[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

[NOtotheEU]

Brother Cycles is about to

Brother Cycles is about to launch a new drop bar gravel bike with rim brakes so maybe they aren’t quite dead yet.

“The Mr Wooden uses cantilever brakes. Brother says speccing rim brakes enables it to use lighter-weight tubing compared to the heavier tubes required to resist the forces of disc brakes. This results in a more comfortable, flexible and fast ride feel.”

I’ll leave you lot to argue about the last part of the quote ?

[Backladder]

NOtotheEU wrote:

NOtotheEU wrote:

Brother Cycles is about to launch a new drop bar gravel bike with rim brakes so maybe they aren’t quite dead yet. “The Mr Wooden uses cantilever brakes. Brother says speccing rim brakes enables it to use lighter-weight tubing compared to the heavier tubes required to resist the forces of disc brakes. This results in a more comfortable, flexible and fast ride feel.” I’ll leave you lot to argue about the last part of the quote ?

Translation:- you won’t be able to stop as quickly and you’ll be going faster in the first place. 😉

[chrisonabike]

You just need to increase the

You just need to increase the braking surface of the brake shoes.

[wycombewheeler]

nickyburnell wrote:

Discs fade if you are heavy or ride fast loaded. It’s area specific of course but as someone of 16st and the owner of both sorts, the rim brakes do a better job in North Devon for me. I’m on EBC downhill pads which have helped a lot but considering a 180mm conversion. The only reason I put up with them is tyre size on gravel bike. Campag rim brakes on other bikes, no issues, more specifically no overheating. Alloy rims.

until it’s wet, going down 20% hills in the rain and trying to stop is very scary.

even more so with carbon rims

[Anonymous]

As I said above wide tyres

As I said above wide tyres plus fork smooth it even more.

[Rendel Harris]

IanEdward wrote:

IanEdward wrote:

Yes, sanding pads (less so rotors) takes them back to their ‘un-bedded’ state, and I seem to recall they are quieter until they get bedded in again, at the expense of power.

I experienced exactly the opposite, an increase in power, because the sanding removes the glaze that both impairs braking power and causes squealing.

[IanEdward]

Yes, sanding pads (less so
Yes, sanding pads (less so rotors) takes them back to their ‘un-bedded’ state, and I seem to recall they are quieter until they get bedded in again, at the expense of power.

I guess you could try sanding them with a rougher grit sandpaper such that they take longer to smooth out, but that means you would remain underpowered for longer. Could you then increase rotor size to compensate? Hmm…

I think this is why sintered pads are reputed to be quieter in the wet, they are more porous so perhaps rougher. My experience was that they were equally noisy though.

Maybe in 5 years time when I’m tempted to try discs again I’ll get some Hope RX4s with sintered pads on 180mm discs, it will look like my MTB! ?

[Backladder]

I love the old style steel

I love the old style steel forks with a curve in them, modern straight forks just look wrong. It was always interesting to see that different builders used different types of bend, I have steel forks that start to gradually bend right near the crown and others that are straight for over half their lenght and then bend much more sharply to give the same trail, there is remarkably little difference in road feel from them.

[Backladder]

marmotte27 wrote:

the vertical movement of the chrome hoop us less that it’s diameter so although there is impressive horizontal movement it is not doing as much as the tyres to smooth out the ride.

[Rendel Harris]

Have you tried sanding the

Have you tried sanding the pads and/or rotors? I was at my wits’ end (not a very long journey) recently with a squealing rear brake until a couple of minutes’ work with some fine grit sandpaper on both pads and rotors cleared it up immediately.

[IanEdward]

No, I can confidently say the
No, I can confidently say the setup and bedding in are meticulous, I’ve followed all the tricks and tips and manufacturers advice and frankly spent an unhealthy amount of time on both aspects despite neither being particularly difficult.

Go watch professional road or CX races in the wet (CX in particular). Squealing ahoy! If the professional mechanics can’t get it right then frankly that’s a failure of the design, not the user.

[Anonymous]

Backladder wrote:

Backladder wrote:

I think fatter lower pressure tyres absorb more.

Fat tyres plus flexible fork absorbs even more.

[Yorkshie Whippet]

If your brakes are noisy all

If your brakes are noisy all the time they either have not been bedded in properly or set up properly. Neither are the systems fault.

[NOtotheEU]

I put on a cheap ebay brake

I put on a cheap ebay brake booster just before the bike was relegated to 3rd choice and was very impressed but I haven’t tried fancy cables yet. If I ever stop daydreaming about building my dream Surly from the frame up and actually take the plunge I’ll definitely be trying them.

[ktache]

On the Good Bike at the

On the Good Bike at the moment, ceramic Mavic xc717s, xtr Vs, Nokon cables, oddesy Ti brake booster on the front. No wear. The original Shimano ceramic blocks were wonderful, but the rims suffered a glossy build up, over years, which took away some bite. After a long quest I managed to find a NOS pair of rims after the front developed a stutter on braking. Long quest. Fitted the xtr hubs to finish doing up all the groupset. Went swissstops blue for them. No build up. Continued bite. One finger braking is great, in the dry, wet needs two, and with thicker gloves in the winter. My Hope Tech3 R4s 203/160 are far more powerful and the stopping is pretty much unaffected by the wet and filth, but the front will scream when filth gets on it.

Disks put a stop to ceramic rims on xc bikes, I think it was a shame. Very light, and no rim wear. But a bit delicate.

If you want no wear get a set of ceramic or CSS rims.

 

[Author]

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