I have been on one ride on my new Giant Defy bike with hydraulic disk brakes. I think that they are great. If you do a lot of mountain cycling you do not get sore fore arms from using the brakes. They are supposed to stop better in the wet. The draw back is that you can not use your old wheels. I am not sure if maintenance will be an issue, however mountain bikers have been using them for a long time without problems.

I decided on disk brakes after a cycling trip to France last year. I never felt safe coming down in the rain. My old bike being stolen made is sooner than expected. I will have to go back to France just to test the new bike :)

I'm at a trainingcamp in Spain at the moment and rented a bike with disc brakes to check out what all the fuss is about. Stoppingpower is amazing and as said before, stopping on a rainy decent will be much more safe than on rimbrakes.

However, it does take some getting used to as you can pretty easily lock your wheel up if pulling the lever to hard and to suddenly. They key word here is modulation. Keep this in mind, especially when riding in the wet, because your wheel will stop, but that does not mean you won't start sliding when your wheel locks up and your tire loses grip.

I do have to say it does not feel exactly the same as the discbrakes on my mountainbike. But then again that could be due to setup etc.

You are contradicting yourself.

No.
Braking on carbon rims (or even some alloy rime sfor that matter) in the rain at high speed wont stop your wheel turning in time to come to a standstill.
Braking using discbrakes will. However, the way you brake determines the way you stop. So it is up to the rider to use all that braking power with some common sense, which in turn will increase the safety of it.

Don't be an idiot. You know what I meant from the first time you read that post.

Haven’t ridden them yet. But it seems they are very quickly becoming the new norm and my next bike in a few years will likely have them. Especially since I don’t currently own a pair of race wheels. However if you’re looking for a deal or have some really nice wheels you’d like to keep consider staying with rim breaks. Sure disc breaks are better and I’m sold on that but that doesn’t mean rim breaks are no good. After all I’ve used them my entire tri-career as most of us have. Almost along the lines of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” deal. To summarize, if money, wheel choice, and maintenance cost are no issue go disc no question. If deal hunting, wheel choice, and maintenance are high on your list go rim.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

What a coincidence. Last summer I took a cycling trip in France and bought a new bike with disc brakes. I love it as descending was sooo much better having the confidence to brake much later before the turns. I'm a bit careful on downhills and probably brake more than I have to and the disc brakes didn't fade as much as my rims brakes. I'll never go back to rim brakes on my road bikes. I'm not about to change my tri bike though.

Thanks for the reply.

I realize I posted this late last night and fell asleep mid-sentence last night. LOL!


I have mountain bikes with disc brakes and I would not have it any other way and it has been the norm. It seems it is being accepted into road cycling. I suppose my decision will be based on what the best deal I can find on a new bike. I'm looking at a Specialized Roubaix or a Cervelo R3. Of course, my choice has been on my knowledge of 7 years ago or so. Not sure what changed since then. Which is why I was clueless to see disc brakes on the Roubaix.

If you're looking at the Roubaix, take a look at the Cervelo C3/C5 - they are the comparable Cervelo models. I've rented a Roubaix and have now had a C5 for ~6 months, so I have some limited head-to-head comparison, and I like the C5 ride better than the Roubaix. The Roubaix is a heavier and more complicated bike with the Futureshock. IMO, 99% of the "comfort" of the endrurance geometry bikes comes from the 28c tires. I bought the C5 purely as a training bike to be able to put on lots of mileage without feeling beat up, and it absolutely perfect for this. As far as disc brakes go, I agree that disc brakes are far more confidence-inspiring, especially in wet weather, and they're far easier to modulate than rim brakes.

Are the C3 and C5 the same frame? Also, is the C3 the "new" R3? Or, is that a different bike?

The C series are definitely different bikes than the R series. The C series are a sort of hybrid almost-gravel bike with wider tires, slacker head tube, and lower BB than the R series, which is more a pure road bike. I *think* the C3 and C5 share the same frame but have different forks (and groupsets, wheels, etc.) but I'm not positive.

I've just enjoyed a week with my new bike with discs (now written off - but that's another story). I'm an instant convert. It just works, it's awesome. Rims are like black and white TV. Discs are HD.

Once you go disc you will NEVER go back! You cannot even compare the braking performance imo.

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I expected to drop in on this thread and read a bunch of hate from people who've never owned or ridden a disc brake road bike. I've had a Cannondale Supersix HiMod Evo disc for a year now. I decided I "needed" a disc brake road bike after doing a lot of gravel riding the last two years on a disc brake bike. Every time I went back to my road bikes with rim brakes, I missed the disc brakes. They're just so ... precise is the word that comes to mind. You can control your braking so much better.

I've read a lot of crap about how un-aero they are and, frankly, I don't believe it. The calipers are practically hidden behind the fork leg or, in the case of the rear, it's in an area of air that's already highly disturbed behind your spinning feet and cranks. The rotor presents almost no frontal area and as far as any wind hitting at yaw ... well, how is it any different from a disc wheel, which is a good thing? As for cabling (tubing), most of the disc bikes I've seen do a better job of routing the tubing than I've ever seen for any brake housing on a rim brake bike.

One caveat I will call out ... on a descent on a bumpy road or, as I learned on a washboard gravel descent, you need to rely on your rear brake a bit more and your front a bit less. If you hit a big bump and accidentally grab too much front brake, bye bye.

