, btw.

The ironic thing about otsdr's post is that if nobody obsessed about tiny performance differences, we'd all still be riding bikes like that...

STI shifting; why bother? Overly complex and my downtube shifters work perfectly.... a fad if you ask me

Clipless pedals; what, you mean actually attach myself to the bike?! Nonsense, why would I need them when I have perfectly good straps to hold my foot in place... there's just no need for them, another fad

Disc brakes; you can see where this is going can't you? See also road tubeless tyres.

Jesus Christ, rim brakes suck. I have an old Giant Defy that a friend gave me. About twice a year I pump up the tyres and ride it to work just to keep it in working order and remind myself why I'm not into road bikes. This thread reminded me that my six monthly fright was overdue so I rode it for the three mile commute to work this morning. Cruises along really well, much quicker on road than my regular commuter bike, but those brakes really suck. Granted, I probably should have cleaned the rims off properly, but the brakes did improve a bit after a few stops and they would have been much better than any rim brake bike in the wet. They do slow you down, but even basic old Deore hydros on my regular commuter bike are much, much nicer. Much more powerful and much better modulation. I really don't see how anyone could object to having brakes that work better. I still have a couple of old hack MTBs with rim brakes, but they are nowhere near as frightening because they are so much slower on the road and I never use them off road any more.

If I was spending thousands on a new road bike, then I’d definitely go disc option. But it’s just future proofing, not a need to have discs.

Although i do feel discs are better for modulation, for braking in the wet, and for saving wear on nice sets of wheels ... they bring a whole load of negatives also: the brake squeal, brake rub, added weight, ugly tall/long hoods, added weight, faff of rerouting & bleeding.

interesting that only a few teams are using them in the Vuelta.

they bring a whole load of negatives also: the brake squeal, brake rub, added weight, ugly tall/long hoods, added weight, faff of rerouting & bleeding.

I haven't tried road disks, but:

1. Rim brakes can squeal pretty badly too and I've never been bothered by noisy brakes as long as they work.

2. Brake rub means that the disks are buckled. Rim brakes also suffer from this if the rims go out of true or get damaged. Replacing a disk is easier than replacing a damaged rim.

3. The added weight is bugger all. Might be an issue for a pro racer, but not for normal people.

4. Who cares if the brakes work better.

5. Same answer as 3.

6. Once they are set up, they shouldn't need to be bled unless you decide to flush the fluid or disconnect a hose for some reason. They are pretty much fit and forget, run for years with only pad changes.

Discs also  allow you to run wider tyres if you have the space on the frame.

I’d go for disc but run both, if maintained both stop the bike.

There are pros and cons on either.

The disc bikes are becoming more prettier as they integrate the cabling and hide it as opposed to dangling wires everywhere.

I really don’t see how anyone could object to having brakes that work better.

Have you actually read what it is people object to? I don't object to brakes that work better, in principle, but when that benefit comes with a host of downsides, I start to ask if it's worth it.

For me, it's not. I don't race, nor do I charge around trying to shave milliseconds of my times on wet descents, so if I have to pull the brake levers slightly harder to slow down that is easily worth the cost saving vs. a set of disc brakes, the weight saving (so what if it's only half a kilo, at least I'm not paying extra for that half a kilo...), the easier maintenance (less guesswork keeping pads centred, rims are easier to true than discs etc. etc.) and yes, the knowledge that I can brake on wet rims and slow down without deafening myself and any bystanders. That last point is actually significant for those of us that, you know, ride our bikes for fun and don't find deafening screeching all that enjoyable...

Discs can be great, discs are here to stay, lets just not pretend they are the best or only solution for road bikes...

I built a road bike with discs in 2002 - apart from BB7 road brakes, nothing else was standard - even more fun was that it ran a Campagnolo drivetrain (had to respace a Shimano cassette). It was great for winter riding and got me into 'gravel' riding but it was noticeably heavier than a regular road or CX bike - in the end I sold it as I had 2 other CX bikes and a rack of CX wheels with tubs for racing. If I was in the market for a road bike today, I'd go discs because it makes sense if running carbon rims and tubeless tyres for starters 2 areas that have improved immensely. Racing with rim brakes and carbon rims in pouring rain isn't an experience I relished.

1. Rim brakes can squeal pretty badly too and I’ve never been bothered by noisy brakes as long as they work.

Solution to squeeling rim brakes on my commuter? Replace pads with Swisstop BXP pads, toe pads in (front only, back is fine).

