Disc road bikes - your opinion
- Thread starter AyeYo
- Start date
A lot of the English builders were priced quite low. I picked up my touring Holdsworth in London for $165 (1975 dollars!). It was built to measure, equipped with low-end Campy and a mix of touring components.
Weinmann centerpulls hauled the steel bike, 40-45 pounds of gear and me down the Alps without drama.
How the hell did we ever live without disco brakes?!
Weinmann centerpulls hauled the steel bike, 40-45 pounds of gear and me down the Alps without drama.
How the hell did we ever live without disco brakes?!
When I was shopping for my first bike in the mid 70's I test rode a Holdsworth, what a beautiful bike it was, I should have bought that bike instead of the Trek TX900 because that Trek frame was not that great nor did it look as good but it was a bit cheaper, then add on top of that I was young at cycling and never heard of Holdsworth!
Hilarious rant on disc brakes I saw on Bike Snob today:
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2014/07/this-just-in-premature-holiday.html
Relevant section:
Quote: Speaking of American Awesomeness, the Great Trek Bicycle Making Company has unveiled the World's Lightest Production Bicycle in the World, and it's made right here in Jesus Land--or Waterloo, Wisconsin to be precise, which until just a few minutes ago I thought was in Canada:
Although the bike had been seen at the Criterium du Dauphiné, the Trek Émonda was officially launched just days before the Tour de France. At a claimed 690g for a painted 56cm frame, the hyperlight road machine builds up to a 4.65kg/10.25lb complete bicycle thanks in part to new Bontrager integrated components like an *** bar/stem combination and Speed Stop direct-mount brakes. Of course, Trek know a thing or two about building road bikes, having won anywhere from one (1) to nine (9) Tours de France, depending on how you look at it: 
(Wow. You know your sport's a shitshow when your list of champions looks like a hastily-revised bar band setlist.)
Nevertheless, I'm confused by this bicycle. If it's so great (US$15,749 great to be precise), where are the disc brakes and thru-axles I thought we were supposed to have now?
(Remember?)
I thought getting on a state-of-the-art road bike with hydrolic **** breaks and thew-axes was like going from a Model T you have to stop with your feet Fred Flintstone-style to a BMW 8-series luxury sports sedan coupe crossover SUV with eight vented rotors the size of manhole covers plus the $20,000 optional full all-weather electronic traction-sensing douchebag package:
(Your rim brakes.)
(Your bike on discs.)
So why then are they charging approximately US$10,000 for the bike dripping with the very latest technology, but they're charging almost US$16,000 for the bike sporting a bunch of obsolete **** all the reviewers are telling us suddenly sucks balls now? Simple: because by making the "obsolete" bike obscenely expensive and the "modern" bike merely grossly expensive, the new technology seems like a bargain, all the Freds move to disc brakes, and all Trek had to do to make it happen was whip together an ultralight Fred charios, slap a stupid price tag on it, and get it written up on a few bike blogs. That's the kind of marketing genius that makes America great.
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2014/07/this-just-in-premature-holiday.html
Relevant section:
Quote: Speaking of American Awesomeness, the Great Trek Bicycle Making Company has unveiled the World's Lightest Production Bicycle in the World, and it's made right here in Jesus Land--or Waterloo, Wisconsin to be precise, which until just a few minutes ago I thought was in Canada:
Although the bike had been seen at the Criterium du Dauphiné, the Trek Émonda was officially launched just days before the Tour de France. At a claimed 690g for a painted 56cm frame, the hyperlight road machine builds up to a 4.65kg/10.25lb complete bicycle thanks in part to new Bontrager integrated components like an *** bar/stem combination and Speed Stop direct-mount brakes. Of course, Trek know a thing or two about building road bikes, having won anywhere from one (1) to nine (9) Tours de France, depending on how you look at it: 
(Wow. You know your sport's a shitshow when your list of champions looks like a hastily-revised bar band setlist.)
Nevertheless, I'm confused by this bicycle. If it's so great (US$15,749 great to be precise), where are the disc brakes and thru-axles I thought we were supposed to have now?
(Remember?)
I thought getting on a state-of-the-art road bike with hydrolic **** breaks and thew-axes was like going from a Model T you have to stop with your feet Fred Flintstone-style to a BMW 8-series luxury sports sedan coupe crossover SUV with eight vented rotors the size of manhole covers plus the $20,000 optional full all-weather electronic traction-sensing douchebag package:
(Your rim brakes.)
