Bet it was a recumbent spin bike at that
Haha prolly has disk brakes too.
Every performance brake I’ve ever seen on a car or motorbike has BIG rotors and calipers to match, but the Fred nation seem to think they’ll be these small and light things on a road bike. That’s the connundrum really. I weep for people who are, like, “oh when discs come to road bikes, I’m in!” Actually I laugh, but it would suck to be missing out for no real reason like they are.
It’s nearly as bad as people waiting for the perfect power meter, or those dorks who whinge about pro-level CX bikes not coming with rack and fender mounts which would make them the one perfect bike to rule them all.
… you’ve never ridden a bike ridden a bike with disc, right?
Pro’s for disc brakes for road (although IRL this may not apply to the current range of solutions):
- Better modulation
- Less weight at the rims
- More freedom in rim shaping (aero?)
- Hydraluic solution (less issue for cable routing)
- Don’t wear through rims
Con’s
- Rotorburn fucking hurts, a lot (really only a problem for those prone to crashing or being shit)
- Beefed up frames
- Ugly
- Less reliable than cable brakes
you forgot
-better in the wet than rim
-rims last longer
-don’t have to worry about wheel true-ness so much, i.e. a dint aint gonna have an effect on braking.
which personally are some reasons I’d be interested in discs brakes on a cx/‘roadish’ bike.
However I think that with racing bikes in mind they arn’t a big deal as racers tend to go thru wheels alot faster than most anyway and don’t often ride in the rain. . . (are races cancelled due to rain? I don’t know)
I agree with all the pros and cons except for modulation, my SR11 brakes are scary good.
With my weight on a bike of my weight they are amazing.
I can’t imagine the modulation any better.
The only way to pull up safer and quicker is on a bigger tyre and suspension.
Not what I want on my race bike.
yup… pretty much…
and while i haven’t RACED a bicycle equipped with disk brakes i have raced a few motorcycle equipped with… wait for it… suspension, wider tires of much softer tire compounds compounds, carbon sintered brake pads and fully hydraulic brake systems…
all things not available on road bikes now or any time in the next year or two…
the disk brake thing is way to little way too soon… 
Cars are usually at least 1000kg + 70kg driver, motorbikes are 150kg + 70 kg rider, bicycles are 7kg + 70kg rider. Just a bit less to stop. OTOH, on a Honda you just twist the grip to regain your momentum, so last minute hard-braking is fine.
Anyway, racers are not the market that they’re aiming for here, any more than Casey Stoner is the market for Ducati or Honda.
Here’s some more info on bike rumour,
Next up were tires. The new S-Works Turbo claims to be both super sticky for excellent cornering and have lower rolling resistance. In development, most of the teams are running 22c tubulars, so getting them to try wider tires at lower pressures was the first challenge. The S-Works Turbo is a 700×24, the widest they could go and maintain proper frame clearance.
Their teams are now actually asking for clinchers, and their testing shows that they’re actually faster because clinchers have less sidewall deflection and because less energy is consumed compressing the tire because the total sidewall height tends to be lower than a tubular. Additionally, the clincher’s rim shape tends to add air volume, which allows for a lower air pressure. The result is less power from the rider is used just to move the bike. With a latex tube, the new Turbo S-Works 700×24 claims to have just 21.8 watts (116psi/8bar with load at 40km/h) per wheel of rolling resistance, lower than tires they tested from Continental and Vittoria.
The S-Works Turbo has their new Gripton compound (developed in-house). Where most of Spec’s tires are 80% natural rubber and 20% synthetic, the Gripton formula flip flops that to get better traction and rolling resistance. It sacrifices some lifespan (about 30-35%), but it’s intended as a race only tire. It has a new tread pattern that falls farther down the sidewall, another feature the team requested. With Blackbelt puncture protection, claimed weight is 185g.