If only silencing my discs was that cheap or easy.

Brake rub happens because of the tolerances, frames and wheels flex, that's why road frames are now having to go through axle etc. Guess what? Rim brakes don't rub even on QR frames as they have more clearance.

Replacing a disc might be easier than replacing a rim, but trueing a buckled disc is just clumsy guesswork compared to trueing a rim.

Have you actually read what it is people object to?

Mostly looks and exaggerated stuff?

Mostly looks and exaggerated stuff?

Tradition, flowing lines, bidon, the pros don't, chapeau, bidon, other random French words to make it sound like you know what's what, hat.

CFH that would probably explain how uppity the road club got as we cruised past them yesterday on my big tyre disc braked gravel monstrosity

Solution to squeeling rim brakes on my commuter? Replace pads with Swisstop BXP pads, toe pads in (front only, back is fine).

If only silencing my discs was that cheap or easy.

Solution to squeaking disc brakes on my commuter? Replace pads with organic Clarks, clean disc and caliper (but I don't need to, as neither squeal).

😉

I can see the SRAM Quokka discs now - small, powerful and unobtrusive.

Indeed. Was riding along a lane the other day and got chatting to a Raphaite on a Cervelo, aero wheels and all. We rode together for a while, same pace. Then he looked at my bike...

Mudguards! Discs! And....shudder...30mm tyres!

Could almost hear him scream HERETIC at me in his inner monologue!

😁

I'll see your 30mm and raise you to 45mm with nobbly bits 🙂

And yes it does roll quite well doesn't it....

😂

Solution to squeaking disc brakes on my commuter? Replace pads with organic Clarks

I'm on my third or fourth set of new pads, second or third tin of brake cleaner (oops, sorry CHF, that's an exaggeration, lets say my second tin of brake cleaner) and third set of rotors.

Maybe I just brake wrong, or there's some weird harmonic resonant bollocks going on with my frame.

I'll find out soon enough, I've overcome my objections enough to commit to a new disc braked gravel/CX frame since there are bugger all non-disc options that I can afford. Soon I'll be entering the sunny uplands of never having to replace rims and being generally BETTER somehow 😉

I ride two different road bikes - one with and one without discs.  I ride each about 50:50.

My Shand has slacker all-road / gravel geometry and is intended for riding year round in all weathers.  It's fairly light for what it is, but not a racer by any means.  It wears mudguards and Ultegra R8000 discs - it's the more stable and comfortable bike, with the sort of riding I do on it complemented by discs.

My Trek Emonda is really a dry weather bike.  It's intended for faster commutes and dry road riding.  It's pretty light and has Ultegra calipers, which are very good at stopping in the dry.  For its intended use, I can't see that I'd benefit from discs.

If I were to combine the bikes, I'd go for a disc-equipped one... but only if I were commuting, touring and riding in poor weather.

Added weight? It's a bit like the weight "saving" in going to a 1x drivetrain, yes there's a difference but it's not massive, in a blind test lifting them I'd doubt anyone would be able to tell the difference between two bikes that were identical apart from the brakes, there are other benefits.

I'm on my fourth set of wheels on my rim braked road bike because the rims have worn and the cost of buying a new rims and rebuilding the wheels is so close to buying a new set that it's just as simple/lazy to buy a new pair. Throwing away a set of hubs (Hope) that are nowhere near their end of life is stupid. Effectively I'm replacing one consumable (the rim/wheel) costing a lot of money with a cheaper one (the rotor).

If I break a spoke and my rim goes out of true, or the rim goes out of true for any other reason, then with disc brakes I've still got a working system. With rim brakes you'd have to loosen them off so that the wheel would turn (depending on the deflection of the rim of course).

Squealing brakes? I've had those with discs, V-brakes, cantilevers, etc. Yes it's a bit annoying but useful to let phone zombies know that you are there 🙂

Disc brakes on a road bike aren't a panacea to all braking problems in the same way that tubeless isn't the solution to all tyre problems but overall they are, IMO, better than rim brakes.

I’m on my third or fourth set of new pads, second or third tin of brake cleaner (oops, sorry CHF, that’s an exaggeration, lets say my second tin of brake cleaner) and third set of rotors.

Maybe I just brake wrong, or there’s some weird harmonic resonant bollocks going on with my frame.

105 Hydros, fitted from new never squealed even in the mud and wet of the Hope peaks ride, or the long wet Tour O Borders so maybe your just unlucky or can hear in the same range as dogs.

