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Disc brakes on road bike

  • 10-10-2014 10:23am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 942 ✭✭✭


    Does anyone use mechanical disc brakes? I think there was a thread on this at some point, but cannot find a recent one. I'm considering a Genesis steel bike with mechanical discs. But I've heard various things about them. Reviews online suggest the latest Hayes Expert ones aren't bad. Not as good as Avid, but nonetheless better than before. But are they still ****e in comparison with rim brakes? Boardsie experiences would be appreciated.
    Also, it looks like hydraulic disc brakes may start trickling through to mid range bikes next year. Has anyone heard reports on these. I think there were big recalls last year for the initial SRAM offering.
    Maybe if I got mechanical, it could be possible to simply upgrade these to hydraulic in due course?


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,520 ✭✭✭Alek


    I have Genesis Croix De Fer with mechanical TRP Spyre on the back and hydraulic (with mechanical actuation) TRP HY/RD on the front. They're adequate, but not great - the modulation is superb, but they lack the ability to stop really hard for panic situations. I had that on my previous bike with long-reach road calipers and Kool Stop pads.

    Tried Spyre on the front but found it not strong enough, also required contstant adjustments. The main benefit of HY/RD is that you "set it and forget", as they are self-adjusting, power gain is marginal.

    There is good article on the benefit of disc brakes, in short - its not about power, but rather control:

    http://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/bikes-and-gear-features/big-squeeze-road-disc-brakes


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    I have an On-One Pompetamine with Avid BB7 Road mechanical discs and Versa 11sp levers (for the hub gears). It lives in the shed but I did use it for one winter.

    The brakes are very powerful once bedded in.

    The main issue is free float on the levers - the lever moves almost to the bar when braking. It's difficult to dial this out without getting brake rub, possibly because the BB7 caliper is single-actuated - only one pad moves.

    I am using shockingly expensive cable outers so that's not the problem.

    I am likely buying a fully hydraulic/electronic bike this winter, probably a Focus Cayo Disc.

    Shimano hydro levers have free float adjustment but apparently it doesn't do much, and there are reports that the levers rattle due to the lack of tension provided by a cable system.

    I don't trust SRAM to get all this right either, and their hoods are ridiculously big so I'm sticking with Shimano regardless.

    There are also reportedly some issues with chainline on 135mm disc setups, which Trek have addressed with a specific hub design.

    This is an article on 135mm spacing and chainline which I haven't read yet:

    http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/11/28/tech-breakdown-how-135mm-rear-hub-spacing-affects-road-bike-chainline-shifting/

    My prediction is that for the foreseeable future mechanical setups will be crap and hydro ones will be expensive, and both will be heavy. The Bianchi CV disc is well over a kg heavier than its rim-braked counterpart, mostly in the wheels I'd guess.

    After decades of banging on about the virtues of light wheels the cycling press has apparently forgotten about this issue when reviewing road disc bikes.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    FWIW some of my previous ramblings on the subject are in the ultimate commuter bike thread...

    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056973000

    ...including rambling about through axles.

    My shortlist of bikes with both through-axles and hydro discs is currently:

    - Focus Cayo Disc
    - Storck Aernario
    - KTM Revelator Sky

    None of these are with an asses roar of being cheap.

    There are some other bikes which may have both but I'm not sure about:

    - Trek Domane Disc
    - Scott Solace Disc
    - Rose Xeon CDX
    - Salsa Colossal Ti


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    Here is a quote about chainline w.r.t the Spesh Tarmac Disc.

    "The Tarmac Disc is one of the few race-ready bikes designed with disc brakes. It has the same short chainstays as the regular Tarmac and uses a specially designed hub that places the freehub further inboard to resolve the chainline issues that can occur with a wider axle and short chainstays - which is why most disc road bikes feature longer chainstays".

    I think it came from here:

    http://road.cc/content/feature/126901-20-hottest-disc-road-bikes


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 942 ✭✭✭outfox


    Lumen, will your proposed purchase be fully hydraulic from levers to discs? Also, is a fully hydraulic set up possible only with Di2? Or have the manufacturers found a way to combine full hydraulic with cable operated STI shifters?
    Forgive all the questions. Why spend time researching online, when you can get il-Lumen-ated on the boards?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,520 ✭✭✭Alek


    The new 105 groupset (5800, 11sp) offers hydraulic brakes AFAIK.
    Or have the manufacturers found a way to combine full hydraulic with cable operated STI shifters?

