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TECH NEWS
Will the disc brake debacle influence what bike you buy next?
Disc brakes are in the spotlight at the moment, but for all the wrong reasons. The UCI has swiftly halted its year-long trial following an accident at Paris-Roubaix, and now they've been banned from French sportives like L'Etape.
- Have disc brakes really led to injuries in peloton?
What's next for disc brakes? Is this a temporary blip in the rollout of disc brakes in the professional peloton and will the trial resume shortly, or is it a dead end for disc brakes in racing? To be honest, we've no idea, we'll have to wait and see what the UCI decides to do.
What is interesting is whether all of this will have an impact on the sales of disc brake road bikes. Will potential customers be put off buying a disc-equipped road bike? Disc road bikes have been selling very well in the UK in recent years and we're seeing more interest in them all the time, as well as simply seeing more of them on British roads.
It's clearly a divisive matter, even before this latest fiasco. To try and get an idea of how much all of this will impact the buying decisions of cyclists, we put this question out to road.cc readers on our Facebook page. The replies were very interesting and it's clear people are split, some will still be buying disc brakes regardless of whether the pros are using them, but some people do look to have changed their mind, proving that for many, it does matter what equipment the professionals use.
People who will still be buying a disc-equipped road bike
Andrew Sylvester: My next one will have discs brakes undoubtedly. As a MTB rider who rides a cross bike (with disc brakes) to work, getting on my road bike is a real eye opener, I don't see how people don't notice the massive difference
Paul Ritchie: I own three disc brake road bikes and I won't be put off buying another, besides you will save a fortune on replacing expensive worn out rims
Adrian Lee: Just bought my second disc braked road bike, such an improvement, so no. Certainly don't think it's the end of discs ipelotoneleton
Karl Watson: Nope. Had my De Rosa Idol Disc for over a year now. There is no going back. Took my old bike (no discs) out for a spin last weekend. Difference is huge!
Leigh Coulson: If I have the cash my next carbon road bike will most likely have discs. Already have them on my commuter/tourer/winter bike ...Genesis Croix de Fer.
Stephen Connor: Definitely not, once you've tried discs you'll see what advantages they offer. My expensive carbon bike is Ultegra (6800) rim brake equipped and my winter bike is disc equipped
Neil Sweetcheeks Marsh: Don't see how racing can dictate? If no one turns up to races - those with discs - BC will soon wise up, as their income from Race Licences/Entries drop like a stone. Someone should set up a DISC-ONLY racing programme!
Yong Ling: It may. If I were to choose ONLY one type of road bike in terms of brake type, I'd pick one with disc brakes.
Ben Kelly: Nope. Buying a disc-brake bike next. Especially for the increased clearance/bigger tyres.
Todd McDowell: No, after seeing what's possible in modern MTB disc braking systems (have you tried Shimano's Ice-Tech?), I want the same level of performance on a new road bike. Once you try it, there's no going back.
Kevin Gil: Nah. Buying disc brake bike next
Ben Clay: Definitely not going to let the UCI/FFC morons dictate what bike I buy. Already committed for La Marmotte this year so looks like I will have to hire a bike, but after that I will only give my entry fees to events that allow discs to be used.
John Palin: Just ordered a Cannondale CAAD12 with disc brakes. Embrace change.
And people that won't now be buying a disc road bike
Peter Naylor: Yes - was going to get a new disc brake bike before the Marmotte but there's no point now as I won't be able to use it.
Nelluc Nairb: Yes I have now been discouraged from buying a disc road bike. Ill still run them on MTBs though.
David Conroy: No, but then my next road bike is years away by then who knows what new fad will have taken over for now I'm happy riding in the wet or dry with 105 calipers decent cables and decent tyres.
