what tempted you to go disc road?

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by jimcav

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.

I lived in the Lofall area but commuted to Bremerton. 21 miles to work, 22 miles home. The route to work took me down Clear Creek through Silverdale, and I'd end up on Kitsap Way after a short distance on Hwy 3. The big curve with a steep drop is where I'd have my bad experiences. I went home out the ferry gate which was a turnstile for bikes and go home through Tracyton, Silverdale, and Viking Way. When I was the RADCON Officer on a tender, I rode right to the brow and carried my bike to my office.

[KonaSS]

Originally Posted by mhespenheide

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.

But you are only focusing on weight. In many cycling use cases, aero trumps weight. And carbon wheels are better for the right aero shapes with decent weight.

[nmrt]

For me it was when they started making disc brake framesets in the 600 g range. Now, I could have my disc brake bikes weigh almst as light as my rim brake bikes. Also, since I ride mostly in the mountains, I love the feel of disc brakes.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by Turkle

I went disc road because frankly that's what all the new frames are.

^^^This. Well, I haven't yet gone disc road* but the writing's clearly on the wall: When I get my next road bike it will almost certainly have disc brakes because that's all that will be available on new road bikes.

Been toying with the idea of gifting myself either a new Crumpton or new Pursuit road bike when I retire (hopefully soon!) and it looks like Crumpton no longer even offers rim brake frames, and Pursuit never did. Disc road is what's available.



*I have gone disc gravel ...not because I have a strong belief that there are advantages of disc brakes for gravel riding but, again, simply because that's what all the gravel bikes I looked at came with.

[BdaGhisallo]

Originally Posted by El Chaba

That sound….

Would drive me nuts!

[Hakkalugi]

Sheer mass. I’m no dainty little climber, and I descend quickly. I’m an ex-alpine downhiller, from the days of 225s, and I can pick a decent line, but slowing down can be a challenge. I designed my first disc drop bar bike in 2003 because I wanted to have room for bigger tires, ride some dirty roads, and be able to stop. I still have have a couple rim brake bikes and love them, and though they ride beautifully and the modern rim brakes are impressive, my impressive bulk can render them useless. I can’t see buying another rim brake bike. Well, that’s what I told my wife, at least.

[Blown Reek]

I wanted a specific paint job that wouldn't look good on a skinny tubed bike, and figured that carbon would be the perfect excuse to delve into the dark world of discs. There's no point getting (or really finding) a rim brake carbon bike these days, so my hand was forced.

Three bikes later, I love the new wave of carbon, I'm pleased with electronic shifting and disc brakes, and can't say enough about 28mm tubeless wheels. Personally, I can't see myself getting another metal bike again.

[Cycling Giraffe]

A couple of things led me to discs on my “daily driver.”

First, power in the wet. My rides have a fair number of relatively short (anywhere between 500m to 3km) but quite steep (averaging double digit percentage grades for up to 2km) descents. In the dry, rim brakes are generally fine, using “proper” braking technique. In the wet, they’re just scary, even on aluminum rims.

That leads to the second reason, which is wear on the rims. Those punchy steep descents in wet, gritty conditions are hell on rims. I hate hearing the grit grinding away at the rims in the wet. I pretty much went through a set of Campy Eurus rims in 5,000 miles (about a year’s worth of riding, for me). Carbon rims are worse, but I try to avoid them in the wet anyway.

Finally, though I’ve not experienced this myself, not having heat buildup on the rim and potentially impacting the tire/rim interface (sudden blowouts, etc.) just gives some peace of mind with the disc brakes.

A side bonus is that discs seem to keep the bike cleaner, as I don’t get that rim/pad sludge all over the wheels and tires, stays, etc., particularly after a long ride in the wet.

[mhespenheide]

Originally Posted by KonaSS

But you are only focusing on weight. In many cycling use cases, aero trumps weight. And carbon wheels are better for the right aero shapes with decent weight.

For competition, sure.

For a solo ride for enjoyment, the aero marginal gains of going from 16 to 16.5mph average speed don't personally mean much to me. Anyone else is of course 100% entitled to their own opinion.

[apr46]

The big thing for me was the desire to mess around with deep carbon rims and wider tires.