    This is the one I have - TRP HY/RD works this way. The cable on the front is very short and I'm using compressionless housing (expensive!), so it has good feeling to it. With normal housing it used to feel like squeezing a sponge, especially on the back (long cable).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    outfox wrote: »
    Lumen, will your proposed purchase be fully hydraulic from levers to discs?
    Yes.
    outfox wrote: »
    Also, is a fully hydraulic set up possible only with Di2? Or have the manufacturers found a way to combine full hydraulic with cable operated STI shifters?

    There are two hydraulic-compatible Shimano levers:

    785: Di2
    685: 11sp mechanical shifting

    Confusingly the 785 was out first.

    I would prefer hydro-Di2 because that means I never have to change cables.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,538 ✭✭✭nak


    Lumen wrote: »
    Yes.



    There are two hydraulic-compatible Shimano levers:

    785: Di2
    685: 11sp mechanical shifting

    Confusingly the 785 was out first.

    I would prefer hydro-Di2 because that means I never have to change cables.

    Hydraulic levers are expensive - think the Shimano 685s are around €300 and the SRAM red ones are €500. Wouldn't want to break them that's for sure.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    To help answer another question you haven't asked: aero. :)

    http://www.bicycles.net.au/2014/04/rare-insight-wheelset-design-swiss-side-hadron/
    Swiss Side wrote:
    Our goal for the Hadron was clear… To produce the world’s most aerodynamic efficient wheel set. At the same time we were well aware of the introduction of disc brakes to the road bike market. So as part of the Hadron aerodynamic development investigations, both in CFD as well as in the windtunnel, we evaluated brake disc wheel designs, even if we were sure they would be inherently draggy. The aerodynamic drag penalty of the larger hub required for the disc brake, together with a 130mm brake disc was confirmed to be in the order of 10%-15% across the yaw range which is quite significant. Therefore for this Hadron wheel, a disc brake configuration was ruled out. However we are currently working on a Gotthard Disc wheel model right now and we will definitely look at producing a Hadron Disc in the future.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 942 ✭✭✭outfox


    Cognitive load approaching tolerable limits.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    Lumen wrote: »
    There are also reportedly some issues with chainline on 135mm disc setups, which Trek have addressed with a specific hub design.

    This is an article on 135mm spacing and chainline which I haven't read yet:

    http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/11/28/tech-breakdown-how-135mm-rear-hub-spacing-affects-road-bike-chainline-shifting/

    More on this issue.

    http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-specialized-s-works-tarmac-di2-disc-15-48977/
    Adding discs to road bikes has forced engineers to negotiate how adding width at the hub — up to 135mm from the standard road 130mm — affects the rear triangle, the drivetrain and the overall performance.

    On a race bike with short chainstays, simply widening the hub would cause shifting issues to the point that Shimano and SRAM recommend chainstays of at least 420mm.

    ...
    In our experience, [putting regular wheels on] also meant that you couldn’t cross-chain in the 36/11 or 22 without the chain snagging on the backside of the big ring.
    I don't understand what the "or 22" means.

    The 2015 Focus Cayo Disc has 415mm chainstays (7mm longer than the rim braked Cayo).

    http://www.focus-bikes.com/gb/en/bikes/2015/road/e-29r/cayo-30-disc.html#chapter-3

    Longer chainstays mean less fun handling, millimetres count.

    The Evoke Disc has 409mm chainstays.
    http://www.enigmabikes.com/collections/road/products/evoke-disc

    I might ask Enigma whether they have issues with chainline.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,317 ✭✭✭✭Raam


    Lumen wrote: »
    I don't understand what the "or 22" means.

    22 gears maybe?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,193 ✭✭✭Fian


    I have mechanical Disc brakes on my commuter. They are pretty cheap ones, not avid, they came as standard on the bike which is a Trek Valencia. Just looked them up: Shimano M416 Mechanical Disc brakes.

