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Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

outsideonline.com

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Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#41

Post by frabbit »

jl2718 wrote: post #20

I switched to tubeless on rim brakes and had a downhill blowout from pressure cooking the sealant. I also tend to abuse my rims and rarely true them, so my brakes are always loose or rubbing. Both these problems may go away with carbon rims, but pincher brakes with carbon pads don’t have much stopping power. Discs do, but they are heavy and put extra torque and heat stresses on the frame, as well as a twisting moment…

Magura have been making hydraulic rim brakes for German bike assemblers for at least a decade.

Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#42

Post by frabbit »

gomox wrote: post #32
jl2718 wrote: post #20

I switched to tubeless on rim brakes and had a downhill blowout from pressure cooking the sealant. I also tend to abuse my rims and rarely true them, so my brakes are always loose or rubbing. Both these problems may go away with carbon rims, but pincher brakes with carbon pads don’t have much stopping power. Discs do, but they are heavy and put extra torque and heat stresses on the frame, as well as a twisting moment…

https://www.magurausa-shop.com/product.htm?pid=117393&cat=11...

Saw this after I posted my comment. I first came across Magura on German commuter bicycles. A good, reliable brand.

Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#43

Post by perrygeo »

I'll add to the chorus. Disc brakes are vastly superior in terms of ride quality. I won't rehash all those points. If you want to stop fast, use disc brakes.

But rim brakes don't just suck to use. They're also a fundamentally flawed design from an engineering/maintenance perspective.

Rim brakes repurpose the rim itself as the braking surface. Yeah - the structural element holding the tire bead in place is also the surface to which you apply massive heat and friction. Millimeters away from your cloth and rubber tire. Who even thought of this design? A misaligned brake pad can rub directly on the tire and puncture it. Grit in the brake pads can destroy the rim causing it to release the tire bead. Heat can cook your tire sealant and cause punctures. The materials and shape of the rim are limited to what can support a flat metal braking surface. If the wheel is out of true, your brakes rub. There are so many problems that stem directly from using the rim as a braking surface. It's just a bad design.

Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#44

Post by macNchz »

ak217 wrote: post #23
gomox wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hydraulic disc brakes are not lighter than rim counterparts. When manufacturers have both versions of a bike you can usually expect a ~1kg penalty for the disc version.

This does not match my experience. Can you give some examples?

Here’s a model where the specs list the version with disc brakes as being 3lbs heavier: https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/ltrain#specs

Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#45

Post by gomox »

ak217 wrote: post #23
gomox wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hydraulic disc brakes are not lighter than rim counterparts. When manufacturers have both versions of a bike you can usually expect a ~1kg penalty for the disc version.

This does not match my experience. Can you give some examples?

https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/cycling-guide/disc-brakes

> The weight penalty incurred when adopting disc brakes is in the order of 750g to 1kg

Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#46

Post by avidiax »

prhn wrote: post #8

If you're not an avid cyclist please take this article with a grain of salt. It's largely understood that disc brakes are better, full stop. A few guys in my cycling group who are still on rim brakes will not take the really fun descents, even when it's completely dry. They don't trust them. Pad fade, overheating brake surfaces causing de-lamination and popping inner tubes. So, sure, if all you're ever going to do is…

As an overweight rider, I'd prefer rim brakes since they don't brake fade as quickly as rim brakes.

I can't even lock up the front tire on my last two bikes, both with hydraulic brakes. They just don't have enough torque.

Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#48

Post by ImprovedSilence »

ak217 wrote: post #14

This guy speaks for himself. Rim brakes are not better for most riders most of the time. Hydraulic disc brakes deliver superior braking power, better modulation, are safer, lighter, and more reliable. Braking power in particular is very important to regular people who just want to ride their bike and use their brakes without needing death grip forearms. The guy sounds like a super bike snob. He even knows that rim br…

>>The guy sounds like a super bike snob.

Well, he is the writer of bikesnobnyc, so yes.

Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#49

Post by MrStonedOne »

yborg wrote: post #25
pdoege wrote: post #2

I used to do fast descents of Bonny Doon and similar. Think 60Mph / 100kmhr at the base. With my fat butt and damp brakes I would run through the stop signs at the bottom using rim brakes. I’ll never go back to rim brakes now that I’ve had discs. I still use my rim brake bikes for clear weather around town. For real work it is discs every single time. The author seems to have only used bicycles in optimal conditions.

I'm old and back in the day all we had were caliper brakes on road bikes and I rode two centuries in the rain in a paceline and somehow we all survived, as did all those decades of Tour de France riders. Maybe guys can only do "real work" with disc brakes now, but at least in the past riders managed with rim brakes outside of optimal conditions. Maybe excessive smartphone usage is compromising grip strength these day…

[dead]

Re: Disc Brakes Took over the Cycling World. Here's Why That Was a Mistake

#50

Post by marcusarmstrong »

gomox wrote: post #17
ak217 wrote: post #14

This guy speaks for himself. Rim brakes are not better for most riders most of the time. Hydraulic disc brakes deliver superior braking power, better modulation, are safer, lighter, and more reliable. Braking power in particular is very important to regular people who just want to ride their bike and use their brakes without needing death grip forearms. The guy sounds like a super bike snob. He even knows that rim br…

Hydraulic disc brakes are not lighter than rim counterparts. When manufacturers have both versions of a bike you can usually expect a ~1kg penalty for the disc version.

On a disc brake bike, calipers are ~100g, rotors ~120g, and then you’ve got ~150g of tubing/fluid. They’re certainly heavier, but the components don’t even add up to 1000g, nevermind when you offset the rim brake component weights.
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