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I’ve got new bike fever. Looking at the 2020 road bikes, it’s hard to find one that comes without Disc brakes. I could not find a single Specialized. Trek has a few. Colnago has a couple, mostly with their cheaper models, such as the CLX. Why is this disc brake thing being jammed down our throat?
End of rant, thank you…
zoot, time to think custom. (And get a bike with a less stiff forks since there is no disc brake down there. (Tailor a fork to be comfortable? What a concept! (Wait a minute – framebuilders have been doing that for the past 12 decades.)
The new force driving custom frames – disc brakes!
Ben
Zoot. Check out Chapter2 bikes at Glory Cycles and also on their own site. They offer nearly every model in both disc and rim. In my opinion, no real sense in going custom unless you are a bizarre size or just have money to burn.
2020 is not the time to buy 2020 bikes.
I am looking at two 2019 bikes, one for me, one for my wife, that are on LBS website with a 40% discount.
The Spec Dolce has rim brakes.
Because the bike industry loves answering questions no one had. They gotta keep “innovating” or the bottom line gets whacked. Good piece here about disc brake suckage: https://pezcyclingnews.com/features/eds-rant-covid-19-disk-brakes-remco-evenepoel/
I’ve got new bikeitis as well. I’m looking at either custom steel or ti, dressed with full Campag and CALIPER brakes!
Oh boy, am I ever relieved! I see am not the only one here who will stick with rim brakes! Now I can come out. Last summer I had a new all-road frame built by a wonderful framebuilder named Antonio Taverna, of Cicli Vetta in Padua Italy. One reason I had it built was that I already had all the components. The second was that I prefer Campagnolo shifters and no bikes are specd with them. The main reason, though, was that I did not want disc brakes. There were many reasons, starting with the inconvenience. I frequently drive places with my bike and use a fork mount roof rack that I can quickly put my bike on. Not possible with discs, of course. I also envisioned a scenario where I was on tour and experienced a damaged wheel. I wouldn’t be able to just borrow any old wheel from someone. I also take my bike on trains a lot, and read that some racks might present a problem for discs. People who have them told me what a pain they are. I was always coming across articles about adjusting and maintaining disc brakes—why deal with that? And mainly, I simply had no need for them. I’ve ridden down many a switchback descent in the rain and the problem wasn’t not being able to slow down down, it was fear of losing traction. When I come to a a sketchy unpaved descent, I walk, and having discs wouldn’t change that. BTW, the brakes on my new bike are TRP CX8 mini v-brakes.
I am not against disc brakes, just the belief that they should be the norm for everyone, on every kind of bike, and not giving consumers a choice or say in the matter. People are being brainwashed into thinking they are so much better, but many can’t even say why. Even Walmart sells bikes with discs! My neighbor paid extra to have a disc-equipped MTB to ride on a flat multi-use trail. Now he’s getting a Trek road bike with them because he’s convinced that they are better, even though he’s never even ridden a road bike. I expect that many people who have them won’t admit even to themselves that they don’t like them, because they’ve shelled out a lot for the bike. I have a feeling that the average buyer may not even realize that frames are made either for rim brakes or for disc brakes, and you can’t switch if you change you mind.
Discs absolutely are better in some ways and worse in others. We all know the issues. Discs and preferably hydraulic discs are an absolute no brainer on a mountain bike. If like me you ride on a mix of gravel, trail, and asphalt, IMO discs also gets the nod, with cable discs in the discussion. Just my opinion. I would miss that superlative one finger disc feel and control if I went back to rim brakes.
For the rest (yo pure roadies!), including mostly asphalt riding, beats me. Joining the motorcycle crowd a decade ago only amplified my preference for disc’s feel and power, but comparing 200 lbs of rider and bike at 40-50 mph to 700 lbs of rider and much faster bike is skewed.I don’t think I am biased, as I recognize never doubt what I am piloting and know a clutch lever (left hand on a motorcycle) from a bicycle’s left brake lever. But please ignore this post if you choose.In winter 2014/15 ahead of Haute Route I did a lot of hilly winter riding in very wet conditions.
There was one 4 way stop at bottom of a good descent that I never managed to slow down for with rim brakes and it was always left turn fingers crossed no traffic. That was the impetus for Diverge with discs but per above it’s been a bit of a journey to get good performance out of the setup. The current cheapie shimano discs get the job done. Of course as soon as I bought that Diverge as my de facto winter road bike I read on the inter webs about this killer gravel ride called Hellracer250. Put one and one together and the rest is history.
Is it true that you may have to bleed your brakes if you turn the bike upside down? I heard that somewhere and it strikes me that could be a real liability, especially for someone like Donna who will be traveling and won’t always be ar her bike when train attendant is shifting stuff around.
Ben, I hang my mbt and cx bikes by the front wheel, I’ve flipped them numerous times while wrecking, and laid them down on their side so many times I can’t count. While they might be overdue for a fluid service I’ve never had an issue with any of them. I think the upside down warning is an urban legend.
There were some crappy SRAM mtb brakes that did what Ben is describing. I don’t recall the model name. All sorts of other problems, too. Constantly needed attention, grabby, basically SRAM laid a large egg. That was about 7 or 8 years ago. I finally got rid of them and went to XT’s, sooo much better. My understanding is that SRAM stuff now is fine.
6ix, the Canyon swap has been completed, but the LBS did it for me (($191 for full install, including bleeding the brakes and setting up the electronic drivetrain). Had already ridden in the AM and it was a cold crappy day, so didn’t get a chance to really test the FSA stuff out, but first impressions riding back from the shop were very positive.
Bleed kit arrived for the SHimano and the conversion of the CX bike will probably start next week. P14 is getting a bike so she can do the MS150 ride this year for Mrs. CK and it arrives Monday. It is a gravel bike, so I don’t want mine in pieces yet so I can ride with her.
As for disc vs rim, I’ll never go back to rim brakes….and remember, I am on pancake flat Chicago. Disc brakes simply offer better control and modulation. I’ll take the aero and weight hit….totally worth it.
As for disc noise, lot of squeal problems start at the beginning…pads / rotors wer never embedded properly in the first ride and hence the never-ending squeal. Almost all discs will squeal if they get wet however.
And this trend is almost 100% consumer driven. Once it started in CX, the move into road was all but inevitable. SHimano and SRAM finally making hydraulic brifters was the tipping point…..hydraulics were the key. SRAM tried to go dual-path and offer hydraulic rim calipers as well, but by that market was focused only on discs.
Posted By Frederick Jones on 03/27/2020 10:47 AM
There were some crappy SRAM mtb brakes that did what Ben is describing. I don’t recall the model name. All sorts of other problems, too. Constantly needed attention, grabby, basically SRAM laid a large egg. That was about 7 or 8 years ago. I finally got rid of them and went to XT’s, sooo much better. My understanding is that SRAM stuff now is fine.I have Sram Guide disc brakes on my Yeti and they work great until the summer sun hits the lever and some plastic washer inside the lever expands with heat and basically locks the lever (as in, you brake, and the lever doesn’t return), I’ve had 2 warrantied so far. Another “great” invention is the press fit bottom bracket. I’m dealing with this right now trying to build an Argon 18 Gallium with Campy Chorus 11 from my now deceased Masi and one of the cups won’t go in straight (I’m using a Park Tool press). Whoever came up with that harebrained idea should be condemned to build 50 bikes a day whith that POS system.
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