    I prefer them to the Tiagra rim brakes on my road bike. Especially in the rain, they are great for a commuter.

    I insisted each of my two older sons got disc brakes on their bikes. One has mechanical which are pretty good. Another has hydraulic which are much better, lovely brakes.

    When I eventually buy a decent road bike I will definitely go for hydraulic discs, its just a much more confidence inspiring braking system.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    Raam wrote: »
    22 gears maybe?
    An obvious solution to the chainline problem is to use a 9 or 10 speed block with 11sp sprockets and spacing.

    It feels like several different sorts of stupid are overlapping here.

    Anyway the cheapest Tarmac Disc (with hydro brakes and mechanical shifting) is almost €6k which is a bit spendy for a commuter bike.

    http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/tarmac-pro-disc-race/33250/15tarmac


  • Registered Users Posts: 154 ✭✭del_boy13


    Raam wrote: »
    22 gears maybe?

    When I read this I thought it referred to the granny ring but thats a 28 :confused:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,833 ✭✭✭niceonetom


    Lumen wrote: »
    I don't understand what the "or 22" means.

    In that context it sort of looks like they're verbing "22"... I guess it's synonymous with "crosschain" but doesn't yet have the stigma of being what idiots do.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 908 ✭✭✭coastwatch


    Lumen wrote: »
    I don't understand what the "or 22" means.

    Typo? 12 maybe?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    BUYER’S GUIDE: 16 OF THE BEST DISC ROAD BIKES FOR 2015
    http://www.bikesoup.com/magazine/buyers-guide-best-disc-road-bikes-2015/


  • Registered Users Posts: 532 ✭✭✭dfdream


    One question lads.

    Was changing my bike a few months back and got a Giant defy 1 composite 2014 but was going to wait for 2015 model except wasn't keen on disc brakes.
    Reason being I always had to change stock wheels on previous bikes and couldn't find any selection of disc based road wheelsets from likes of Mavic, fulcrum etc.

    Anyone seen selections of disc wheelsets for road bikes...
    Lumen wrote: »
    BUYER’S GUIDE: 16 OF THE BEST DISC ROAD BIKES FOR 2015
    http://www.bikesoup.com/magazine/buyers-guide-best-disc-road-bikes-2015/


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 942 ✭✭✭outfox


    What advantages do thru-axles offer? I've never seen one.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,317 ✭✭✭✭Raam


    outfox wrote: »
    What advantages do thru-axles offer? I've never seen one.

    The bike industry gets people to spend more money on new stuff.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    outfox wrote: »
    What advantages do thru-axles offer? I've never seen one.
    Unarguably better rotor alignment. Possibly less rotor rub under load due to stiffer fork.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,520 ✭✭✭Alek


    better rotor alignment.

    Are there any issues with aligning rotors on QR hubs?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,833 ✭✭✭niceonetom


    What a mess.

    I'm adding 'caliper brakes' to my list of things they can take from my cold, dead hands. They'll go right after '68mm BSA bottom-brackets' and before 'actual seatposts'.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 942 ✭✭✭outfox


    Alek wrote: »
    Are there any issues with aligning rotors on QR hubs?

    I have an MTB with disc brakes, and (since last Sat) a road bike with disc (thanks BTW to those who posted advice over the past few weeks re my various queries). When I take a wheel off either of them, it seems to take maybe 2-3 goes to get the wheel perfectly lined up with the rotor when I put it back on. Even with the new bike. If thru-axles eliminate this messing around, I'm all for them.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭HivemindXX


    I have hydraulic discs on my MTB and they are great when they work which is almost all the time. There are two drawbacks which spring to mind though. First is that there must be a hundred different kinds of pads which are not compatible with each other, basically I can't just go in to a shop and buy pads, I need to order them online. Second is that the one time the line sprang a leak it was a nightmare to fix, a snapped break cable is far far easier to fix. Luckily the hydraulic lines seem to last longer than cables.

    Are either or both of those issues still a problem for the new road disc break systems? The MTB ones I have a pretty old so maybe things have improved since then.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 942 ✭✭✭outfox


    The cable actuated hydraulic on road bikes wont have the line leak issue that you mention. Its probably their only advantage over full hydraulic.
    I haven't bought pads yet, so cannot answer your other query.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    My new supercommuter arrived last night, haven't ridden it yet except round the estate.