(Your bike on discs.)
So why then are they charging approximately US$10,000 for the bike dripping with the very latest technology, but they're charging almost US$16,000 for the bike sporting a bunch of obsolete **** all the reviewers are telling us suddenly sucks balls now? Simple: because by making the "obsolete" bike obscenely expensive and the "modern" bike merely grossly expensive, the new technology seems like a bargain, all the Freds move to disc brakes, and all Trek had to do to make it happen was whip together an ultralight Fred charios, slap a stupid price tag on it, and get it written up on a few bike blogs. That's the kind of marketing genius that makes America great.
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-06-27T08:01:00-04:00&max-results=7
Quote:
In case you haven't noticed, road bikes with disc brakes have arrived. At this point, even an old fusspot like me realizes the change is inevitable, and I can live with it just as long as it makes life more difficult for pro tour teams and their mechanics. However, I'm only getting older and slower, so I have no interest whatsoever in the technology myself--if anything, as male osteoporosis slowly renders my bones brittle and hollow, by the time I'm in the market for a new road bike even rim brakes will be overkill and I'll probably be pricing subterranean recumbents. No, what fascinates me is the manner in which the bike companies and media are lubing us up for the insertion of road discs into our marketplace. There's a time-honored process by which they work together to convince Freds that they absolutely must have something, and this review of the Trek Domane Whatever is a perfect example of how it works:
Firstly, Freds love lurid prose that makes riding sound like a sex act, so you've got to have plenty of that: As we've experienced in the past, there's fantastic power on tap with minimal hand effort along with a positive initial bite that's far from grabby or overly abrupt. Done. In this case, Huang has successfully made braking sound like the best handjob ever. Secondly, Freds love comparisons to obsolete technology in other vehicles that are nothing like bicycles: Quite tellingly, at one point during testing we climbed back aboard another test bike with broken-in Mavic Exalith 2-treated wheels – arguably the benchmark for rim brake performance – and the difference was akin to driving a car with disc brakes versus drums. Cunningly, James Huang knows that the average Fred knows absolutely nothing about automotive braking beyond "disc=good" and "drum=bad." He also knows there's virtually no way for even the most curious Fred to perform a meaningful comparison between a car with disc brakes versus one with drum brakes, because a car with four (4) drum brakes on it is likely to be much older (or at least much different) than one with four (4) disc brakes and therefore shittier in any number of ways, including but by no means limited to braking. So unless a Fred has recently done a full disc brake conversion on a 1964 Corvair and has some solid back-to-back driving experience, it's impossible to call the reviewer on this incredibly audacious bluff. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Freds need to be frightened: Given the company's global market and various national safety guidelines, Trek officially can only officially approve the Domane Disc worldwide for use with tyres no wider than the included 25mm Bontrager treads This is simply brilliant on Trek's part. Clearly one of the unintended side-effects of putting disc brakes on road bikes is that it makes them more versatile. Therefore, by voiding Fred's warranty if he fits tires wider than 25mm, Trek can make sure he's forced to buy some kind of completely new Wide Tire Certified® bicycle should he ever be tempted to ride on gravel. (Note in particular the double use of "officially" to underscore the point.) I certainly wouldn't challenge with Trek on that front either. After all, this is the same company that, after their steerer tubes kept failing, invented the concept of the "incompatible stem" to simultaneously cover their asses and make sure Freds don't use competitors' products:
Naturally, installing a 28mm tire on your **** break-equipped Domane would be similarly irresponsible. Anyway, expect bike companies and reviewers to build on the "frightening" aspect in the coming months. I predict that, by 2016, operating a rim brake-equipped road bike will be considered so grossly irresponsible among the Fred community ("No way I'd descend behind someone with rim brakes!") that anyone attempting to do so will be shouted off the Sunday group ride.