Christian Schneider: Nope...rim all the way. No need for them on the road
Andy Garden: No it never influenced me as discs on a road bike are a fashion accessory only. Taking delivery of my Cervelo R2 in two weeks. I run Bora Ones with Campag brake blocks and the stopping power is very good. If it ain't broke don't fix it
Matthew Diment: I've attended many club races in the past that haven't allowed disc brakes and that's the main reason I wouldn't buy a disc equipped road bike as my main bike. For risk of being turned away from an event because they're not allowed
Marek Przybyło: Yep. I think those planing to participate in group rides should reconsider choosing discs. They are great for lone warriors, cx or mtb where it's you against the course but for speed bunch rides I think they are added (unnecessary) risk
David Lowis: No, I will keep with rim brakes, as I brought a set of Fulcrum Zero's for a good price, ready for my new bike.
Gary Fodden: Yep! Won't buy a disc bike that you can't even ride in sportives! Who's going to ban them next?
- 2016's hottest disc-equipped road bikes
Which camp do you fall into? Will your next bike have disc brakes or will you stick with rim brakes?
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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47 comments
I suppose it depends what you want to use your bike for. My next bike will aim to be a lightweight mountain goat that lives only for speed. I woudn't want disks on it if I can help it due to the increased weight and more irritatingly the rubbing you often have.
I think the current calliper brakes are more than good enough (even in the wet with alloy rims and decent pads) and wear isn't really an issue as it'll only be used on dry days.
I have a sturdier road bike with guards and a fully winterised 'cross bike (with disks!) for training and foul conditions. If disks take over in the racing scene then I'll replace my current frame (which will be the winter bike) with a nice disk frame and move most of the components over and use that for bunch racing.
I doubt disks will ever take off in the hill climb competitions though! :p
All my current bikes and all future bikes will have discs - until something even better comes along.
Disks are far LESS likely to cause injury than rim brakes. I'm not going to let an organisation I have no connection to or control over (the UCI) force me to make my bike more dangerous.
Currently 2/3rds of my bikes have discs and have been using them for probably about 15 years maybe slightly less. Will my next road bike have discs, maybe but not in the market for a new road bike at the moment. Would I choose discs on a commuter bike, almost certainly for the previously mentioned resilience to rim wear/damage. Also my current work horse bike often tows the kiddie trailer with kids and shopping so with an extra five or six stone shoving the bike along Im glad of the extra braking with that.
Ref the injury aspect I do think it's slightly crazy. The rotor may have caused the injury but lets be honest bikes aren't exactly missing other protrusions or bits for us to stick our digits into. Ive still got the scars on my leg from when I wrapped a bar end round a tree circa 1998.
Best be careful as the roads are fairly hard dont want them being banned from sportives.
Disks all the way.
The injury to Ventoso's shin wasnt nice, but entirely preventable. It would not be hard to mandate that all disk rotors have edges ground off to be round. And to stop fingers going through the 'spokes' of the disks then with fit guards or make them solid with smaller drilled holes. I'm sure we can find a safer design that still hits light weight and heat management requirements.
Most stupid comment of them all, 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'.
From a guy riding around in the latest in incremental tech. Total airhead.
My next bike will have discs. I will use it on the road.
I've got a Whyte Suffolk and the Hy/Rd's are great. Not sure if my next bike will still be discs but they do have a place even if that's not in the pro peleton.
If the Pro Peleton said 'jump in the river'..... I wouldn't.
I have a mind of my own and they are fucking drama queens.
It's certainly influencing my next bike, I'm in the market right now and was seriously considering discs - but now? I'm riding a couple of sportives and do regular club runs so am having to give it some serious thought!
I've got a disc brake Pinnacle Arkose for commuting - blummin' love the brakes. (Both my most recent mtbs had hydraulics - of course) I really notice the difference when riding my caliper brake Sunday best road bike, epsecially if it's a wet ride, think it's a real shame people are so divisive about this but I can see how traditionalists baulk at disc brakes.
I think the peloton have a huge influence on peoples attitudes, a friend recently bought a 3k road bike and although he's an avid mtber and a relative newcomer to road cycling he considered discs to be ridiculous in the pro peloton so therefore not accepable on his new bike.
