[road]

What do we reckon the chances are that manufacturers like Shimano will start making rim brake groupsets across the range again? I’m not sure who started it, the frame or groupset manufacturers, but the move to disc brakes by default is bad. There’s no reason why they can’t start to move back again when they see people still wanting the simplicity and reliability of rim brakes. Same for narrow tyres. I ride with 23 mm tyres all year round because they’re simply faster. Shame to see the death of the proper road bike as every bike slowly turns into a gravel bike. We even saw this when gravel bike races started being won on ‘road’ bikes… Give the consumer more choice! Now that this has been featured on Twitter I would like to add that disc brakes are a psy op.

Topic

[andy753]

It’s an interesting question

It’s an interesting question but from what I can see only Dura Ace is disc only? It looks like Ultegra still has a caliper option? I personally love Campag and ride the latest Chorus group with rim brakes. However, offroad it is clear that rim squeezers will never return. Just imagine all those buckled rims rubbing against the pads!  Yuk!

[wtjs]

My MTB of the same vintage

My MTB of the same vintage ate its rim going down a wet and gritty descent of Doctorsgate

My last exploding wheel fortunately occurred after I’d safely descended a dry Wrynose Pass eastbound in the Lakes, so all that happened was the very loud bang from the front inner and the thin sliver of rim jamming in the brake. The other bit of luck was that someone at the club hut above Coniston had room in her Berlingo to carry me and the bike back to the hut and later down the M6 to Garstang. Disc brakes are fab!

[Daclu Trelub]

Mungecrundle wrote:

Mungecrundle wrote:

There will always be a market for retro-chique. Nowt wrong with a good rod operated stirrup brake setup in my opinion and very classy on an urban commuter.

I favour the wooden wedge approach, but each to their own.

[Drinfinity]

The only bike I still have

The only bike I still have with rim brakes is my old (20yrs+) road bike. It is harder to stop in the wet than my disc braked CX bike (with road tyres on in the summer). By harder I mean I have to squeeze the levers harder, it is more difficult to stop from the hoods. The only reason it doesn’t eat rims much now is I take something else out in anything other than dry sunny conditions. 
My MTB of the same vintage ate its rim going down a wet and gritty descent of Doctorsgate. I changed to disks immediately afterwards. No MTB these days has rim brakes – MTB riders are rather less sentimental about the old days!

Rim brakes may arguably be slightly lighter, and they certainly make your bike lighter over time as they grind away at one of the most expensive and safety critical components of the machine. I would agree that they are often quieter, although the loud bang from an exploding wheel is annoying to your fellow riders. 

[JEMVisser]

Up and down flexing of the
Up and down flexing of the fork is called a suspension fork! Just ask the off road guys riding mtb’s.

[JEMVisser]

You know what would be
You know what would be exelent? Cushioned brakes so you don’t feel if you are using the brakes or not??
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Just kidding

[JEMVisser]

I think fat soft tires at
I think fat soft tires at ultra low pressure, near unridable flexible forks, flexible frames, huge soft suspension fork and rear suspension (like theoretical 500mm lol), flexible bars and seat post plus flexible cranks absorb enough to make a 10m drop feel smoother than the smoothest asphalt??

[JEMVisser]

I don’t think they are dead,
I don’t think they are dead, I agree. Would beinteresting to see the new gravel bike. I’m kinda exited!

Rim brakes with alloy rims are still my top choice if you want an easy to maintain and simple to setup bike configuration. No need to bleed, align and sort out rotor rub. Just set and forget. If you need a commuter bike, I’d reccomend rim brake, and not disk brake. Cheap and affordable price.

The only rim brake bikes I would stay away from are delta brakes, bottom braket brakes and many carbon rims in wet weather (possibly some are pretty good but I don’t really know much about carbon rim brake). Other than that they are fun!

[JEMVisser]

I’m still on rim brakes and
I’m still on rim brakes and they work great if set up correctly. I have a mtb with v brakes (work pretty damn good for such a crappy cheap thing) and a cantilever ridley x-knigt. Both bikes do the job more than enough, even in rainy weather because alloy rims just work. Wouldn’t really trust carbon rims in the rain (never tested before) and don’t race to.the point of needing better equippment anyways. I just race for fun.

What I do say is that my old columbus steel bike with downtube shifters and campagnolo super record brakes (like 30 years old) feel very spongy. This combination works awfully as I need full squeeze power in my hands to brake somewhat normally, but the bike itself is very fun to ride tho. If I could make the brakes beter it would be enough to make this bike at least feel the best ever.

[Robert Hardy]

On the other hand on my old
On the other hand on my old Reynolds 531 touring frame watching the forktips flex absorbing the road irregularities was a real pleasure on long quiet stretches. I wish my current bike’s carbon forks had that shock dampening compliance.

[Anonymous]

I have read a bit more on the
I have read a bit more on the site, lots of stuff I agree with.
One thing I find myself disagreeing with is his take on drop bars. He seems mostly dead set against them, I’ve had them on my randonneur bike (which I use for loaded touring also) for a decade now and I wouldn’t want anything else…

[ktache]

The knowledge on the Thorn

The knowledge on the Thorn site about real life usage of the Rohloff was enlightening. Lot of advice and a great community thing going on. 

[Anonymous]

Looks very interesting, will

“There’s a good discussion of that in the context of touring bikes on the Thorn cycles ‘Touring Bible (link is external)’ (pdf).”

Looks very interesting, will give this a thorough read when I’ll have the time.The wide tire research stared before disc brakes really became a thing on road bikes.

I’m more from a french randonneur bike background. Where the front loading geometry, amongst other great advantages, makes the fork bends even longer and thus even more comfortable.

Gravel/All-roadl bikes miss out on many advantages of this older type of bike.

[matthewn5]

marmotte27 wrote:

marmotte27 wrote:

Yes of course. Slim steel forks absorb a lot of road irregularities.

Yeah it’s marvellous how smooth a ride a curved steel fork gives, even with a 23mm tyre – admittedly, on a wide rim.

I’ve often wondered whether the very stiff forks now required for disk brakes have led to a new search for comfort through ever wider tyres.

There’s a good discussion of that in the context of touring bikes on the Thorn cycles ‘Touring Bible‘ (pdf).

[matthewn5]

SimoninSpalding wrote:

SimoninSpalding wrote:

*Unless you actually want to stop.

My problem isn’t stopping, it’s going.

[Author]

Replies