    It's a Cannondale Synapse Ultegra Disc 2015 with an Ultegra Di2 transplant. There is a factory Di2 version but it doesn't match my club kit so I had this one built up by Epic Cycles in the UK who got stock in December and I trusted not to screw it up.

    It weighs 8.5kg before pedals and cages which is OK for its intended purpose.

    Reasoning for this specific purchase...

    I wanted through-axles but there isn't enough choice in the market yet when accounting for other preferences. Most of the road disc bikes have endurance geometry, and typically have very short top tubes and ridiculously tall head tubes, and/or slack angles. This one isn't too bad in that respect, it's clearly not a race bike but seems to fit me OK.

    One advantages of QR skewers is that I can fit my existing dynohub wheel.

    I chose Di2 for less frequent maintenance and hydraulic discs for consistent braking in all conditions. The discs should make wet cycling in heavy traffic safer-for-a-given-amount-of-stupidity with shorter reaction times possible (don't need to clear water from the rims).

    Internal cable routing makes sense with Di2 and hydraulics as the wires and hoses don't need to be changed routinely, and the lack of internal routing put me off bikes like the Genesis Equilibrium Disc Ti that have cables hanging off the frame.

    The brakes are clearly much better than cable discs, though there's still much more lever travel than rim brakes the free stroke isn't too bad. I'd still take rim brakes every time in the dry.

    It doesn't have any fittings for mudguards - neither the fork crown nor seatstay bridge are drilled, so I might get an ass saver. My winter boots have made a front guard unnecessary.

    I'm not fussed about carbon fibre but in this build it keeps the weight down a bit - titanium would be another half kilo or so.

    IMO disc brakes on road bikes are still hard to justify. On a recreational bike e.g. weekend/sportive bike there shouldn't be any need to brake hard and fast in the wet. For the same money you could get a rim braked bike that's easier to maintain and at least a kilo lighter.

    But this isn't a recreational bike, it's fast urban transport. Ultimate MAMIL commuter, if you prefer.

    Anyway here it is. The steerer needs a chop when I've ridden it a bit and the cages will change. I might get some fancier wheels when my credit card has cooled down.

    20150117_120017.jpg

    Other bikes I considered:

    - Focus Cayo (boring paint job, not available yet)
    - Cannondale CAAD10 (SRAM only)
    - Stoemper Darrell (availability? price? weight?)
    - Specialized Tarmac Pro Disc Race (too expensive)
    - Bianchi INFINITO CV Disc (too expensive)
    - BMC Granfondo GF01 (even uglier than the Synapse)
    - Giant Defy (too compact-looking)
    - KTM Revelator Sky (odd geometry)
    - Storck Aernario Disc (wasn't confident about sizing, 399mm chainstays a bit of an unknown, lack of availability of Ui2 version)
    - Rose Xeon (C)DX (too endurancy, bit ugly)
    - Simplon INISSIO GRANFONDO (geometry too CXey)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 369 ✭✭kingoffifa


    lovely bike lumen. i'd say you'll have great craic on it.

    don't rush away from the mavic wheels anyways. i got them before christmas and they made a world of difference to the previous set.

    perfect for commuting i found. they have taken loads of commute abuse and handled it well

    and for the sake of the thread, i have three bikes, all commuter quality. i am grabbing my disc brake boardman cyclocross everytime now with the new wheels.

    its is cable disc brakes on sram levers, with jagwire cables and outers. i found the brakes awful until i changed the cables and took off the granny levers. so, i think the granny levers were at fault cause the previous cables were also jagwire.

    i upgraded the front brake to a trp spyre brake from the avid bb5 it came with. again - a world of difference.

    Commute bike? disc brake every time - rain doesnt make me nervous anymore


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,938 ✭✭✭fat bloke


    Woah ho. Just google that for pricing...that's a spicy a-meatball! I'd personally find it hard to sell 8.5kg to myself for the outlay.

    The finished product is a very pretty package though. Very good looking bike. Love the wheels. Is that what all 2015 aksiums are looking like?

