3 ms·

Also disc brakes can give you brake fade. I have a hydraulic disc with a 203mm rotor, and even that huge disk sometimes fades on long descents.

walrus01 5y ago
The advantage of disc brakes on the medium to high end consumer road bike, however, is that you wear out the cheap and consumable pads and rotor, not the rims on what might be a $2000-by-itself 700c wheelset. the large bike manufacturer sponsors of the pro teams of course want their team to ride the equipment that they're selling to consumers as the current and next model year. or at least something that very closely resembles it and sells for $2500+ at retail. look at how many trek carbon fiber madones were sold to enthusiastic amateurs during the peak armstrong years.
mikestew 5y ago
I'll take brake fade over rim brakes overheating the tubular glue and my tire rolls off, which has happened in the past on several occasions in pro races. Even on clinchers that stay attached to the rim, I've had rim brakes get kinda fady on long descents. It's not the same as disc fade (probably because the causes are different), but a bit unnerving nonetheless.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  I've had a rim fail during braking on a descent, that was one experience I really do not want to repeat. Fortunately it all ended well but you can imagine my surprise. Since then I religiously check the wall thickness of the rims every time I change tires on the two bikes that I still have that has rim brakes, one very old tenspeed and a Koga 'Twintysix' tandem.
- 1-more 5y ago
  you raced pro? Far out! Did you have a mechanic handling your tire gluing, or were you doing it yourself. If you did it yourself was it worth the hassle? I say this as someone who spent an hour this morning cleaning a chain with two different solvents, a brush, and an ultrasonic bath just so I could dip it in boiling wax in the hopes that I won't have to clean it so much in the future, so I'm not making fun of how you spend your bike maintenance time.
  - mikestew 5y ago
    I raced with pros. :-) But apologies if my wording was misleading, I was never good enough for the big show. I did, however, glue my own tires. It wasn't that much of a hassle, really. Cover the rim, let it dry, cover it with another coat, coat the tape on the tire with glue, let it all dry overnight again. The trick is to not be in a hurry, which pro mechanics might not have the luxury. Hence, I've never had a tire come off. It's been ages since I've done it (quit racing a while ago), but I bet it doesn't take an hour to do a set of tires. I had also been doing it since the early 80s, so lots of practice.

walrus01 5y ago

The advantage of disc brakes on the medium to high end consumer road bike, however, is that you wear out the cheap and consumable pads and rotor, not the rims on what might be a $2000-by-itself 700c wheelset. the large bike manufacturer sponsors of the pro teams of course want their team to ride the equipment that they're selling to consumers as the current and next model year. or at least something that very closely resembles it and sells for $2500+ at retail. look at how many trek carbon fiber madones were sold to enthusiastic amateurs during the peak armstrong years.

mikestew 5y ago

I'll take brake fade over rim brakes overheating the tubular glue and my tire rolls off, which has happened in the past on several occasions in pro races. Even on clinchers that stay attached to the rim, I've had rim brakes get kinda fady on long descents. It's not the same as disc fade (probably because the causes are different), but a bit unnerving nonetheless.

jacquesm 5y ago
I've had a rim fail during braking on a descent, that was one experience I really do not want to repeat. Fortunately it all ended well but you can imagine my surprise. Since then I religiously check the wall thickness of the rims every time I change tires on the two bikes that I still have that has rim brakes, one very old tenspeed and a Koga 'Twintysix' tandem.
1-more 5y ago
you raced pro? Far out! Did you have a mechanic handling your tire gluing, or were you doing it yourself. If you did it yourself was it worth the hassle? I say this as someone who spent an hour this morning cleaning a chain with two different solvents, a brush, and an ultrasonic bath just so I could dip it in boiling wax in the hopes that I won't have to clean it so much in the future, so I'm not making fun of how you spend your bike maintenance time.
- mikestew 5y ago
  I raced with pros. :-) But apologies if my wording was misleading, I was never good enough for the big show. I did, however, glue my own tires. It wasn't that much of a hassle, really. Cover the rim, let it dry, cover it with another coat, coat the tape on the tire with glue, let it all dry overnight again. The trick is to not be in a hurry, which pro mechanics might not have the luxury. Hence, I've never had a tire come off. It's been ages since I've done it (quit racing a while ago), but I bet it doesn't take an hour to do a set of tires. I had also been doing it since the early 80s, so lots of practice.