Bike porn

^ IMO a purist would be riding a single speed with wing-nuts on their track drops to change gear.

Pro riders don't get to choose their gear (unless they buy it themselves and desticker the sh*t out of it... Hello Cav on Zipps) and top-end bikes are not prone to nostalgic fixations. Not even cycling's most esoteric brand could deny the world of an electronic groupo.

Disc brakes will prevail.

They seem to have partnered with Formula to deliver the brakes.

http://formulabrakeusa.com/

Nothing on their site mentions the setup though.

Those levers are hideous!

I'm not fully bought into disc brakes on road bikes.

I think there are advantages to the design and materials for rims, tyres and innertubes by shedding the braking surface and removing the heat (carbon rims).

But, you've moved a lot of that into the design of the forks, brake mounts, hub and spokes and spoke patterns.

Rim brakes are incredibly light and incredibly effective. Then when you look at the kind of heat that will be generated on a disc if you really are a pro rider coming off a mountain at 50mph+ and braking before corners for a good 20 minutes. Rim brakes are just so damn effective and predictable.

I do think discs will eventually win, and I'm all for pioneers solving the problems. But I can't see discs touching the pro tour for a long while yet.

Are there any UCI rules that specifically prohibit them though?

They seem to have partnered with Formula to deliver the brakes.

http://formulabrakeusa.com/

Nothing on their site mentions the setup though.

I was about to say those lever look to say 'Formula' on. Well known MTB Disc manufacture. I reckon all the Hydraulicness is contained in that lever. I can't see mechanical being turned into Hydraulic in that tiny black box under the stem. Looks way to small. I am a hydraulic design engineer. I know shit. (ish). (sometimes).

I'd love to see discs on Road bikes. I reckon the preformance they offer would just about offset the weight penalty. I reckon, coming from MTB's, Cadel Evans would lap them up. Esp on decents.

I can't see mechanical being turned into Hydraulic in that tiny black box under the stem. Looks way to small. I am a hydraulic design engineer. I know shit. (ish). (sometimes).

Looks like a electronic shift display thingie.

^ IMO a purist would be riding a single speed with wing-nuts on their track drops to change gear.

Pro riders don't get to choose their gear (unless they buy it themselves and desticker the sh*t out of it... Hello Cav on Zipps) and top-end bikes are not prone to nostalgic fixations. Not even cycling's most esoteric brand could deny the world of an electronic groupo.

Disc brakes will prevail.

Like I said pros will ride what they are given. I dont think dstickering some DA rim calipers, and writing Hope tec on them, will fool anyone ;)

I can only speak for myself. But I desend fine on carbon braking surface rims (cuz I aint racing), and when its shitty enough out, to warrant discs. I take a winter specific bike out instead (or go MTBing). I'm a firm believer in a bike for every occasion. But I cant see the need for a disc braked road bike. This, coming from someone that'd usually buy any well marketed crap.

Like I said pros will ride what they are given. I dont think dstickering some DA rim calipers, and writing Hope tec on them, will fool anyone ;)

I can only speak for myself. But I desend fine on carbon braking surface rims (cuz I aint racing), and when its shitty enough out, to warrant discs. I take a winter specific bike out instead (or go MTBing). I'm a firm believer in a bike for every occasion. But I cant see the need for a disc braked road bike. This, coming from someone that'd usually buy any well marketed crap.

I bet however many years ago people said you would never need Discs on an MTB!

I reckon a balls out, super sexy, skeletal disc brake on a Road bike would be lovely. Carbon braking surface maybe. Obviously you'd have to develop the fork to suit the braking loads. But you'd have no braking surface on the rims so they could be lighter.

Might all be an overkill though, I don't know the requirements of a road bike rim brake.

Just wait until all the pro peloton bikes have had them for a couple of years...

Once these things become ubiquitous then everyone will want them - not really going out on a limb to predict that electronic group sets and disc brakes will the 'norm' within 5 years.

Carbon braking surface maybe.

I thought that half the point of going to disc is that carbon braking surfaces are grabby and quick to overheat.

I can see the benefit though if they can make them light. Better brake feel, no overheating worries, more durable/less affected by grime and dirt, move the weight from the rim to the hub allowing the wheel to spin up easier, opportunity to flog a load more kit to the public.

The benefits of electronic shifting are fairly obvious, and it's only pricing which currently holds most back from moving to it. Modern rim brakes are great and perfectly adequate for alpine descents, they're also incredibly easy to setup and maintain. Hydraulic discs aren't from what I recall of my motorbiking days.

Yeah I'm not sure of the advantages of a carbon brake surface either.

MTB's don't have it but supercars do

one more way to introduce more 'technology' to high end road bikes and drive the cost of them up most likely

Yeah I'm not sure of the advantages of a carbon brake surface either.

MTB's don't have it but supercars do

I was pointing out that I am running the 'worse case' rim braking set-up.

I guess I'd buy a disc braked road bike. If I was in the market for a new road bike, and they were widely availible.

I'm rebuilding my commuter CX, and the first going on it, are disc brakes. Because the weather, and riding conditions, are shit up here. It'll see 80/20 % road/trail use. So I'm in to the disc brakes on the road idea. Just not on a road bike so flash, I'd only ride it during perfect days anyway.

I thought that half the point of going to disc is that carbon braking surfaces are grabby and quick to overheat.

Carbon brake discs are not the same material as carbon rims. That said, the early problems with rim brakes on carbon fibre reinforced epoxy resin rims have been solved, except maybe in the wet, and carbon brakes don't work very well in the wet or cold, that's why GP bikes used to swap to iron rotors for wet races. I don't think we'll see carbon discs on serious bikes, although metal matrix composites are a distinct possibility.

Are there any UCI rules that specifically prohibit them though?

Yes.

Which is a surprise as you'd not expect the UCI to hinder technological progress would you?

Carbon/ceramic 160mm rotors, with decent spec pads and the master cylinder inside the brake lever/hood section as the electronic shifting removes all the current gubbins.

=3 years time the standard.

I want those wheels.

dp18s from Varno look pretty similar...

https://www.lfgss.com/album.php?albumid=786&pictureid=11214

Wow
Ze bike porn I'm honoured!

dp18s from Varno look pretty similar...

http://www.lfgss.com/album.php?albumid=786&pictureid=11214

They do look a lot like these except they are 4mm deeper.

Just to add to the whole disc/rim brake debate: Don't forget the new Magura RT8 TT, which is a half way house being a hydraulic rim brake.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/magura-rt8-tt-first-look-32961/

The Atlantas are most definitely nicer, but dp18s are more readily available I guess.