Road rim brakes got really good right as disc was starting to show up and the difference in terms of being able to brake later into the corner with better modulation isn't that noticeable for me. I don't think DA or R / SR dual pivots with alloy (or ceramic coated alloy) rims give up that much vs. their disc counterparts. Not like cantis vs. discs on gravel where the difference is obvious.

[erolorhun]

I think I am about to go the other way. I recently resurrected my old Canyon Ultimate CF SL circa 2015 for Zwift duty. It is nothing fancy - robust 105 componentry with rim brakes, but I do have a pair of nice wheels mounted up: Roval CLX 64s. You can buy speed - to a degree. But that is another thread.

Anyway, I´ve always liked how it fits, the sheer lightness and stiffness of the thing and plan on getting out on it way more in 2023 than I did last year or the year before that. I´ve also managed to get 28 mm Continental GPs in both frame and fork, although there´s not much clearance in the crown. The latest Ultimate does intrigue me with greater clearances.

This goes hand in hand with me getting an 3T Exploro in 2020. I don´t know if I drank the special Kool-Aid with gravel seasoning too much or if I´m just too much of a roadie, but I feel a bit overbiked with the 3T. The discs are a part of this feeling. The sheer power of the GRXs are great to have and the finesse that you can apply the brakes with are appreciated.

But I am truly not sure if what they offer - for me - are leaps and bounds ahead of my Canyon with 105 rim calipers - for how I ride. There are no mountains anywhere close to my home. And contrary to what I feel we are being spoonfed by the media, you actually can ride gravel with rim brakes.

Also, I am not crazy about the GRX Dual Control Levers. Shimano somehow gets size confused with ergonomics. They are so incredibly bulbous I am seriously considering going to a mechanical setup just so I can run smaller mechanical levers with wire operated discs instead. The Growtacs intrigue me. And this is from someone who needs XL/XXL size gloves.

[KonaSS]

People - they are just brakes. The reality is that they aren't going to change your life either positively or negatively in any significant manner.

Choose a current model frame and current groupset and it will work just fine. In some use cases you may notice that the brake is better than rim. In other use cases, not so much.

Sometimes they make more noise, sometimes less (canti brakes weren't known for always being quiet).

I really don't know why there is sooo much focus on them in this forum. At any given moment, there are 3 threads on the front page that are largely about disc brakes. Just take the plunge, or don't. The world will be here tomorrow.

[mstateglfr]

If/when I get a new road bike it will have disc just because that's what the nicer groupsets are and thaat what almost all the nicer frames are.

Something like a Fairlight Strael would work- external cable/hose, di2, quality steel, carbon fork.
I bet I will ride it and not view it as any better than my current main road bike since the current bike and future bikes will all be more capable than I am as a rider.

[EB]

Originally Posted by KonaSS

People - they are just brakes. The reality is that they aren't going to change your life either positively or negatively in any significant manner.

Choose a current model frame and current groupset and it will work just fine. In some use cases you may notice that the brake is better than rim. In other use cases, not so much.

Sometimes they make more noise, sometimes less (canti brakes weren't known for always being quiet).

I really don't know why there is sooo much focus on them in this forum. At any given moment, there are 3 threads on the front page that are largely about disc brakes. Just take the plunge, or don't. The world will be here tomorrow.

Without disc vs rim threads all we would have here is OT threads and classified ads and then where would we be.

[nicrump]

You'd be surprised to learn that when asked, I'll generally still build a rim brake frame if that's what is wanted. Just shipped one last week!

To the OP, fat tire options are what lead me over.

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

^^^This. Well, I haven't yet gone disc road* but the writing's clearly on the wall: When I get my next road bike it will almost certainly have disc brakes because that's all that will be available on new road bikes.

Been toying with the idea of gifting myself either a new Crumpton or new Pursuit road bike when I retire (hopefully soon!) and it looks like Crumpton no longer even offers rim brake frames, and Pursuit never did. Disc road is what's available.



*I have gone disc gravel ...not because I have a strong belief that there are advantages of disc brakes for gravel riding but, again, simply because that's what all the gravel bikes I looked at came with.