Sabbath September Disc road bike

Discs are a common sense option on a bike like Sabbath's September, an audax machine that's just at home on the commute, sportive or light touring. So fitting discs is what the bike-building Macc lads have done.

The September is a smart looking bit of kit with plenty of presence. Whether that's from the anodised red Hope hubs or the black Shimano 105 groupset I'm not sure but it looks more aggressive than the caliper version.

There are three builds pencilled in for release with the top £2799 option being very similar to what we've got here: 105, Hy/Rd brakes but with a Kinesis DC37 fork instead of the Whisky Parts Co version on ours. You'll also get mudguards chucked in. The test bike weighs in at 20.5lb (9.34kg) for a size 55.

The other two builds will use TRP Spyre brakes instead of the Hy/Rd's and Mavic Open Sport/Shimano XT wheels with a Tiagra option (£2299) or Shimano 105 (£2499).

The 3Al/2.5V titanium frame has been beefed up a little over the caliper braked version we tested last year to withstand the added stresses from the discs under heavy braking. At the back end the rear dropouts have been thickened and offer more of an overlap with the chainstay for strength.

The chainstay length has also increased from 425mm to 430mm to allow bigger tyres alongside mudguards. The September will now take 35mm tyres with guards and without guards you can stick a decent set of cyclo-cross tyres on there.

You also get a replaceable gear hanger to which is always a good idea on a frame that is likely to get dropped on icy or wet roads. The build quality is top notch with neat, small welds and all the mounts (guard, rack, bottle bosses, cable guides) are welded rather than riveted on.

The top tube has increased in diameter by near as damn it 3mm to 34.9mm which isn't far off the 40mm diameter of the downtube. Both have been ovalised at their ends to increase lateral stiffness.

Can you feel any difference from these tweaks? Oh yes. The September has become tighter, more responsive and greater fun to ride while still managing to keep its stable and secure handling thanks to that long wheelbase and semi relaxed geometry.

Titanium frames always have this underlying smoothness to them and although the September Disc is stiff it retains that. It certainly doesn't feel like a 20lb bike once you're rolling either, maintaining speed is easy and the Sabbath is happy to attack the hills and sprint from roundabouts or lights.

Like all disc equipped road bikes at the moment the wheels are heavier as they need to be more robust and that's exactly the same here. Acceleration is blunted, especially from a standing start and you notice it most if you're riding in company.

Descending is tight and the Sabbath feels absolutely planted as you pick up speed and start to bank it over through the corners. It's not as sharp as full race bike but then it's not expected to be; what it is, is one of the best handling audax frames out there.

Don't think the September Disc is all about speed, though. If you just kick back a bit it's a well-mannered cruiser. Even with the stiff Pro alloy components the smooth ride from the frame means you can ride for hours in comfort as it filters the majority of the road buzz out before it gets to your fingers.

The rest of the chosen components suit the feel of the Sabbath especially the Stan's NoTubes wheels as the 32-spoke three-cross laced set up offers the same feeling of stiffness with a little bit of give. The Alpha 400 rims are, as you can probably guess from the name, tubeless although ours were running with tubes and non-folding beaded Conti Gatorskins. The wheels performed well taking plenty of abuse both from the surface and the weather. The Hope Pro2 Evo hubs were buttery smooth and you never tire of the clicking freehub as you freewheel.

Shimano 105 is a good workmanlike groupset with a solid gear change and predictable manners matching the September's no-nonsense approach to weather and terrain. Every shift across the cassette and compact chainset was precise. The wear rate of 105 is perfectly acceptable should you use the Sabbath for year round commuting and fact that you can pick up an entire groupset for three hundred quid online means its not expensive to replace either.

Leaving the best to last though and the thing that makes this bike what it is, those brakes. Hydraulic braking is a revelation on a bike like the September and makes a great bike even better. Admittedly the TRP Hy/Rd calipers aren't fully hydraulic, being cable operated at the lever which actuates a fluid reservoir at the point of bite.

The 160mm rotors certainly seem man enough for whatever you chuck at them and Sabbath have run the cable along the bottom of the downtube and along to meet the chainstay mounted caliper. This keeps a nice smooth run keeping braking power consistent thanks to a lack of any sharp bends.

In the wet discs will always outperform rim brakes, it's a fact, but in the dry it comes down to modulation and a hydraulic system is always going to perform better than a cable one. The Hy/Rd's allow you to brake later and harder, without the risk of locking up regardless of the weather or road conditions.

Overall the September Disc takes all the things that are great with the caliper version and makes them just a little bit better. The by-product of increasing the tube diameters to cope with the brakes has also improved the performance when you increase the speed rather than scrub it off. That makes the September Disc even more of an all-rounder as you could knock out some seriously quick sportive times on it.

Verdict

Impressively comfortable and quick mile muncher that benefits from maximum braking power