Decided maybe I will get a newer bike and I was looking at a Specialized Roubaix. Apparently the bike comes with disc brakes and I’m nor even sure the newest model has an option for traditional caliper brakes.
What’s your opinion?
Are disc brakes the new norm?
Or, should I find an older model with regular brakes?
I’ll take
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.
stopping on a rainy decent will be much more safe than on rimbrakes.
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.
You are contradicting yourself.
stopping on a rainy decent will be much more safe than on rimbrakes.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
stopping on a rainy decent will be much more safe than on rimbrakes.
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.
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.
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…
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…
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.