Why not have dual front discs?

[TooManyBikes]

Simply not needed. Even well set up Canti's nevermind discs can send you over the bars to A&E, I know this from experience and still have the collar bone bump from a shoulder joint separation.

[jimster99]

Why stop at double discs? Triple, quadruple or even quintuple disc brakes would be far more powerful and capable of easily flipping you right over the handlebars with the tiniest nudge of the lever.

[Bmblbzzz]

To a relatively casual observer, it seems the trend in motorcycle disc brakes now is to have one, large disc. Two discs up front was the thing a couple of decades ago.

[jimlews]

Why not have a single disc mounted around the centre line of the front hub ?

Oh, yes. It's called a rim brake.

[PH]

If you look at many sports motorcycles at the larger engine size spectrum... you'll see that they have dual front disc brakes...

Why would you compare a bicycle to a larger engine sports motorcycle when a more realistic comparison would be a moped?

[RickH]

You can always got the other way & do away with the 2nd fork leg instead!

(Lefty Oliver Gravel fork)

As done by Cannondale

[peetee]

Why not have a motorbike?

[cycle tramp]

So, way back in 2024 i made a suggestion that perhaps we should consider using disc brakes on either side of the front wheel...
..not to increase braking performance, but rather to reduce the rate of pad and disc wear and to spread the braking load over both forks and to help against any brake fade...

..everyone said it was a silly idea...

Apart from them... you can now have a bicycle with twin discs its all the braking you'll ever need

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ggMO-AV5RpE

#smugface

[rogerzilla]

the main reason ( apart from fashion) motorcycles have two front discs is that the forks are often not stiff enough in torsion. It becomes rather difficult to steer a bike if the fork twists. I'm not sure if this is a real problem on bicycles or not.

My limited experience of a large Hope front disc brake on a Project Two fork was that yes, there is twist during braking, and the rider has to counter it.

[Tigerbiten]

I've twin front discs and I've had them for over 20 years now.
But I do ride a recumbent tadpole trike with two front wheels.
You just need the right machine to need them ...

[rareposter]

Apart from them... you can now have a bicycle with twin discs its all the braking you'll ever need

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ggMO-AV5RpE

#smugface

I'd have a bit more time for that video if his "modification" allowed him to go and ride double black grade trails that even Danny MacAskill would think twice about but he's pootling about the woods on the sort of trails I'd ride on my gravel bike... But slightly slower.

[cycle tramp]

...beyond the technology itself i feel that the video has shown it being misapplied - and where it may be of more use is both on cargo bikes and pedal-cabs where the concerns of heat disapation and pad/disc life are of more concern.

..however the technology is now here, and with it comes the most wonderful of things a hub which has a disc mount at either end - suddenly the idea of bikes with mid mounted transmissions takes a step forward..

[Jules59]

I always assumed that double disks on motorbikes were used to double the cooling area for the same amount of braking which keeps the disks cooler and in turn reduces the chances of brake fade - not a nice thing to have on a fast motorbike I would have thought.

[GideonReade]

I always assumed that double disks on motorbikes was used to double the cooling area for the same amount of braking which keeps the disks cooler and in turn reduces the chances of brake fade - not a nice thing to have on a fast motorbike I would have thought.

I too think that's probably the main reason. 450Kg of 150bhp touring motorcycle trying to sustain high speeds down a hairpin-strewn alp is gonna generate a lot of heat... wear... boiled DOT fluid.

Racing motorcycles (and, ahem, their riders) are lighter but full moto GP probably still 270Kg or so, and they'll really cook their front brakes, using them hard before each bend from very high speeds (E=mc^2 and all that). And of course, racing is the fount of consumer desire.

Which would suggest looking at the racing cycle industry - would there be a net gain in racing speed from dual disks?

[fatmac]

Hmm, I've used just about every type of brake that's been fitted to cycles, & my conclusion is that the V-Brake is the best general purpose cycle brake....