Cycling - disc brakes and tubeless tires

[nevets88]

Totally out of the loop. These two developments I totally missed, just passed by me. Disc brakes, which I noticed while passing by a bike shop one day - what are those things on the wheels? Also tubeless tires. Wondering what else I missed. I love the little blinkies run by dual CR2032s. 

Amazing, brakes, no cables required because hydraulics.

 

[iacas]

Cool.  And yeah, disc brakes are almost old hat now, no? My electric bikes even have disc brakes.

[Hardspoon]

17 minutes ago, iacas said:

Cool.  And yeah, disc brakes are almost old hat now, no?

For mountain bikes, yes. They still aren't that common on road bikes, since the debate rages on whether they are worth the extra weight.

Huh, didn't know this, but the plot thickens:

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/04/will-the-ucis-disc-brake-ruling-impact-major-bike-brands-or-will-consumers-even-care/

 

[nevets88]

5 minutes ago, Hardspoon said:

For mountain bikes, yes. They still aren't that common on road bikes, since the debate rages on whether they are worth the extra weight.

I was looking into retrofitting my road bike, but not feasible, fork replacement and other complications and I'm not sure I'll need them that much, I don't ride in the rain that much. I do like the extra control and no cables, but my now old fashioned rim brakes work fine, have never had to adjust them that much, when I was a kid, rim brakes were a pain to maintain. I also get tired of cleaning the rims and all the dirt the rims accumulate but as of now, not worth the effort to switch to disc.

[dennyjones]

1 hour ago, Hardspoon said:

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/04/will-the-ucis-disc-brake-ruling-impact-major-bike-brands-or-will-consumers-even-care/

I hadn't seen this.  It sounds like disc brakes are going to be eliminated at least for professional racing.  

I don't see disc brakes going away in mountain biking.   In Michigan, they aren't really necessary but in Utah, or muddy conditions or winter, disc brakes are significantly better.  

[boogielicious]

I raced road, MTB and cyclocross for about 14 years. For the most part, I kept up with the technology. But since stopping, I've stayed stationary. My MTB is 16 years old as it my road bike. When stuff wears out, I buy on E-Bay to replace. The manager of my bike shop keeps trying to get me to replace my MTB with one of those 29" inch wheel ones. Those wheels look huge like a Penny Farthing to me!

I'll keep riding my MTB until the frame cracks, it's aluminum. My road frame will last forever, Ti. 

[Club Rat]

The new Elby E-bike rolls out Sept 1st.

Quote

Arriving at your front door starting September 1st.

Get your name on the list to be among the first to own an Elby and a chance to WIN the Elby of your choice!

https://elbybike.com/

 

[stealthduffer]

A few years back I bought a cyclo-cross bike that has disc brakes that I really like. On the other hand the standard brakes on my road bike are fine too. 

Since I don't race any rules on use of disc brakes don't really matter to me but not hard to see that the edges of the discs could be a hazard in crashes. 

[Dave2512]

Used both on my Yeti, which was really light for a MTB. Cheap disc brakes suck, had some on a beater Specialized MTB I bought on CL to commute to work. Good disc brakes are great but spendy. Tubeless is a PITA if you live in the country or anywhere with road debris. Even using Stan's I had a flat a week it seemed an don road repairs with tubeless is a hassle to impossible.

I am more old school. If I needed a bike I'd go fixie, coaster and tubes. I swear I was faster on my 50's Western Flyer than my Yeti. On hills I'd pass all the spandex wannabe's and that heavy beast could take a pothole with minimal shock.

[70sSanO]

Even though I don't have disc brakes on any of my bikes, including mountain, they are so superior that it is a joke to eliminate them.  I read the article and the fear of getting cut on a brake rotor in a race has to be pretty far down the list compared to other crash related injuries.

I still ride a 1988 Cannondale Criterium, I built new, and just went to index downtube shifters from Simplex retrofriction a year or so ago.

My mountain bikes are 90's steel with Marzochi Bomber forks.

I am not the fastest out there, but I am having a blast riding the old stuff.  And yes, eBay has been very very good to me.

John

[Vinny Cap]

I haven't ridden on the street in years.  Miss it as I use to do 15 mi every day and 50 - 70 on the weekend.  I guess I would try disc on the street if I were to ride there again.

I am on my 2nd mountain bike and this one has shocks and disc brakes.  Both of these features are great.  It did take a bit to get use to the disc in the woods.  The first time out, I did do an endo over the handlebars as I grabbed a bit too much front but that never happened again.  It is most beneficial when the conditions are wet and you need hard breaking.

[ZappyAd]

I hired a fairly high end hardtail mountain bike over the weekend just to see how much better it was than the 90's hand me down bike that I use to ride with the kids.  Turns out not that different!  It was definitely the case that every component was better - gears were smooth, brakes were strong, suspension was effective, dropper seat was cool.  But for close to $2k I didn't get any more enjoyment out of riding than I do with my current bike (which I enjoy).  

It did make me think about golfing and when you get your new clubs out onto the course and find that you still hit the ball pretty much like you did before!