Disc Brakes On A Tourer

[andymiller]

I've heard lots of people on STW whinging about lots of things to do with disc brakes, but I've never heard people complaining about discs warping.

[andrew_s]

I went on an Alpine tour with a friend on a disc-equipped 26" wheel touring bike, loaded with camping gear. Major descents were Rousset, Grimone, Ornon, (Alpe d'Huez unladen), Croix-de-fer, Galibier/Lauteret, Izoard, Vars and Bonette.

His descending style was plummet and stop (nearly), and there was no problem with the discs overheating. I'm not sure, but I think the brakes were Hope.
He did however have to spend a day in Briancon sourcing a new set of forks after the disc brake ejected the front wheel (no lawyer lips).

[Phil_Lee]

That seems like a good argument for mounting the calliper in front of the forks, rather than behind.
That way the brake application pushes the wheel into the dropout.

[CJ]

I went on an Alpine tour with a friend on a disc-equipped 26" wheel touring bike ... His descending style was plummet and stop (nearly), and there was no problem with the discs overheating.

Plummet and stop minimises brake heating in more ways than one, since it maximises aerodynamic drag and cooling. It is the best way to descend, whatever sort of brake you have.

There's two sorts of rider who want discs on the road: those who want the highest tech befitting their high cycling skills and self image, and those from the opposite end of the skill spectrum who want a technological fix for their fear of losing control. The first group are not much problem, they'll go fast enough to make the wind do most of the braking. But we've all met riders who creep down hills with their brakes on the whole time, who wear out pads and rims much faster than us, with consequent equipment failures that make them all the more cautious.

It's the cautious descenders I worry about. To see if discs are safe for those riders I'd want to test them by riding down a 1000m descent with brakes on the whole way. We all know one shouldn't, but's what those riders will do. We know what happens when they do it on rim brakes. They have problems but they're managable. Boiled brake fluid isn't as easy to replace at the roadside and with something like 100 different designs of disc pads out there (against three designs of rim brake block) replacements can be hard to find.

[Bren]

That seems like a good argument for mounting the calliper in front of the forks, rather than behind.
That way the brake application pushes the wheel into the dropout.

I think Cotic do that on the Roadrat.

[Ambermile]

There's two sorts of rider who want discs on the road: those who want the highest tech befitting their high cycling skills and self image, and those from the opposite end of the skill spectrum who want a technological fix for their fear of losing control.

There *is* a third you know... the ones that bought new forks without checking for V-brake compatibility

Arthur