what tempted you to go disc road?

[EB]

Bleeding hydraulic brakes is easy. Like, really easy. Give it a try - get the stuff you need cheaply on the Internet, and watch a few YouTube videos. Take it slow at first. You might even discover that you like learning a new skill. It’s never too late to learn!

[flying]

I am not tempted & hearing Primoz Roglic coming to a stop today at Tirreno sealed the deal

If pro race teams have bikes that sound like this what chance do us mere mortals have of a peaceful ride

But then again I ride alloy rims & have never had problems in the rain. Tried Hyperons when they first appeared & decided
the juice was not worth the squeeze for me & carbon wheels

Sounds of Roglic disc's

BTW: that was a fantastic finish today!

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by jimcav

but disc for rain not so much. It would have to be pretty hilly to me for it to matter, or maybe a truly horrible intersection. I rode year round up in Kitsap county and had no issues on carbon rims, but no fenders, so wiped my bike down after each ride and hung my wet, often gritty covered kit to dry at work so it would be dry-ish for the ride home.

I'm now at more years MTB'ing with disc than on v-brake, and they are easier to modulate and do make it safer for me on tricky descending. I never felt braking was an issue on roads, but never went over 51mph. My biggest descents were off Mt Washington (WA state) and Mt Figueroa (which had snow and slush up top) and Mt Palomar, and the only think that made me nervous was motorists apexing turns on Palomar.

I guess the ship has sailed, but sad to see everything disc. At least I've found some other things to pair with disc like the 1x drivetrain and the powershift hub to bring a new experience to riding.

I saw God several times at Kitsap Way and Callow on my early morning commutes. I was commuting on my Gunnar Crosshairs with Avid Shorty cantilevers and in the rain, they don't stop, but they do make a horrid noise. In 2008, I searched for a Lemond Proprad in my size but no joy. The ride home was nice.

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by Gabeah

Carbon doesn't like the heat those numbers may produce. Discs handle them better and with much more confidence.

See, this is my not-so-secret-conspiracy-theory belief: we didn't need disc brakes on road bikes before we had carbon rims.

Most carbon-rim disc brake wheels with disc rotors, etc., included, weigh as much as a nice set of high-end aluminum rim-brake clinchers.

So unless you're dropping enough money on high-zoot carbon wheels that with rotors are <1450g, I'm not sure that most riders are ahead of the game. But we're spending a lot more money, so I'm sure the manufacturers are happy about it.

[jimcav]

Originally Posted by bigbill

I saw God several times at Kitsap Way and Callow on my early morning commutes. I was commuting on my Gunnar Crosshairs with Avid Shorty cantilevers and in the rain, they don't stop, but they do make a horrid noise. In 2008, I searched for a Lemond Proprad in my size but no joy. The ride home was nice.

my route was to bangor sub base, much more rural on roads like Big Valley and Clear Creek, with as little as possible on Rt 3 or 104, and early am riding was much nicer than the going home traffic. Sometimes I'd loop up toward port gamble and come back down rt 3 the back way into poulsbo, when the weather was nice.

[ripvanrando]

Almost got killed. Driver ran a stop sign in heavy downpour and my rim brakes were nearly useless. Nonetheless, not terribly impressed with discs but they are better, just not light years so.

[rnhood]

Good points about wet rim brakes. That is probably reason enough to get discs.

[myette10]

Simple for me: Disc wheels support larger, tubeless tires better than rim brake wheels.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by bmeryman

Count me as interested in this if there’s some way it could work! I’m keen on the exact same setup.

Well, you'd need an Ekar shift assembly and a Ultrashift body(which I have)...not cheap and like I said, no guarantee since I haven't done this swap. 'Looks' like it'll work but...

[mcteague]

I only keep two road bikes at a time and tend to have them for about 10 years before moving on. When I started looking for a new bike a year or so ago I figured it would be a disk bike as that was where the industry was going. Rim brakes always worked well enough, in the dry anyway. For me, the main draw of disk was more tire room, allowing safer use of carbon rims and hopefully a bit less force needed to brake. Going with Pursuit put paid to that as they only make disk frames. And, at my age this may be my last bike I wanted to be able to take advantage of the latest tech and, like it or not, disk brakes are now the standard.

I bled the brakes on my motorcycles so I figured I knew the process. Reading all the gripes about pinging and squealing had me worried a bit. Carl Strong said they machine the brake posts to make the surfaces totally flat so that should eliminate many of the problems. With the SRAM Red AXS group there is no rubbing and braking is mostly silent. If damp I may get a minor squawk as I come to a stop. I did expect a bit more power with disk brakes but I really don't see much improvement there. Perhaps with sintered pads but I am not willing to lose the quietness so I am sticking with the organic ones.

