Why have disc brakes become so popular?

[Mick F]

Disc brakes were never fitted to mainstream cars until the 60's/70's when they "suddenly" became standard. I wonder whether that was linked to improvements in tyres - no point locking the wheels if the tyres won't grip.

Being a Mini aficionado, I know full well when they became used.
Minis first had them with the Cooper S and they were the smallest diameter discs that existed. Monte Carlo Rally and all that eh?

Having driven Minis since the early 70s and I've had loads of them ................ latterly I had a 1400cc 100bhp engine in one.
I couldn't afford the discs for it so fitted alu ventilated drums on the front. Not that good at all but much better than the original cast iron ones.

Driving fast 70mph+ and braking for a roundabout, even ventilated drums would fade.
Doing the same with the same car at the same speed (when I could eventually get round to fitting discs) was very very different indeed.

[Brucey]

I've had minis with and without drums, alifins, discs and I agree; with drum brakes (even improved drum brakes) the usual result was that one hard stop from 70mph was enough to cause them to fade, so that towards the end of the stop, you weren't really slowing down any more, if you see what I mean....

cheers

[cyclop]

My early mtb days were spent in the lakes where I lived and worked.On wet days,the predominantly slate trails I would ride acted as grinding paste,wearing rims out v.quickly.Worse still was the constant fiddling with the cantis to try and get them properly adjusted so for me, discs were an absolute godsend on any mtb .Never had any problem with rim braking on the road although,being retired,I tend not to do rain if possible.

[reohn2]

About 10 years ago we were looking for a winter tandem,a second tandem as we already had a Santana running V's and an Arai drag for summer riding and touring.A friend of ours had just bought a Cannondale Road tandem with BB7 cable operated discs with 203mm* rotors.We borrowed it for week.
I was sold on the ride and particularly on the brakes after one ride,so we bought one.
Wet or dry(BB7) discs have great modulation,with great predictive stopping power,easy to set up needing very little maintenance,and the pads last ages even on tandems!

I presently own three bikes with discs and have owned three others with the same(BB7) brakes.'Ive seen posts on other threads by people who've never used disc brakes claiming they're superfluous,those people just don't know what they're talking about,end of.

I don't know why it took so long for discs to become common place on bikes but I for one am glad they did


*203 rotors are waayyy too big for solos,160's are ample.

[Wanlock Dod]

I agree with the basic notion that well maintained good quality rim brakes on a racing bike used in dry conditions are adequate.

That said the real world is full of non-ideal circumstances, and sometimes also rain, and probably a bit of mud. Heavier loads, longer journeys, poorer surfaces, and more idle riders might well provide more challenging conditions for which there are better solutions.

I like the better cleanliness, consistent performance, better modulation, low maintenance, simple pad changes, better tyre clearances, lack of sensitivity to rim straightness, and lack of rim wear that disc brakes afford me over rim brakes.

[reohn2]

I forgot to mention that the bike also stays cleaner longer in wet and mucky winter conditions

[horizon]

I don't know why it took so long for discs to become common place on bikes but I for one am glad they did

But I now do (thanks to the replies above).

1. Discs would have been heavy and clunky and for most uses weren't really necessary. Even Shimano couldn't produce a good one (thanks for that Brucey).
2. MTBing drove a small company (http://www.hopetech.com/history/the-nineties/) to try to do it better. I thought it needed the stimulus of a new market but actually the stimulus was better brakes for two MTB enthusiasts who ran an engineering company.
3. Once Hope was out there, the floodgates were opened (though I don't know how many companies do produce disc brakes). A new market was born.
4. With intense market competition normally comes rapid improvement and I'm guessing this was the case.
5. Obviously the marketing camp-followers rushed in and the rest is history.

If I've got this right, this is a British success story and quite an amazing story in its own right (at least Hope would have us believe) and one I didn't know about until I started this thread. I think it also puts disc brakes in a better light (like LEDs if you'll excuse the pun ).

I don't know whether Hope were first to market or Avid or someone else, so maybe Avid take the prize. Does anyone here know?

[100%JR]

Avid,or Avoid as they’re commonly referred to in the MTBing community have continually made THE worst and most unreliable Hydraulic brakes over the last 15 years whereas Hope have consistently made the most reliable.

[horizon]

Avid,or Avoid as they’re commonly referred to in the MTBing community have continually made THE worst and most unreliable Hydraulic brakes over the last 15 years whereas Hope have consistently made the most reliable.

Were Hope the first?

[reohn2]

Avid,or Avoid as they’re commonly referred to in the MTBing community have continually made THE worst and most unreliable Hydraulic brakes over the last 15 years ........

But the best cable disc brakes

[100%JR]

Avid,or Avoid as they’re commonly referred to in the MTBing community have continually made THE worst and most unreliable Hydraulic brakes over the last 15 years ........

But the best cable disc brakes

Apparently.
Go figure.

[reohn2]

Avid,or Avoid as they’re commonly referred to in the MTBing community have continually made THE worst and most unreliable Hydraulic brakes over the last 15 years ........

But the best cable disc brakes

Apparently.
Go figure.

I can't I've never used or owned hydro discs.

[Brucey]

Avid,or Avoid as they’re commonly referred to in the MTBing community have continually made THE worst and most unreliable Hydraulic brakes over the last 15 years whereas Hope have consistently made the most reliable.

Were Hope the first?

Sort of; they made a mechanical disc brake first of all and later turned to hydraulics. The 'Formula' hydraulic disc brake came just before the hope hydraulic one, but after the Hope mechanical one.
http://www.rideformula.com/page/our-heritage/
Formula claim 'the first disc brake for mountain bikes' but they really mean 'the first hydraulic disc brake for mountain bikes', I reckon. It actually says the latter in the text, but some idiot has subbed 'hydraulic' out in the header.

'Formula' came from a trials motorcycling background and simply scaled down their products to suit bicycles without motors. Quite a few of my chums had Formula brakes on their MTBs back in the day; for a while they made the lightest disc brakes and that went well with XC as it was when 3-4" of suspension was 'enough'.

BTW Avid hydraulic brakes are certainly not as easy to bleed as many other hydraulic brakes. Because the hoses are cut to length when the brakes are fitted on OEM bikes, and standards of factory bleeding are, uh, 'variable', plenty of people have problems from day one. By contrast most shimano hydraulics are fitted pre-bled and anyway their MTB brakes are probably the easiest to bleed of any on the market. Hope brakes are mostly fitted aftermarket and are not difficult to bleed. I think that Hope are pretty much the best DOT fluid brake, but Avids suffer the worst reputation mainly because of the way they are factory installed.

cheers

[Ontherivet77]

First time I used hydraulic disc brakes I was amazed at their stopping power. I've used V brakes, cantilevers and drum brakes over the years, but for me the best brakes are the simple caliper brakes, easy to use, good modulation and easy to maintain.

[Si]

I think that magura also merit a mention - although they weren't first with discs, they were first to produce a widely used hydraulic rim brake, thus demonstrating that hydraulics could be applied to bikes fairly reliably, and used by the average rider with little specialist knowledge.