2 pages. Everything is going well here.

How about dropper posts on a road bike?  Will that blow foo-foo valves?

How about dropper posts on a road bike?  Will that blow foo-foo valves?

Already in use, Mavic neutral service bikes have the lever operated KS posts fitted.

https://www.velonews.com/2016/07/bikes-and-tech/spotted-astana-rides-special-height-adjust-posts-at-tour_412054

@mike, indeed.  Was just wondering what explosions it might cause amongst some, seeing as they have so many issues with disc brakes.

I've had none of these issues in 19yrs of hydro disc use - then again I'm not mechanically incompetent.

I've got a reasonably nice bike with a discs and a nicer one with rim brakes. I prefer the nicer one in all aspects other than the brakes. I took the less nice one to the Alps because I wanted the better brakes, and whilst I spent the climbs thinking "I wish I had the nicer bike", seconds into every single descent I was so pleased I had the discs. If I were going again I'd take the heavier bike in a heartbeat.

To that end, if I bought another 'nice' bike (or any new road bike frankly) it would have discs, they're just better, and I don't really get any of the issues.

Discs for me because I wanted one bike to ride all year round. Starting to see the rim wear as a bit of a negative just at the moment. I could easily lose 500g off the wheels for just over £300 but can't justify to myself replacing something that works perfectly well. I might just have to wear the hubs out to justify new wheels 🙂

Here to stay, but at any given price point you’ll be buying a slightly heavier slightly less aero bike with better brakes. The standard (flat mount, through axle) is probably relatively settled for now at least (and tbh you can work around the older standards).

The aero thing was a red herring put forward by bike companies who'd invested years and $$$$$ in aero framesets. Magically when it came time to re-design them they decided to go disk only as all these concerns disappeared.

If I was buying a new bike, it would probably have disks. Yes you might get 105 disks vs Ultegra rim brakes, but 105 disks are better.

If I was buying a s/h bike I'd rather it had disks but it's not a must have, it would come somewhere after aesthetics.

I wouldn't sell a current bike with rim brakes to pay for a new one with disks.

I'm after a new winter bike as my cross bike is a PITA having to sacrifice riding gravel/cx to have a road bike with guards even with two wheelsets. I'm really not fussed whether it's a newer disk bike or some old audax bike.

I’m on my fourth set of wheels on my rim braked road bike

Is that on a bike you ride all year round on dirty steep lanes. I've done 8,000 miles (not much compared to some I know) on my summer road bike ans I'm still on the original brake pads.

I don't think anyone doubts disc brakes aren't the best all year round solution. Only whether for many on a summer use only bike their the best option.

A quick Google turns up research saying that the claimed aero advantage of rim brakes is a myth.

https://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Disc_and_Rim_Brake_Aero_Drag_6073.html

https://www.parcours.cc/pages/aerodynamics_disc

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a20005113/brake-aerodynamics/

https://road.cc/content/feature/244969-tour-de-france-tech-2018-rise-and-rise-disc-brake-aero-road-bikes

@taxi25 - it started out as summer only but it does get ridden in more inclement weather these days. Most of the riding is in the Dales so lots of hills - checked on VeloViewer, a total of 306,000 metres of ascent so similar amount of descent. The roads are rarely "clean", lots of agricultural traffic etc.

they bring a whole load of negatives also: the brake squeal, brake rub, added weight, ugly tall/long hoods, added weight, faff of rerouting & bleeding.

interesting that only a few teams are using them in the Vuelta.

I don't get any brake squeal or rub on my 105 hydraulics, and I really like the hood design; nice wide platform for the heel of my hands to rest on for normal riding, and the front bulge provides a good positive hold when stretching out on the hoods. I'm more interested in whether my brakes make the bike better to ride, or easier to maintain, rather  than worrying about whether the hoods are "ugly", though!

Rerouting and bleeding faff? How often do you do that?

Pros generally ride what they are paid to ride. If the manufacturers decide they want to prioritise selling disc equipped bikes, you'll see more of them appearing in the peloton.

interesting that only a few teams are using them in the Vuelta.

Sky ride Pinarello's [if emoji's worked on this forum I'd put a vomiting one here] , which pretty much nullifies any idea that the Pro's would ride whatever is best.

Why would you want 2 pieces of stale bread rubbing against the rim trying to stop you...

I only have 1 bike out of 5 with no discs