    Bikeradar: "One of the best all round bikes ever created"!!
    High praise!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    fat bloke wrote: »
    Woah ho. Just google that for pricing...that's a spicy a-meatball! I'd personally find it hard to sell 8.5kg to myself for the outlay.
    I'm employing the Chewbacca Defence on this one.

    I'm not really sure where the weight comes from, bits here and there I guess.

    It's not the hi-mod version of the frame (that one comes with DA Di2 and is €8.5k in CSS) and the Synapse is marketed as a non-race bike so I'm guessing the frameset isn't particularly light.

    Standard rim-braked Ui2 is about 2600g (about the same as 105, 600g more than DA), but the Cannondale Hollowgram crankset is supposed to be about 530g, about 150g lighter than Ultegra. So that's perhaps ~500g penalty for Cannondale Ui2 over the lightest mechanical DA.

    On my kitchen scales the front wheel with skewer, rotor, standard tubes and 28mm Yksion Comp tyre is 1380g, the rear with 11-32 cassette is 1860g. That's 3240g for the lot.

    There are a few heavy things in that wheel system - boggo skewers and the cassette is 292g - but the 28mm Yksion tyres are only ~240g compared to 270g for the GP4000SII 28c I'll be putting on.

    So wheel system and groupset alone probably comes to about 5.7kg, which is what a right-thinking person with a fat wallet aims to achieve for a whole bike.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,831 ✭✭✭ROK ON


    Lumen

    Nice frame. You can get matching overstocks at Rapha - the club should bulk buy them to match kit and bikes.
    Questions:
    Are those tyres 28s? They look a bit fat. Yksion isn't a bad tyre at all. Decent grip in wet and I have had only one puncture in four months on them.

    Rear cassette - again range looks very large - is the bike only a commuter or are you just giving yourself options.

    Finally what happened to the frankenbike?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    ROK ON wrote: »
    Are those tyres 28s? They look a bit fat. Yksion isn't a bad tyre at all. Decent grip in wet and I have had only one puncture in four months on them.
    That's good to hear. Yeah, they're 28mm Yksions. I've just stuck a 28mm GP4000SII on the front as I prefer things let go at the back first.
    ROK ON wrote: »
    Rear cassette - again range looks very large - is the bike only a commuter or are you just giving yourself options.
    11-32 is what it came with, which is ridiculous gearing with a compact. Not sure I can be bothered to change it but will see what the gappiness is like. It's mostly a commuter but I might use it for grotty weekend rides to save the nice bikes (Enigma are building me a new frame FOC after the last one cracked!).


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,830 ✭✭✭doozerie


    That's a lovely bike Lumen, I even like the paint job (even though it would clash horribly with my club colours!). I was looking for an audax bike for my wife a few months back and I stumbled across the Synapse Disc. I've never been a Cannondale fan, for no particular reason, but the Synapse seemed on paper to be a good quality bike at a good price. I was looking at the stock (aluminium) builds, I might have got one if it wasn't for the fact that they were as rare as hen's teeth in the shops at the time - I wasn't convinced that an aluminium frame would be best for audax mind you, but that's very subjective at best and I read various reviews which raved about the comfort of the Synapse over long distance. I've got some lingering Synapse envy ever since, I'd be interested to hear how you get on with yours.

    Some thoughts on road disc brakes:

    * I've been using a Kona Rove for over a year now as a commute bike. I've moaned about the Rove on here before, I'd recommend it to no-one, but it is fitted with Hayes CX-Expert 160mm discs and these have been fine. I've never used discs before mind you so I've nothing to compare against.
    When they are working well they are comparable to well-tuned v-brakes, when they are not working so well they are a little less effective than poorly-tuned v-brakes. I'm using stock cables (SRAM Apex) which is definitely a factor, stock sintered Hayes pads, and Apex levers whose shape I don't like. Actually those Apex levers are becoming a real problem, they just don't suit my hands and I think they are responsible for a constant feeling of strained ligaments in the fingers of both hands. I'm going to adjust their reach to see if that helps, but more generally this bike is my first exposure to SRAM and will probably be my last, give me Campag any day and Shimano as my next choice.
    In an ideal world I'd buy a Campag Chorus 2015 groupset for my winter bike and swap its existing Chorus 9sp groupset onto the Rove. I've no idea though whether the old Chorus levers would be compatible with disc brakes, must look into that.

