We need to talk about Disk Rotors

[jambee]

I did some digging and could not find any threads on this. So here we go.

How important are disk rotors?

I found myself in a few situations where long descents where challenging my brakes. This is on "all-road" bike with TRP Spyre and 160mm rotors.

Are there any rotors that folks swear by on road-type bikes? Will they all work regardless of the brake calliper?

[dustyrider]

Certainly rotors can be designed to help dissipate the heat better, but pads have come a long way in that area as well. I would think we'd see larger rotors in the front on road bikes someday soon. It isn't uncommon for MTBs to have 203mm rotor on the front and something smaller in the back. Certainly can't see any reason for a road bike to not get the same treatment.

[CMiller]

What do you mean when you say challenging?

I have swapped rotors before and never felt much of a difference, just slight weight differences or "cooler" looks.

[jambee]

I meant that at some point the brakes really did not stop anymore and I could smell some heat.

Are we saying that there are no rotors that are the dogs bullocks? The k9 testicles? The bee's knees?

[CMiller]

When I built my gravel bike I remember people raving about Shimano icetech, I like them but not much much better than Avids I've tried before.

Rotor size and pads are much more important I'd say.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I believe pads may be the major factor at play. For bikes that see long descents, I believe the general wisdom is to use sintered (metallic) pads. Most "general use" pads are of the organic type.

Rotor size definitely makes a difference in lever feel/modulation and overall power.

[11.4]

Perhaps it's safe to say that you can't just improve one component of the system in isolation. Combining high-end rotors with mediocre pads or mediocre calipers will only get you so far. That's probably what keeps people from going to better rotors, or prevents better rotors from showing better in use. On the flip side, it takes better rotors to benefit fully from high performance pads and better calipers. With Spyres you also have at least a bit of limitation compared to a high performance hydrauiic caliper. If you think about it, one major point of a high-end rotor is that it dissipates heat fast enough so the caliper doesn't overheat, but inefficient pads limit that improvement. And calipers are being designed much more with heat dissipation in mind as well. With your Spyres, if you go to higher-end rotors, get some high quality pads to go with them. And some noncompressible housing and non stretch cables. Together they can add up to more improvement than any one can do alone.