Chris Froome is all aboard the disc-brake hype train

Four-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome seems to have been converted to disc-brakes after complaining of rotor warping issues earlier in the season.

Froome recently took up a product development role with Factor, who provide bikes for the Israel Start-Up Nation team for which Froome rides and has suggested that while he still believes that disc brakes have a little way to go, working with Factor has at least solved most of the issues that he was experiencing at the start of the year.

> Chris Froome to play product development role for Factor

When the subject of disc brakes was brought up in an interview with Cycling News, Froome admitted that “I’ve been on them most of the season, I’ve only raced on rim brakes once or twice.

“I think it’s still a technology that is a work in progress for road bikes and there are still some issues for pro races. But it’s a technology that is evolving and I’ve been working with the guys from Factor. I’m one of the owners too, so development and feedback comes with my role there.”

> Check out Chris Froome's Factor Ostro VAM

Exactly what has changed with Froome’s setup is unclear, though he certainly wasn’t shy of trying a number of different parts in his search of braking perfection. Magura MT8 SL FM brakes made an appearance and as the Israel Start-Up Nation isn’t sponsored by Shimano and therefore required to use its full groupsets, the team has been able to use SwissStop pads and rotors.

It will be interesting to see whether Froome returns to Shimano callipers when the team eventually gets the new Dura-Ace R9200 groupset which claims to offer improved braking performance along with 10% wider pad clearance to alleviate unwanted rotor contact.

Playing with the components seems to have paid off with Froome saying that “we’ve actually ironed out most of the issues we were having earlier this year with disc brakes.”

> What’s wrong with Chris Froome’s disc brakes?

Going forward, it seems like Froome will be racing and training on disc brakes even more in 2022. “I’ve seen that the industry is making changes and improvements and so hopefully it’s a technology that will only get better and so only make the sport safer.”