Post your Roadie

[scblack]

Yikes, settle petal. You must be a roadie... :behindsofa:

Discs are awesome. Even if I agreed with all the above (or could be arsed correcting some misinterpretation), they're just nicer to use. Rims brakes I just hated, wooden and primative.

In skilled hands in good conditions, the differences are no doubt marginal - its the extremes where they excel. That broken surface you didnt see hiding in the shadows in time, that car that pulled out when you're doing 60 clicks down a hill, that late corner entry you overcooked and you're balancing the lock up point whilst trying to stay on the bitument. In short, being able to push that little harder into less than ideal conditions.

ie being a mountain biker and a bit of a hoon at heart - hence I think the reason "real" roadies tend to not get it.

As you were.

Wow, you must have madd skills. Who are these "real" roadies you talk of, and how do they possibly attain the skills you are telling us you have?

For a road bike, discs boil down to a marketing exercise by the bike manufacturers to sell more product, and you fall for it hook, line and sinker.

 

[OCD'R]

I'm happy being a marketing departments wet dream.

 

[Haakon]

Mad skills? hell no... More like reliably foolhardy with ambition outweighing talent... Hence the need for good brakes!!

 

[redbruce]

For a road bike, discs boil down to a marketing exercise by the bike manufacturers to sell more product, and you fall for it hook, line and sinker.

Funny, I was having a discussion on this topic with a recently returned neighbor) only as he returned from a 200 km ride through the Dandenongs (Melbourne) on a cold wet shitty day.

My neighbour (still racing successfully as a vet and with many places in Aussie road racing in his past to his name, plus some in the US and Europe) recently retired from the Diplomatic corp and bought a thigh end Specialized roadie with complete Dura Ace Di and disks back from the US. This guy has multiple 5 figure road bikes. The disk Specialized has become his main ride rain, hail or shine.

He commented that a number of his riding mates held a view similar to your's but are gradually changing their view after ridng his bike.

I no longer ride the roadie if I have a choice, but don't have fond memories of long winter training rides in the Dandenongs trying to modulate let alone stop confidently on rim brakes (just then released Ultegra dual pivot) in the cold and wet. I assume current dual pivots may be a bit better than those of the 90's (as are tyres) but physics is physics.

After 30 years of dual pivot or cantilever brakes, my current touring/commuter bike is now also equipped with disks for the same reason, along with power to handle loaded touring and predictable performance. There is no comparison.

All our disk brakes have been reliable with only a seized Juicy rear caliper out of our 7 (Avid) disk equipped bikes so I don't buy that either.

It is a bit heavier though and I opted for cable calipers on the tourer for simplicity and ease of in field repair.

Its no more "marketing on roadies" than for MTB, for people who ride in all conditions.

Horses for courses and individual choices I reckon.

 

[Jeffgre_6163]

My first roadie : )

After riding and racing MTBs for over 25 years I've finally bitten the bullet and dropped $2.5k on this.
Its a 2013 de Rosa Merak, Ultegra Di2, Mavic Cosmic wheels.
I know enough about road bikes to get the correct size but know little other than this is more comfortable than I would have thought and the Di2 shifts brilliantly.
I also know that De Rosa is apparently one of the "Big 3" of Italian road bike manufacturers with a pedigree that goes back to the 50's and includes factory riders such as the legendary Eddie Merckx.
So unless someone says otherwise [please do] I think I did ok for my 2.5k

 

[Dowlo]

Looks like a nice ride.

 

[Haakon]

For $2.5K you could have got something with proper brakes... :behindsofa:

 

[redbruce]

After riding and racing MTBs for over 25 years I've finally bitten the bullet and dropped $2.5k on this.
Its a 2013 de Rosa Merak, Ultegra Di2, Mavic Cosmic wheels.
I know enough about road bikes to get the correct size but know little other than this is more comfortable than I would have thought and the Di2 shifts brilliantly.
I also know that De Rosa is apparently one of the "Big 3" of Italian road bike manufacturers with a pedigree that goes back to the 50's and includes factory riders such as the legendary Eddie Merckx.
So unless someone says otherwise [please do] I think I did ok for my 2.5k

Bagged yourself a good buy I'd say. I think they were around $4500 + cost of cosmics.

 

[scblack]

Funny, I was having a discussion on this topic with a recently returned neighbor) only as he returned from a 200 km ride through the Dandenongs (Melbourne) on a cold wet shitty day.

My neighbour (still racing successfully as a vet and with many places in Aussie road racing in his past to his name, plus some in the US and Europe) recently retired from the Diplomatic corp and bought a thigh end Specialized roadie with complete Dura Ace Di and disks back from the US. This guy has multiple 5 figure road bikes. The disk Specialized has become his main ride rain, hail or shine.

He commented that a number of his riding mates held a view similar to your's but are gradually changing their view after ridng his bike.

I no longer ride the roadie if I have a choice, but don't have fond memories of long winter training rides in the Dandenongs trying to modulate let alone stop confidently on rim brakes (just then released Ultegra dual pivot) in the cold and wet. I assume current dual pivots may be a bit better than those of the 90's (as are tyres) but physics is physics.

After 30 years of dual pivot or cantilever brakes, my current touring/commuter bike is now also equipped with disks for the same reason, along with power to handle loaded touring and predictable performance. There is no comparison.

All our disk brakes have been reliable with only a seized Juicy rear caliper out of our 7 (Avid) disk equipped bikes so I don't buy that either.

It is a bit heavier though and I opted for cable calipers on the tourer for simplicity and ease of in field repair.

Its no more "marketing on roadies" than for MTB, for people who ride in all conditions.

Horses for courses and individual choices I reckon.

