Thread: Road Discs
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Old September 10th 17, 10:04 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
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Default Road Discs

On Sunday, September 10, 2017 at 12:59:54 PM UTC-7, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, September 10, 2017 at 9:35:34 AM UTC-7, Joerg wrote:
On 2017-09-09 15:28, jbeattie wrote:
So, my SuperSix was crushed in a roof-rack accident and last weak my
Roubaix was stolen out of the garage that I left open all night.
I've done that many times ...



Consider an alarm that starts blaring in the house if left open and no
movement in the area for xx minutes. Or an automatic (but safe) closure
function that can be disabled during times you work in there. A bright
or blinking light in the hallway or something might already suffice. It
would alert you or your family that the garage is still open. Especially
at night before bed time when you turn off all light but there is this
remaining weird glow in the hallway.

I've had days when I walked the dogs and someone's garage was open, with
nice CF bikes and expensive tools in there, nobody around. Then I ring
their door bell and it's usually "Oh dang! Thanks!".


... -- apparently one too many. I'm down to a
gravel bike and my commuter -- the reborn warranty CAADX (which is a
great bike).

The gravel bike is a pig, but I'll use that for fall/winter/spring
sport riding. I want a fast bike, though -- and I've got a line on a
nice bike that I can get with rim brakes or discs, but the disc model
will not be available until December -- which really means that I get
to ride it in dry weather some time around May. I can get a rim
brake model by the end of the month.

All the shops are pushing discs, and I did like the discs on the
Roubaix and on my gravel bike. I know this is absolutely the wrong
group to ask because it's wall-to-wall curmudgeons, ...



ahem ... grumble


...but if you were
buying your last nice road bike, would you go rim brakes or discs? It
will be a dry weather bike or ridden in the rain only because of bad
luck. There would be no real weight penalty because the bike is so
light to start with. I'm not aero, so I don't care about the aero
penalty with discs.


Disc. 100%. If my current road bike ever needs to be replaced disc
brakes are a non-negotiable requirement for me. Preferably hydraulic
though that's not common with brifters which I wouldn't need but any
road or CX bikes seems to have these days.


My concern with getting rim brakes is not really even a performance
issue because in dry weather, I've never had a problem with rim
brakes -- but to listen to the guys at the local shop, rim brakes are
going the way of the dodo. I'm worried about buying an antique!


Nah. Rim brake pads will be available for decades. At least until you
and I are in a nursing home.

However, dry weather is not always that dry. Consider a big rain storm
of which you have many up there. Then the sun comes out and you think
that this ought to be the perfect time to ride. Still nice and cool but
no rain. At 20mph you go through a long puddle, no big deal. Then right
afterwards grandpa Miller doesn't see you and pulls out of the gas
station right in front of you. You hit the brakes ... two seconds of ....
nothing.

I even had brake delay when I rode through overspray from landscaping
sprinklers next to the road. On a 100F day that is a refreshing event.
Until you need the brakes right there.


I prefer discs in rain, but I've never had problems with stopping a rim brake in the rain except once on a very poorly adjusted cantilever. You do get the momentary free-fall in really wet weather that is much less on discs, but riding in slightly wet weather is no big deal with rim brakes and aluminum rims. If I were on CF rims in the rain on a steep descent with rim brakes, I be scared.

I really don't want to wait and will probably get a rim brake, but who knows. I'm pondering. I was riding today with some friends and getting throttled -- because I'm older and slower this year but also because of my lumbering disc-brake gravel bike. Sorry, man, it is about the bike. Gaps between me and my cohorts are consistently smaller when I'm on my fast bike -- even the semi-fast Roubaix. I want my light bike back.

And my discs did not give me some wild advantage on the descents as claimed by others, e.g., "I can brake later in the turn and keep up more speed." What? Braking is braking. I don't brake any differently on my disc bike than my rim-brake bike, and my speed in or out of the turn is often determined by the amount of crap on the road and the crown camber. My friends were on rim brakes, and our places at the bottom of a twisting descent were the same as always -- and the only difference is that I had a draggy disc that was noisy for a minute until the piston withdrew fully. I don't know what's up with that, but apart from the noise, it doesn't slow me down. Anyway, I didn't feel like I had any great advantage. And when its wet, we all slow down because of low traction and not because of inadequate brakes. Nonetheless, I do like he power and modulation of discs, and they are clearly superior in rain.


It absolutely does slow you down. You just don't notice like when your front derailleur is dragging up a hill and then you get it properly adjusted and you can tell the difference.
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