Likewise, I waited until discs were available on road bikes before buying one back in 2013. I've since upgraded to hydraulic braking and tubeless disc specific wheels so there's no way I would buy a road frame or bike without disc brakes.
Discs all the way now, even the cable pulls on my last bike were great.
Rim brakes are mint in dry conditions but having to replace rims every couple of years got a bit annoying, plus having a carbon rim fail was frustrating.
I can understand people not wanting them due to looks but I guess as an ex MTBer I quite like the look.
I have zero interest on what the pros use, I just want what works for me.
Having ridden MTB's for most of my cycling life, I can honestly say the reason why I eventually bought my first road bike was because you finally could get a road bike with discs- having many a roadie friend who had either locked up a wheel in hard braking or failed to stop at all in the wet- neither good when you're dealing with potentially high speeds.
As I've mentioned in another post, anyone who has ridden discs on the road knows that in absolute perfect dry/warm conditions, at best a rim brake matches a disc. However, for the other 90% of time (especially in England) where conditions aren't perfect, discs offer better modulation, more predictable power and are far more confidence inspiring.
As mentioned before, the "they bring extra danger/risk" argument is bogus as we'd also have to exclude carbon rims (terrible breaking surface in the wet), open drivetrains (we could replace them with safer internal hub gearing and belt), bladed spokes, clipless pedals and carbon frames (more likely to snap in a heavy crash). All of these things offer a performance advantage at a price of increasing the risk of injuries.
Not necessarily even then. I hired a bike in France to ride Col de la Madone and descended way slower than I could on my own bike that has discs. Because despite the lovely sunshine and lack of rainy stuff, the brakes were so very inferior to what I'm used.
Same thing if I ride my girlfriends bike in Peaks, it's scary coming down the local steep hills because of the rim brakes. Regardless of weather.
My last couple of road bikes have had disc brakes and all my future road bikes (or any bikes for that matter!) will have disc brakes. The ultra-conservative pro-peleton can do what they like but for me personally the advantages of disc brakes on any type of bike far outweigh any dis-advantages - the only one that springs to mind being a small weight penalty but hopefully if the manufacturers continue to develop road-specific disc brake systems this will improve.
For me disc brakes offer:
So whatever the pro's decide - and it still amazes me how many of them have not even tried disc brakes yet if press reports are to be believed - they will continue to be my preference. I just hope further development of them for road-specific use is not stifled by the pro-scene. I would think that major component manufacturer development strategy must be defined more by the average customer in the street these days due to the popularity of cycling globally, rather than the pro-teams wishes? I don't know - I hope the former!
I think for most of us the danger from the big metal things we share the road with dwarfs any potential danger from our brakes.
I'll be looking at a roadbike with disc brakes as next bike
My miles are primarily urban commuting and for that reason the next bike will have discs. Rim damage from winter commuting is a factor, as is stopping ability in the wet. Add in improved clearance for fatter tyres and mudguards and its a no-brainer. All these things particularly important to me as I'm 17st and cycle year-round.
Having said that the current controversy has made be bide my time until the dust settles, simply because I only have space/funds for one bike and like to do the odd sportive. I can see a situation where the current rim-braked hack (Triban 3) becomes my "weekend" bike (dismantled) and the new shiny bike gets used every day.
My miles are primarily urban commuting and for that reason the next bike will have discs. Rim damage from winter commuting is a factor, as is stopping ability in the wet. Add in improved clearance for fatter tyres and mudguards and its a no-brainer. All these things particularly important to me as I'm 17st and cycle year-round.
Having said that the current controversy has made be bide my time until the dust settles, simply because I only have space/funds for one bike and like to do the odd sportive. I can see a situation where the current rim-braked hack (Triban 3) becomes my "weekend" bike (dismantled) and the new shiny bike gets used every day.
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