OK, I guess I admit I've not ridden a disc braked roadie. I do re-state, I have never felt the need for more brakes. But the riding I do is pretty flat really
in Sydney, there are no mountain passes around here.

For the average rider like us, the minor added weight is not really an issue and once numbers increase the cost over rim brakes will be minimal.

I won't be buying one that I can see though.

 

[Kirky_94]

Had this bike for a while now. It's a shame a really only use it for commuting.

 

[Haakon]

Improvements over rim brakes are the same as it was for mountain bikes... Same deal, rim vs disc - mountain or road bike is largely irrelevant to the comparison.

Just that on a roadie, the modulation benefit is even more appreciated given the traction limitations of skinny tyres.

And if nothing else, they just feel nice to use. Surely a roadie appreciates the value of spending coin on "nice" stuff just because its really nice

 

[creaky]

Just that on a roadie, the modulation benefit is even more appreciated given the traction limitations of skinny tyres.

The traction limitation on a dirt surface with MTB tyres is more limiting than skinny slicks on a paved road. I know with my shimano disc roadie I could stop a hell of a lot quicker from 30km/h on the road than I could from the same speed offroad on 2.2 knobbies and the same brand/spec of brake.

 

[Haakon]

The traction limitation on a dirt surface with MTB tyres is more limiting than skinny slicks on a paved road. I know with my shimano disc roadie I could stop a hell of a lot quicker from 30km/h on the road than I could from the same speed offroad on 2.2 knobbies and the same brand/spec of brake.

Not if you've run wide into the gravel strewn out edge on a fast road descent... Or the road is wet.

Its when things have gone a bit pear shaped for whatever reason that you appreciate the extra ability of good equipment.

 

[creaky]

Not if you've run wide into the gravel strewn out edge on a fast road descent... Or the road is wet.

If you were being reasonable you could easily come up with a dozen examples of 'worst-case' off road grip situations to compare your road examples to. Beyond your biased example, you can't seriously be of the opinion that tyre to trail/surface grip is better offroad than on road?

Its when things have gone a bit pear shaped for whatever reason that you appreciate the extra ability of good equipment.

Good quality discs provide better braking control irrespective of tyre type or surface. I'm not arguing that. I have multiple disc MTBs, a disc road bike and a rim brake road bike.

I agree with your statement that "the modulation benefit is even more appreciated given the traction limitations" but argue that offroad is the situation when you have greater traction limitation. Thus, discs are of more benefit (to use your term) off road than onroad.

 

[Haakon]

Thus, discs are of more benefit (to use your term) off road than onroad.

Agreed, wasnt suggesting otherwise. Just that there is still a very real advantage on road as well as off.

But in the end, whatever floats your boat. For me personally I prefer discs on the roadie mainly because they are simply much nicer to use, consistent and reliable (and they look better than those silly rim brake things ).

 

[redbruce]

OK, I guess I admit I've not ridden a disc braked roadie. I do re-state, I have never felt the need for more brakes. But the riding I do is pretty flat really
in Sydney, there are no mountain passes around here.

For the average rider like us, the minor added weight is not really an issue and once numbers increase the cost over rim brakes will be minimal.

I won't be buying one that I can see though.

Also agree. I don't ride in wet on roadie. If I did, another story.

Commuters and Tourers, disks for me, no brainer.

 

[Jubas]

I had the choice of discs or rim brakes when I picked up my new bike a few months back and went down the disc path. I find they're much nicer on the road than rim brakes - more modulation, better confidence, and far better in the wet (which I normally try to avoid). The other factor was that I was going down the carbon rim path, and didn't want to worry about wearing out rims, heat build-up etc

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

Commuters and Tourers, disks for me, no brainer.

Why tourer? Coz you might get caught out in the rain ?

 

[The Duckmeister]

Improvements over rim brakes are the same as it was for mountain bikes... Same deal, rim vs disc - mountain or road bike is largely irrelevant to the comparison.

Just that on a roadie, the modulation benefit is even more appreciated given the traction limitations of skinny tyres.

And if nothing else, they just feel nice to use. Surely a roadie appreciates the value of spending coin on "nice" stuff just because its really nice

A few months ago one of the online bike rags (Pinkbike or something similar) did a test of rim brakes vs hydro discs, on bikes as similar as possible in all other respects. In the dry, there wasn't much difference in stopping distance, because the tyres' grip is the limiting factor, but in the wet the discs were a heap better, but the real point was hammered home comparing single-finger braking. The virtually frictionless hydraulic brake actuation requires vastly less effort to achieve strong braking, and also makes control of the braking power much easier. Cable disc brakes were not tested because the author of that article did not feel they offer any significant advantage; they still have all (or more) of the cable drag that is the real limiting factor of brake modulation.

 

[Bodin]

Cable disc brakes were not tested because the author of that article did not feel they offer any significant advantage; they still have all (or more) of the cable drag that is the real limiting factor of brake modulation.

I have TRP HY/RD brakes on my commuter. The levers are 10-speed Ultegra. I hated them at first; couldn't get any real bite and ditched them for some old BB7s I had left over in the spare parts bucket.

The BB7s were pretty much shot, though, so I reluctantly dragged out the HY/RDs again. Weighed them before I put them back on the bike and was surprised to find they weighed the same as the BB7s.

Was also surprised to find they all of a sudden worked perfectly once I'd put them back on. Great modulation, can pull nicely controlled downhill endos, which is the true test of a brake if you ask me. Dunno what I did, they just worked all of a sudden. I guess the BB7s must've burned the rotors in properly or something; I don't know.

Either way, the HY/RDs perform beautifully at a very respectable weight. Highly recommended for those that don't want to have to ditch perfectly good levers to get at least SOME of the benefit of a hydraulic system.