Quote:
In case you haven't noticed, road bikes with disc brakes have arrived. At this point, even an old fusspot like me realizes the change is inevitable, and I can live with it just as long as it makes life more difficult for pro tour teams and their mechanics. However, I'm only getting older and slower, so I have no interest whatsoever in the technology myself--if anything, as male osteoporosis slowly renders my bones brittle and hollow, by the time I'm in the market for a new road bike even rim brakes will be overkill and I'll probably be pricing subterranean recumbents. No, what fascinates me is the manner in which the bike companies and media are lubing us up for the insertion of road discs into our marketplace. There's a time-honored process by which they work together to convince Freds that they absolutely must have something, and this review of the Trek Domane Whatever is a perfect example of how it works:
Firstly, Freds love lurid prose that makes riding sound like a sex act, so you've got to have plenty of that: As we've experienced in the past, there's fantastic power on tap with minimal hand effort along with a positive initial bite that's far from grabby or overly abrupt. Done. In this case, Huang has successfully made braking sound like the best handjob ever. Secondly, Freds love comparisons to obsolete technology in other vehicles that are nothing like bicycles: Quite tellingly, at one point during testing we climbed back aboard another test bike with broken-in Mavic Exalith 2-treated wheels – arguably the benchmark for rim brake performance – and the difference was akin to driving a car with disc brakes versus drums. Cunningly, James Huang knows that the average Fred knows absolutely nothing about automotive braking beyond "disc=good" and "drum=bad." He also knows there's virtually no way for even the most curious Fred to perform a meaningful comparison between a car with disc brakes versus one with drum brakes, because a car with four (4) drum brakes on it is likely to be much older (or at least much different) than one with four (4) disc brakes and therefore shittier in any number of ways, including but by no means limited to braking. So unless a Fred has recently done a full disc brake conversion on a 1964 Corvair and has some solid back-to-back driving experience, it's impossible to call the reviewer on this incredibly audacious bluff. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Freds need to be frightened: Given the company's global market and various national safety guidelines, Trek officially can only officially approve the Domane Disc worldwide for use with tyres no wider than the included 25mm Bontrager treads This is simply brilliant on Trek's part. Clearly one of the unintended side-effects of putting disc brakes on road bikes is that it makes them more versatile. Therefore, by voiding Fred's warranty if he fits tires wider than 25mm, Trek can make sure he's forced to buy some kind of completely new Wide Tire Certified® bicycle should he ever be tempted to ride on gravel. (Note in particular the double use of "officially" to underscore the point.) I certainly wouldn't challenge with Trek on that front either. After all, this is the same company that, after their steerer tubes kept failing, invented the concept of the "incompatible stem" to simultaneously cover their asses and make sure Freds don't use competitors' products: 
Naturally, installing a 28mm tire on your **** break-equipped Domane would be similarly irresponsible. Anyway, expect bike companies and reviewers to build on the "frightening" aspect in the coming months. I predict that, by 2016, operating a rim brake-equipped road bike will be considered so grossly irresponsible among the Fred community ("No way I'd descend behind someone with rim brakes!") that anyone attempting to do so will be shouted off the Sunday group ride.
"There's a time-honored process by which they work together to convince Freds that they absolutely must have something..."
Ab.
So.
Lute.
Truth.
"Secondly, Freds love comparisons to obsolete technology in other vehicles that are nothing like bicycles:"
Uh oh!
Someone's just been outed!!!!
"I predict that, by 2016, operating a rim brake-equipped road bike will be considered so grossly irresponsible among the Fred community ("No way I'd descend behind someone with rim brakes!") that anyone attempting to do so will be shouted off the Sunday group ride."
I'm sorry.
I can't hear them over the sound of my laughter.
The above article is so spot-on that I can actually picture each quote being actually spoken by members of the local cycling club. It was freaky to see a face go with each moronic rehash of the same old...same old.
Ab.
So.
Lute.
Truth.
"Secondly, Freds love comparisons to obsolete technology in other vehicles that are nothing like bicycles:"
Uh oh!
Someone's just been outed!!!!
"I predict that, by 2016, operating a rim brake-equipped road bike will be considered so grossly irresponsible among the Fred community ("No way I'd descend behind someone with rim brakes!") that anyone attempting to do so will be shouted off the Sunday group ride."
I'm sorry.
I can't hear them over the sound of my laughter.
The above article is so spot-on that I can actually picture each quote being actually spoken by members of the local cycling club. It was freaky to see a face go with each moronic rehash of the same old...same old.
^^^ Yes, and gone are the days that pro racers died by the thousands due to steep descents and rim brakes, they simply could not stop and now lie in mass graves at the bottom of cliffs...God rest their souls.