2013 Specialized Wheels & Tires – Aero & Disc Road, Budget Carbon 29er MTB & More! - Bike Rumor
One of the more annoying things about having disc brakes on a road bike is the fact that each time you get out of the saddle and put any type of power into the transmission the rotors tend to touch the pads slightly making a ting sound which is not ideal when doing long rides etc. (or any rides)
I used to run Avid Juicy Ultimates on carbon forks and no matter how much adjusting I did it would always make an annoying tapping sound whenever it was hot (The DOT fluid in the hose expands when it is exposed to hot temperatures) or whenever I was doing any type of effort that caused the rear stays or forks on the bike to flex even slightly.
On a smooth road any slight sound (rotors rubbing etc.) will be quite noticeable and when riding off road the same sounds are much less noticeable and not a big problem.
If you look at some of the Longer alpine descents in Europe I think that the rotors would be exposed to enormous heat as riders hit speeds of around 100kmh, this alone could be a bit of a negative in the whole disc brake/road bike argument. Imagine doing a wheel change at the bottom of a 40km steep climb and having the rotor hit your leg/hand shoulder (in the team car) etc. The heat from the rotors would not only cause technical problems for the thin rotors but also other potential problems with the small brake pads and the brake callipers if the heat generated was significant.
In mountain bike racing disc brakes have a very different practical purpose which in reality is not needed on road bikes due to the different conditions the riders are exposed to although the truth is that bicycle manufacturers are always going to push an idea that has a marketing benefit no matter how practical/impractical it may seem.
Yeah ‘Rotor burn’ sucks. I have a Harry Potter burn/scar on my elbow from my jet black ‘saw’ rotors after a long descent down stromlo ending in a fantastic OTB.
I can tell you that even with cable-actuated disc brakes its very easy to lock up 32mm tyres on tarmac. i’m not sure there is a need to go hydro for more power (there may well be other reasons).
i’ve put some very varied kms (trails, gravel grinder, daily on-road commuting) into a SRAM Apex/avid bb7 road combo and the braking is more consistent in all conditions than calipers/cantis. however you get a fuck ton of power very easily that takes a little practice or finesse to deal with to avoid simply locking the front or rear wheel in tight circumstances (or if you are swapping on/off bikes a bit). ymmv though.
Doesn’t this go against the whole OMG MODULATION argument though?
On my MTB i’ve got a 180 front rotor, cannot imagine being able to control the bike if it didn’t have suspension? at least if you hit the front brake with the suspension there is less chance of going OTB?
Disc brakes will be more used on the road but just not 100% convinced yet due as you said to the modulation issues.
Was thinking about this as i was tackling some single track on my cx bike on the weekend, just not sure I would have as much control with discs ???
Perhaps like when discs and full suspension came into mtb there will have to be a new approach to riding techniques and new skills mastered?
I had BB7’s on a SS MTB fully rigid, I ended up mostly just riding around on it and found that with some care in setup and braking technique you could get some modulation out of them.
Also, Avid make a pair of MTB mechanical levers which have a knob/screw on the front which affects the leverage of the lever so you change the pull ratio and ‘feel’ of the lever/brake, something like that could be good for road discs?
edit: also some stuff on the guitar ted website lately about discs on gravel grinders
back to tubulars, will tubeless setups take over from tubulars in CX? as from what I understand they many of the same properties?
jury is still well and truly out on that one. theres a lot of mixed results with tubeless in cx, both from the pros and locals. you can’t go as low as you can with tubs and the tyres arent as good (right now) nor as varied. burping at the pressures run for cx seems to still be somewhat commonplace.
what i can say is that up in sydney for the last round of the national series everyone i saw riding tubeless burped their tyres to the extent that they had to swap wheels.
Seems when anyone tries a good disc brake they think ‘geeze why would I go back…’
There’s a bit of that, but I’ve read a lot of “I’ll really get to like this when it’s set up right” stories. I’ve only ridden a couple of disc bikes, both hydro and cable, and I’m not gonna rush out to change everything I own for the sake of some potential incremental advantage. It’s all a little bit Emperor’s New Clothes and marketing spin at the moment, at least on the road bike front. (MTBs are a whole different kettle of fish…)
this is definitely true on a MTB. havent heard it yet on CX or road…
learnt the hard way about how light the braking on disc brakes can be when hopping a log on the yarra trails last night… oops. OTB!