What are the disadvantages of disc brakes on a road bike?
That is to say, are there reasons (other than cost) why rim brakes haven’t been completely replaced by disc brakes?
I don’t know anything about bikes, but it seems to me they’re a way better idea, and it seems odd to me that they are not more widely used.
Has this been discussed somewhere already?
rawland drakkar. the track ends plus sliding disc mounts don’t seem to bad. also sexy as fuck fork crown.
http://www.rawlandcycles.com/store/index.php?strWebAction=item_detail&intItemID=3878
edit: was it already on the list?
[quote=room203]What are the disadvantages of disc brakes on a road bike?
That is to say, are there reasons (other than cost) why rim brakes haven’t been completely replaced by disc brakes?
I don’t know anything about bikes, but it seems to me they’re a way better idea, and it seems odd to me that they are not more widely used.
Has this been discussed somewhere already?[/quote]
I always presumed that they weren’t more popular due to added weight and expense. Obviously if they were more popular, the cost would come down on the OEM side, but it’d be hard to beat the price of a caliper brake. There was a time early in this century when big makers like Giant and Trek pushed for disc brakes to be more popular, putting them on road and hybrid bikes, but they were so cheap and worked so poorly that dealers hated them and they disappeared.
this just in: i just saw a RBWDB in a Rhapsody ad.
BB5’s are annoying as fuck to setup, but otherwise work as well as BB7s. I personally wouldn’t fuck with BB5s. Hell, I can hardly stand BB7s and would really just rather have hydros.
What size is that giant? 60 rite? (too big…)
On a phone or I’d look it up, but there’s a bike called the pure blood out there that’s pretty cool, if you can get past the vaguely white supremicist vibe the company seems to give off.
I bought a Norvara big buzz last April, I like it well enough, I am actually really pleased with it for the for the money (I used the %20 off coupon). TC sometimes I wish I went for the road buzz now cos drops. I was torn at the time, and went back and forth trying to decide which buzz to go with, I would put drops on it now but I don’t think it is worth the expense to do it. The down side is that is heavy as a house but solid as a tank. It serves me well and I think it could be a good frame to convert to an extracycle in a season or two.
time to sturm some hills?
semi related: I got a Wazoo for Christmas and I need a 135 or whatever the mountain spacing is wheel/set for it and I plan on getting rival for it so I need to be able to run a 10 speed cassette. I’d like to have both disc mounts on the hubs and a braking surface on the rims but if both can’t be had I don’t mind. I also don’t really have the dough to have something built.
[quote=room203]What are the disadvantages of disc brakes on a road bike?
That is to say, are there reasons (other than cost) why rim brakes haven’t been completely replaced by disc brakes?
I don’t know anything about bikes, but it seems to me they’re a way better idea, and it seems odd to me that they are not more widely used.
Has this been discussed somewhere already?[/quote]
Well, they’re heavier, more work to set up, more hassle to adjust by the side of the road (though this is not too common an occurrence) and would probably require some beefing up of typical carbon road forks and chainstays. None of these is a huge deal by itself, but these factors combined with a general sentiment (which I agree with) that disc brakes are overkill for road riding have led manufacturers to (for the most part) not bother too much with disc brake road stuff so far.
Road riding involves neither the constant braking and abrupt stopping/slowing, nor riding in mud and other slippery/messy surfaces that mountain riding does. While disc brakes can usually stop you faster than rim brakes, they also make it easier to constantly apply the brakes on long descents without your hands wanting to fall off and die (not as much, at least). When you descend on a road bike (on a road), you don’t really use your brakes much, and you are usually only trying to moderate your speed only slightly. Calipers offer a very direct feel for modulation and enough power for the given scenario. Plus, they’re light and super easy to set up really well.
That said, when they make a hydraulic aero lever, I’m going to be stoked. I love the way hydraulic brakes feel, and, for me at least, the awesome:absurd ratio would be high enough that I don’t think I could resist.
