road bars on off-road bike?!



nerdag said:
FWIW, discs are overkill for urban riding. The only advantages they offer are a smaller decline in braking power in the wet, and function is not dependent of your wheels being true (two reasons they are popular off-road!). I just couldn't be bothered to source and retrofit v-brakes or mini-vees, and the discs look cool!

n
The major disadvantage of the STI/v-brake combination is the rim "wipe-dry" time of 2-3 seconds of hard application before the pads start to grip in the wet. You then get the full power and need to ease off or you could lock the wheel. Once the rim is dry, I've found that the brake is then as powerful as the single piston XC disc brake I've got on my MTB (this would be pad-dependent, of course). You can avoid the problem at certain times by riding the pads on the rim, if you think you're going to need them. It's disconcerting when you need'em right now!
 
garage sale GT said:
The brake's torque is transmitted to only one fork leg since the disc mount is only on one side. Picture where the force is going when the pads grab the disc. They tend to twist and deflect the left fork leg a bit. Talking about Tandems, Sheldon Brown suggested the force was very perceptible, but in that case you have about twice the weight being braked by the same wheel and fork. I will however take your suggestion and get a solid DISC fork for my drum brake bike even though the reaction arm of the brake doesn't need disc mounts.
Do you have a drum front brake? Is this a supplementary brake or the main brake on the wheel? I didn't know they existed.
 
garage sale GT said:
RE: discs and drop bars: would standard singlespeed-style road levers have enough leverage? I can't use drops unless my fingers are actually on a brake, but I don't mind shifting from the top.
The Avid BB7 seems to be well regarded - it's the one I thought about using on my conversion.
 
artemidorus said:
Do you have a drum front brake? Is this a supplementary brake or the main brake on the wheel? I didn't know they existed.
Sturmey-Archer X-FD drum laced to a 26" rim.