    * I've seen it suggested that using SwissStop organic pads in the Hayes CX-Expert calipers transforms them into fantastic brakes. Seems a bit optimistic based on my experiences to date but I'll get to find out soon as my sintered pads might be in need of replacing - I don't maintain my Rove very well, we don't like each other much, so stuff gets changed on it grudgingly.

    * I went the self-build route for my wife's audax bike. It has an Ultegra 6800 groupset and I had trouble finding an 11sp rear disc hub for it. At the time all I could find was a Chris King (lovely, but very pricey) or a Novatec. I went with the Novatec. The Novatec seems like decent quality in the hand, it hasn't seen any use yet (I've not finished the complete bike build yet, it's a wonder I'm not divorced!) so can't say for sure whether it lives up to the promise. It built into a wheel well though, using an Open Pro 32h rim - in contrast to the Son 28 Disc front hub which was a right pain to build onto an Open Pro.

    * Over time I've been well and truly sold on the benefits of *good* QR skewers. The wheels on my Rove are rubbish and their stock skewers are rubbish too. I've had minor issues with crap skewers on my road bikes, the same kind of problems are more significant on my Rove. With the very odd exception I think that skewers with an external cam are a bad choice and particularly bad with disk wheels where a slight shift of the wheel is more problematic.
    I already have replacement (internal cam) Mavic and Shimano XT skewers to put onto the Rove wheels, apathy and an allergy to the bike have prevented me from actually swapping over to them. I'm planning on replacing the wheels anyway, though my hopes that living with the issues with the rubbish wheels will motivate me to build the new wheels have proved unfounded so far - that bike brings out the worst of my apathy :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    doozerie wrote: »
    ...it is fitted with Hayes CX-Expert 160mm discs and these have been fine...When they are working well they are comparable to well-tuned v-brakes, when they are not working so well they are a little less effective than poorly-tuned v-brakes. I'm using stock cables (SRAM Apex) which is definitely a factor, stock sintered Hayes pads

    This is also my experience with cable discs (BB7) on my On One tank bike. They're tolerable when set up perfectly (at least on the front), but plain nasty if badly adjusted. I tried a few compressionless housings before settling on full length Nokons, which were expensive but much improved feel at the back.
    doozerie wrote: »
    I think that skewers with an external cam are a bad choice and particularly bad with disk wheels where a slight shift of the wheel is more problematic.

    On the Synapse the front ting'ed once on each rotation until I fettled the skewer. I tried doing this with the bike the right way up, failed to eliminate the ting, so turned it upside down and let gravity align the wheel. That worked but made me hate myself. I vaguely remember hearing that turning hydraulics upside down is a bad idea (fresh Google brings up this).

    FWIW I went round CSS yesterday playing with a few hydro brake levers (tragic pastime) and mine seemed to be set up better than the factory builds. I don't know whether there's some sort of pre-delivery tune up necessary on these systems.


  • Registered Users Posts: 149 ✭✭gambeta_fc


    Best of luck with the new bike Lumen, well wear.

    I'm very close to pushing the button on the standard Ultegra disc build. Local bike shop are going to have one in next weekend for me to have a look at.

    Main concern as mentioned above is the 8.4kg weight for the outlay. Reviews of the bike have been very good though and as one of them put it the 700g penalty over the rim brake version is roughly the same as a 750ml water bottle. The Aksium wheels are also listed as 1965g, I wouldn't be for changing them out but it's surely going to be an option to drop a significant chunk there down the line. I think the current Kysrium model are nearer the 1500g mark.

    I'm trying not to get too hung up on weight but currently changing my mind about every half hour, looking forward to seeing the bike in the flesh then it's decision time.

    I'd be very interested to hear your opinion if you get a chance to have a longer spin.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,141 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    After adding pedals, cages, lights and a dynamo wheel it's now at 9.75kg :eek:, but at least I can charge the Di2 from the USB port while I ride. :pac:


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