longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 03/10/2016 07:42 PM |
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We've had some fun chewing the fat about disc brakes in elite road racing. They are here. Some teams are ready to adopt, some are waiting for a few more iterations.
I'm not aware of superior braking being a potential factor in the spring classics, but I'm no expert. Windy weather is likely, a potential disadvantage of discs.
C'mon, chew some fat with me!
Will the Early Adopters gain an advantage, or the opposite, or will it be a wash?
Not talking about the Tour or Giro with their massive descents, just the spring classics.
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 03/10/2016 08:35 PM |
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My prediction? The big teams will stay away. Spring classics? Think wheel changes. Why risk Tom Boonen's race with a poor neutral services wheel change? So if anyone does gain an advantage, it will be someone on a lesser team and probably not a race breaker. More likely, a team leader who is not a player will have his chances of a field finish ruined by a poor wheel change and few will notice.
Ben
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 03/10/2016 08:56 PM |
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Lampre, a big team, is on board:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lampre-merida-to-switch-to-disc-brakes-for-cobbled-classics/
But others are not.
My cynical side sees this all as a diversion from doping. Whatever.
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 03/11/2016 10:40 AM |
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| I don't think the classics have ever been won due to braking. They are heavy and not in a benign way. The weight affects the handling and feel of the bike. Wheel changes are a big deal in the cobbled classics. It's more of a marketing thing than a performance thing so I think teams that use them are being pressured by their sponsors. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 03/11/2016 11:23 AM |
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Posted By ChinookPass . on 03/11/2016 10:40 AM
I think teams that use them are being pressured by their sponsors.
Yup, I agree completely |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 03/11/2016 12:23 PM |
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yeah, I don't know how much pressure they are really getting. Sure there is likely some, but I don't think it is anywhere close to ultimatum-style pressure.
Best example I can give would be aero road frames....there is a real, significant wattage savings to riding one vs. a round-tube road frame. But, for the most part, riders continue to climb aboard their standard road frames and sponsors really aren't pressuring them to use the aero frames.
It will be the same for disc brakes, IMO...sure the sponsors will want teams to use the latest / greatest, but at the end of the day, the teams and riders will make the choice that suits them best. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 03/11/2016 01:34 PM |
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ok, maybe not pressured, but perhaps incentivised. Could be good PR for team and equipment sponsors alike. We've already mentioned Lampre more than we have the entire season so far.
I know one of the original motivations for discs was that the combined weight of lighter rim + disc brake was supposed to be less or at least the rotational resistance would be less (less weight at the edge), but the calipers themselves still seem very heavy. I notice it when switching back and forth between my disc and rim bikes. Rocking the disc bike back and forth feels sluggish. Not totally apples-apples due to fenders, tires etc, but holding the calipers in my hand before installing them, I thought, I am really going to bolt these heavy things onto this bike?
Just checked this week and the shimano r685 was still heavier than the trp hy/rd (which is what I have). They don't feel like lightweight bike parts. It looks like the r685 on the etixx bike.
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6ix
Posts:485
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| 03/11/2016 04:00 PM |
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Well, I'll say it again and am sure many others on this forum will agree, but I think road discs are an answer to a problem that shouldn't have ever existed in the first place. Namely, carbon-fiber braking surfaces. Now we are faced with having to switch over to a system created for use on mountain-bikes where the features certainly provide real benefits over rim brakes whether they are aluminum, ceramic or carbon-fiber. But whatever...doesn't matter now. We all just need to accept the inevitable.
Besides slowing down wheel changes a bit and not being able to make adjustments while riding (pad rub is a very real issue even with thru-axle,) the professionals have every reason to be concerned about being sliced or severely burned by the rotors during crashes.
So I sit here looking like a retrogrouch but I can nearly say with 100% certainty that my next road bike will have discs. Oh well, far worse things in the world...until one of those pads start rubbing while out on a long ride!! Brings back the dreaded Look cleat squeek of years gone by. |
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Yo Mike
Posts:338
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| 03/13/2016 10:11 AM |
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| Well of course the teams are being - um - incentivized - by Manufacturers to use the new equipment. Sponsors know that The Masses will clamor for the same $tuff. 'Twas ever thus. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 03/13/2016 03:33 PM |
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Having some past insight directly into this issue, I can tell you that rivers are loathe to ride anything that they perceive as negatively impacting their efforts....see above example of aero road frames.
Here is the reality...pro teams are behind consumer demand on road discs. Simple fact. Demand for road discs is high and growing and manufacturers are responding. We can debate their real world efficacy, but consumers are looking for and buying them.
There is no great sinister cabal of manufacturers looking to force road discs (or any technology) on the masses. There are just a bunch of guys looking to make cool bikes that people want. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 03/13/2016 04:28 PM |
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Members (and former members) of the Illuminati and not going to acknowledge it's existence. 
Pro bike and civilian bikes used to be the same thing back in the days of quill stems and 52/42 gearing. With the advent of carbon bikes, slammed stems and 54/39 gearing mere mortals could't ride them... at least not for long.
When Spez and a few others came with bikes with taller head tubes and geometry that people without pro-yoga flexibility could ride for hours they had a winner, and coupled with pros riding them at P-R gave the bikes the necessary cred for wanna be races to accept them. I think for the most part the era of civilians wanting bikes identically set up as the pros is about over.
I've got a 'pro' bike with, however, compact gearing and a non-slammed stem. Even with those I'm a lot more comfortable on my Ti bike with a lower bb and shorter tt. The pro bike is faster for a two hour road race but for longer than that and I'm a hurting buckaroo. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 03/13/2016 07:30 PM |
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This winter I did a LOT more hill training than previous years. On the basis of the experience (alu rims) my next winter road bike will have discs. Its been an exceptional wet winter.
For summer bike, ultegra calipers on high end alu rims are just fine.
The tools you need depend on the conditions. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 03/13/2016 08:58 PM |
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Echo here.
I switched to mtb discs many years ago while riding frequently in Pisgah NF in NC. Rains a lot there in the summer and the rim sidewalls disappeared quickly in that granite slurry. My ah hah! moment came when a local (using rim brakes) explained that replacing rims every year was just normal there.
Thank you BB7s. What a revelation.
Where is PA biker to tell us useful info and that we are idiots at the same time?
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 04/13/2016 01:28 PM |
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Well, it's happened: a rider was seriously injured by a rotor:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ventoso-blasts-the-use-of-disc-brakes-in-the-peloton/
I expect a few " told-you-so" posts to follow, and they will be well justified.
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ChinookPass
Posts:809
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| 04/13/2016 03:53 PM |
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| sounds like the bike Ventoso hit was stopped and had avoided the crash ahead of it... |
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