Tim

[El Chaba]

Originally Posted by flying

I am not tempted & hearing Primoz Roglic coming to a stop today at Tirreno sealed the deal

If pro race teams have bikes that sound like this what chance do us mere mortals have of a peaceful ride

But then again I ride alloy rims & have never had problems in the rain. Tried Hyperons when they first appeared & decided
the juice was not worth the squeeze for me & carbon wheels

Sounds of Roglic disc's

BTW: that was a fantastic finish today!

That sound….

[Dave]

It won't be long before there are no new rim brake shift levers are offered and there are few off the shelf rim brake frames offered already. I made the switch over two years ago.

With modern carbon hookless 25mm internal width rims and 28-32mm tires at lower pressure, you'll get a significantly better ride.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

See, this is my not-so-secret-conspiracy-theory belief: we didn't need disc brakes on road bikes before we had carbon rims.

Most carbon-rim disc brake wheels with disc rotors, etc., included, weigh as much as a nice set of high-end aluminum rim-brake clinchers.

So unless you're dropping enough money on high-zoot carbon wheels that with rotors are <1450g, I'm not sure that most riders are ahead of the game. But we're spending a lot more money, so I'm sure the manufacturers are happy about it.

Reality, what a concept..

[Dlevy05]

I don't have a disc road bike, though I have raced XC and DH, years ago and prefer discs in all settings.

Disc brakes were first coming into fashion on DH bikes - to give perspective, when I was racing, within that decade at least.

From the moment that I started using disc brakes in such a capacity, it became clear that there was a significant advantage to having superior stopping power - beyond the obvious 'more power = better'.

First - ones ability to go fast is contingent upon their ability to stop safely. For that alone, on a road bike, the gains are huge if very steep or long, winding downhills are part of your rides.

I find that GOOD quality discs fade far less than pads and take less time to cool down once warm, making them easier to cope with under prolonged hard braking.

If you're riding in muddy or wet, sandy, gritty/dirty terrain, you don't stand the chance to damage the rim - as one would with rim brakes. Peace of mind is real here - especially as many ride on carbon rims - though scoring a nice set of alu rims isn't fun either.

With the added ability to stop more aggressively, comes the ability to have more fun! Want to slide the rear? Go ahead. Want to do an stoppie? etc.? Want to ride up a roadside bank just to be a little reckless? go ahead. All these things are possible on a a rimmed brake bike - but far more easy and controllable with discs. I am a reckless rider in this sense (not that I seek to do dangerous things, but that I like to have fun in such a way). For those that come from off-road oriented backgrounds, there is probably a huge fun factor here.

Finally stopping power for emergencies. If you live in a place with REAL hills (San Francisco Bay Area, the Alps, whatever) - if you need to stop in an emergency to avoid contact with a motor vehicle - every millimetre matters.

I see that rim brakes don't benefit everyone: people that don't ride with a certain style, don't benefit people that don't ride over particularly steep terrain, or in gritty/muddy/wet/sandy situations, etc.... and for those people - rim brakes are great. Furthermore for weight weenies, rim brakes are the only option too.

In my case - I opted to build a rim brake road bike because I had parts lying around, and this will only be a fair-weather bike for casual enjoyable rides. If I want an every-day, do-it all, or all weather, or most performance oriented ride for my terrain and riding style I wouldn't go this same route.

My issue with road bike disc brakes is that many are simply not good. This is changing - which is great. However disc brake tech has not had linear progressions in quality of braking or durability of components. The industry has flowed, ebbed, and now seems to be flowing again, with road/gravel disc offerings beginning to offer more comparable quality and performance to off-road components - with the reliability we used to be able to expect from disc brakes of 10+ - 15+ years ago.

EDIT: I've never ridden Paul Klampers - and also never tried a cable actuated disc worth anything (think avids, etc.). Hydraulic is the only option, though some say Klampers are up there, I can't comment on those. People criticising discs should clarify if they've ever tried hydraulic discs or are only referring to cable actuated - which are sh*t, mostly if not wholly.

Hope this helps...

[earlfoss]

I was a late adopter of disc brakes. Rim brake bikes through my racing team were easy and extremely low cost for me. For the racing and riding I do in Wisconsin that's totally fine.

What changed it for me was doing Belgian Waffle Ride, LA Canyons, Mt. Lemmon, etc. Discs are a big deal on long sustained descents, whether they be technical or not. I remember descending in LA one day in the rain on my rim brakes and it was stressful. A few friends in LA and the Boulder area had rim brake wheels blow out from overheating.

I finally made the switch and it was totally painless. I like my discs, they're problem free, and they enable me to fly down Decker Canyon in LA without that voice in the back of my mind telling me the rims will overheat.