Disc brakes are like electronic shifting. Do you need it? Probably not. Is it nicer? Absolutely yes!

And yes, I think you'll be hard-pressed in a few short years to find a rim brake bike for sale at your LBS.

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Stay aero my friends.

That's just a super classy answer sweetheart. I bet you have never actually ridden down hills in the rain.

Number one, you seem to have no grasp of how a rolling vehicle actually stops, if you think the wheels are supposed to stop before the center of mass does.

Number two, don't try to change the discussion to be about carbon rims all of a sudden. You were claiming a certain kind of brake was superior and then used faulty arguments as to why. Try to find some better arguments instead.

Number three, what you are claiming to feel isn't even the effect of the brake or the "rotor", it's the effect of the hydraulics.

I swap wheels between my road and TT bike, so it's a little hard for me to just jump in and get a road bike with discs. I do have a "gravel" bike (aka, CX) with discs and love them. In fact, I'll probably upgrade from the non-series Di2 to Ultegra when it becomes more regularly available. Living in SoCal, the only time I would REALLY appreciate discs is on steep descents. Still, I find caliper brakes with aluminum brake surface to do the jobs.

BTW, I wouldn't rush out and get a road bike with disc brakes right now, since you'll be limited in future wheel choice. The industry is going with boost spacing and dropper seatposts for road bikes in the next couple of years...;)

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"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
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Dropper post? LOL

Frankly, I still don't see the point on a mountain bike! Although, my riding on mountain bike is cross country, so not necessary. I recall when 29er bikes came out. Well, fast forward and I sold all of my 26" wheel bikes, despite how cool they were. Now, I feel like I am going to clean house on my rim brake road stuff! UGH!

I do have a Specialized Crux that is disc. I never liked it, cuz they were cable actuated brakes. I only have 20 miles in on the hydro Sram Red brakes I just put on it and they seem nice, but they are breaking in. Not a good judge yet. I suppose I am torn because I don't see the point of having the Crux either if I had a disc Cervelo C3 as an example. That would take the place of my road bike and my cross bike! I should add that my cross bike is really used as an adventure bike and I don't race cross. ;)

If I was getting a road bike, I'd definitely get disc brakes. Just ride a mountain bike with and without and the difference is astounding. I'm not in the market for a tri bike, so I haven't given it that much thought yet.

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I've had cable disc (TRP Spyre) on my Exploro, as well as hydro disc (Sram Red). The hydro disc is way better in every way other than maybe the initial installation/adjustment (the Spyres are real easy to eliminate rub).

Two disc complaints:
pads wear out WAY faster than rim brake pads
noise - the centerline rotors are a lot louder than rim brakes. My old XTR ice tech rotors seemed quiet though

My road bikes are still rim brake. If i was buying a new bike, I'm not sure what I'd buy. Rim brakes have always given me enough stopping power, except with Rovals in the rain. Zipps in the rain seemed ok, but Rovals are not. I live in a place that is relatively flat, so I'm not going to overcook brakes no matter what I'm running. I personally don't see a big benefit for me in disc on a road bike, given where I live and the races I do. To me, it wouldn't be worth having to replace all my training and race wheels just to have disc. I'm not like the other users here who got disc on one bike and hated rim brakes on their other bikes after. I'm also not a disc hater, just indifferent.

How big of a tire can you fit on the C3? Crux I can run 40’s which are great for some rougher gravel/trail rides.

First off the Roubaix only comes with disc option so you have no choice. I bought one a few months ago with the new R8000 series Ultegra Di2 group. The brakes are really good. My only bitch is they don't spec Ultegra rotors but SLX rotors. They definitely perform better but i have experienced some screaching on long descents. I think moving to organic pads will help as they come with sintered.

From my perspective if you are looking for endurace type bike the must haves are: disc brakes, thru axels and ability to run at least size 30mm tires. Tons of great options out there. I got the Expert Di2 model and upgraded to CL50 carbon wheels and carbon bars. So far, so good...

For a Specialized Roubiax the flat mount disc brakes are very good and I would elect for them over rim for this bike and yes I have one. I have owned >5 Roubaix's over the years (all rim) and built another 15 more or so, IMO the latest edition (future shock, frame changes..) actually performs appreciably better than the older versions within the context of the expectation of this bike category.

You put a set of Conti 25's or even 28's and a Cobb saddle and you will not find much more comfort, yet still hang with your local group rides. The bike on long routes of chip seal is noticeably better on hands/neck...

I will also differ from the other poster regarding Cervelo C3-5 compared to Roubaix. Endurance road the Roubiax wins hands down. They really are not the same category as the C3/5 is really a tweener.

I recently bought the Cervelo R5 Disc and absolutely love it. Kind of bummed I bought a non disc brake Tri bike in 2015.Otherwise I would certainly intend on buying a disc equipped tri bike soon.

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Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do.

[/quote]How big of a tire can you fit on the C3? Crux I can run 40’s which are great for some rougher gravel/trail rides.[/quote]
I believe 32c on the C3

I have 36c on my Crux right now

My next bike will definitely have disc brakes... The sooner bike manufacturers get on board, the sooner wheel manufactures will also...

One fast descent in shitty wet cold rain and crappy visibility convinced me of that... Thanks St George '16...