What’s the thoughts on disc brakes on road bikes?
A mate has got into triathlons and asked. I have no experience with them so will rely on you guys. Cheers

Just hijacking your thread....the cycle track at barrowford is worth a visit! Love the freedom of no motor vehicles I have a road bike but no disk brakes.

piston broke wrote:What’s the thoughts on disc brakes on road bikes?
A mate has got into triathlons and asked. I have no experience with them so will rely on you guys. Cheers

They're better as long as they're hydraulic. Anyone who tells you other wise either hasn't ridden them or doesn't like them because of looks.

Disc brakes on road bikes ( hydro)

pros
Stop better in the rain
Dont wear the wheel rim out

Cons
Slightly heavier
More maintenance ( my experience )

Disc brakes are brilliant. You can stop on a sixpence. Assuming you are on a hybrid its a no brainer. Ossies bike shoip in nelson can do any work that you ever need doing on them but my experience is that they very rarely need work.

Got hydraulic disc brakes on my mountain bike. As, has been said, braking is excellent.
Had bike for a year and not had to do any work on them. Apparently they can need bleeding every now and then, cycle repair shops charge around £15-20.
Alternatively you can do it yourself, lots of on line guides how to do this.

1968claret wrote:Got hydraulic disc brakes on my mountain bike. As, has been said, braking is excellent.
Had bike for a year and not had to do any work on them. Apparently they can need bleeding every now and then, cycle repair shops charge around £15-20.
Alternatively you can do it yourself, lots of on line guides how to do this.

Could you switch from blocks??

I have them on mine and they’re excellent. I’ll will convert them to hydraulic though. They need to be bedded in over a few hundred miles before you see the benefit. They look cool too!

The only minor gripe I have with mine is after a wheel change when the disc can rub on a pad and beca bit fiddly to line back up right.

As I'm not a racer though, I'm never on that much of a rush so have time to sort it out.

Looking forward to a new bike and disc brakes Spring19

tim_noone wrote:Just hijacking your thread....the cycle track at barrowford is worth a visit! Love the freedom of no motor vehicles I have a road bike but no disk brakes.

If you like the cycle track at Barrowford there is an all-night (10.30pm to 10.30am) organised cycling event in aid of Pendleside Hospice on Friday 21st September night. I've entered so let me know if you want details and I will send them. I wouldn't mind forming an Up The Clarets relay team if there is any other interest.

Hydraulics on the mtb (HOPE). Cable discs on the road (avid bb7). Cable good enough for road stuff. Night and day compared to pads. Not had brake pads since I was a nipper! Weight is negligible.

Stalbansclaret wrote:If you like the cycle track at Barrowford there is an all-night (10.30pm to 10.30am) organised cycling event in aid of Pendleside Hospice on Friday 21st September night. I've entered so let me know if you want details and I will send them. I wouldn't mind forming an Up The Clarets relay team if there is any other interest.

Yes I could be interested..... Dependent on holiday commitments or Burnley fixtures.

Millertime v1.7 wrote:Hydraulics on the mtb (HOPE). Cable discs on the road (avid bb7). Cable good enough for road stuff. Night and day compared to pads. Not had brake pads since I was a nipper! Weight is negligible.

Whats your view on stabilisers?

Unnecessary, even for infants. Gives them the mindset there's something to fall back on.

I recently did the 60 mile Clitheroe Sportive which takes in serious gradients at Malham and for that sort of terrain disc brakes would come in very useful. If you're just cycling down Blackpool prom then I wouldn't bother.
You're carrying extra weight and expect to pay an extra £150-£200 for good quality hydraulic discs. Avoid cheap ones, you're letting yourself in for frequent maintenance difficulties.

Balance bikes are far better for teaching children how to cycle. As for disk brakes, I got my current bike a year ago, after twelve years with the previous bike. The difference in performance is very pronounced

My sister laughed at me when I said I was going to build a bicycle out of spaghetti. You should have seen her face as I rode pasta.

Here is the link to the Barrowford event

https://www.pendle.gov.uk/info/20075/cy ... obe_velo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We play Bournemouth at home that Saturday (maybe Sunday if we've somehow got past Olympiakos after the Turks) so time for a solid 2 or 3 hours kip before the match !

I have both a disc bike (for winter) and a calliper bike (for summer) love them both but would recommend discs for all year round cycling the braking is far better. I will be getting a new winter bike soon and will be getting a disc. I personally think that callipers will be a thing of the past in a few years.

Blocks every time: if you need better stopping power get better blocks! Swisstop are my go to on both my carbon and alloy wheels.

Stalbansclaret wrote:Here is the link to the Barrowford event

https://www.pendle.gov.uk/info/20075/cy ... obe_velo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We play Bournemouth at home that Saturday (maybe Sunday if we've somehow got past Olympiakos after the Turks) so time for a solid 2 or 3 hours kip before the match !

Thanks...will pass on to family members.will certainly take part and mull over the best options for talking part.

Thanks fellas I’ll pass this all on.

Danieljwaterhouse wrote:Blocks every time: if you need better stopping power get better blocks! Swisstop are my go to on both my carbon and alloy wheels.

Until it rains or until all the crud on your pads has destroyed your £1k rims.

Sorry but hydraulic discs are better and they’re the future. Now the likes of Specialized are releasing disc only frames and riders like Peter Sagan are riding with them the writing is on the wall for rim brakes.

The pad alignment issue is starting to go away now as well as most new designs will have thru axles rather than quick releases.

And honestly, don’t waste time on cable discs on a road bike. They’re worse than rim brakes in every way apart from performing more consistently in the wet.

After that last line from Factual Frank, is it possible to permanently unlike him?

deanothedino wrote:Until it rains or until all the crud on your pads has destroyed your £1k rims.

Sorry but hydraulic discs are better and they’re the future. Now the likes of Specialized are releasing disc only frames and riders like Peter Sagan are riding with them the writing is on the wall for rim brakes.

The pad alignment issue is starting to go away now as well as most new designs will have thru axles rather than quick releases.

And honestly, don’t waste time on cable discs on a road bike. They’re worse than rim brakes in every way apart from performing more consistently in the wet.

Why would you ride in the rain?

Danieljwaterhouse wrote:Why would you ride in the rain?

Because if I didn't go out when there was a chance of rain, I would barely go out at all or because if you're doing an event the weather is what it is.

tim_noone wrote:Could you switch from blocks??

Sorry Tim not sure. I think it is unlikely though.