UKC

If you were buying a cyclocross bike mainly for commuting would you have any thoughts on brake types insofar as would you actively avoid disc or would you be open to it?

In reply to Indy:I'd actively go for discs to help prolong the life of my rims, and to have more stopping power for dealing with inattentive drivers, and an inattentive me.

In reply to Timmd: Another vote for disk. Mainly to aviod the squeek of canties.

In reply to Indy:

I wouldn't bother with discs for road use, personally (unless the bike I wanted came with them anyway). I've never had trouble stopping on the road with normal brakes.

In reply to Indy:

Commuting I'm not sure but for off-road riding my next crosser will definately have discs

In reply to Timmd:

Also, given the state of our roads, you can expect wheels to go out of true like the clappers (20 miles today damn near shook me to pieces, and that was AVOIDING the damn potholes!!). Discs have the huge advantage of allowing a wheel to work with small buckles, whilst if you have rim brakes you can guarantee they will rub, making your ride a heck of a lot harder!

In reply to Monk:

I never have, but discs are better, which is erm, better.()

In reply to Timmd:

O.K thanks everyone disc's aren't a no no then.

If I could ask 1 more question.... all the bikes I've looked at (mostly online) have just stated 'disc brakes' and the make. Am I correct in thinking that there are 2 types cable and hydraulic? if so is it worth favouring one over the other?

In reply to Indy:

You're correct - both have pros and cons.

Cable ones are easier to maintain and some are very good - the Shimano ones on my Dad's bike are much better than the V-brakes I replaced. You'll need to keep adjusting the pad on the non-activated side via a screw to balance the wear of the pad.

Hydraulic are more powerful and have more "feel", but are a fiddle to maintain in comparison and much more expensive.

In reply to Indy:

Hydraulic brakes have taken over on MTBs as they're self adjusting and crud-proof but on a cross bike they will almost certainly be cable discs - there aren't any hydraulic STI (road-style) levers yet.

There are bodged half-and-half systems with a cable-actuated hydraulic cylinder, but it hardly seems worth the complication... Shimano or Avid BB7 cable discs both work fine anyway and should only need adjusting rarely.

In reply to Indy: I would avoid mechanicals disc brakes.
I test rode disc, canti and mini v brakes.

Disc's where poor, had to really pull hard on them, also rotational mass disadvantage.
Canti ok but looked naff.
Mini v where very good.

Ive just specced my Dolan Multicross to come with Tektro mini v instead of canti.
Defo avoid discs.

In reply to mikehike:
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=16643870

In reply to Indy:

I've cable discs on my commuter (Avid BB7) - the bike has drop handlebars - currently there are no hydraulic systems that are suitable for drops.

Disc brakes - advantages:

disadvantages

ALC

In reply to LastBoyScout:


I had some older cable discs on my Kona MTB (bought about 7 years back), they were OKish but never that good then seized up after a winter (snow, ice, grit and salt where I live) never to unseize. I replaced them with some Hayes 9 hydraulics which have been fantastic ever since (maybe 5 yrs now).

When I got a new hybrid as a commuter about 5 years ago it came with shimano hydraulics. They were fantastic. I think I needed to bleed them once, and change the pads once in something like 10,000 kms of commuting. And they were cheaper end of the scale. Really reassuring when riding in busy traffic, especially in winter.

I recently bought a CXer to replace that, it came with Avid BB5 cable discs. I've got them working pretty well now, but I think they are much more fiddly to deal with than the hydraulics. I love my new CXer dearly (went past 500 kms on it earlier today!) but the brakes are the one thing I miss from my old hybrid.

I think cable discs have an inherent weakness as only one side of the brake moves against the disc, whilst on hydraulics the pads are compressed equally. Fiddling about with inside, fixed pad seems a bit of a fiddle but needs to be done very carefully to get the best performance out of them. Roll on hydraulics that can be used from drop bars, preferably with a second brake lever on the flats!

In reply to Indy: I'm about to build my new winter/CX/commuter - Lynskey Ti frame with Avid BB7 road specific mechanical discs (140mm rotors). You can get hydraulics for drop bars now, but it requires some clever (and expensive) gubbins from Hope to get it to work - about an extra £250.

I've gone for discs because I bloody hate cantis, and yet I seem to wear out pads on standard brakes about every month on my winter bike. Had mini-Vs on a Spesh Tricross and hated them - vibrated like mad and could never get them to stay centred.

I understand that the BB7s are a class above the BB5s and have read nothing but good reports - but each to his own, I guess.

In reply to andy:


That's interesting. Do you know what makes them different beyond (presumably) being lighter?

In reply to TobyA:

http://www.hopetech.com/page.aspx?itemID=SPG343

There y'go!!

In reply to andy:

There are a few of these things about and my suspicion is that they will be crap.

In reply to TobyA:

Nope - but if you google BB7 road there's lots of people slagging off BB5s and saying BB7 are the answer.

I'm going to see how the hydraulics thing works out - I had a rush of blood to the head and bought Ultegra Di2 for it this weekend so another £250 would be just too much!

In reply to DaveHK:

Hope's race team are running them so I guess they'll get a good workout from them anyway.

In reply to andy: I really like my BB7s, before i'd lined it up with the disc properly I did an endo on my MTB after first fitting my front disc and pulling a 'v brake' handfull of lever without thinking. I have the Full Metal Jacket metal tubing cable outers on mine.

Guess in urban Finnish winters they'd need regular cleaning and lubing to stop them getting messed up by salt and grit and road grime.

In reply to TobyA:

I think the difference is that on BB7s you can adjust the distance of both pads from the disc rather than just the one which moves when you pull the lever, that's certainly what you can do on my BB7s, so i'm guessing that's the difference.

In reply to Indy: http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/04/20/eyes-on-formulas-hydraulic-road-disc-br... wait a few months and source some of these?

In reply to Indy:

Interesting, i have aset of V-Twins for sale that i got for a failed project.

Open to offers (shameless plug i know!)

In reply to Blinder:

I have cantilevers on my Tricross and they don't squeak. In fact I find them almost spookily quiet after the burr of my MTB's discs, and the rasp of the knobbly tyres as I try to shed speed.

I use disk brakes on my road/hybrid, as I'm 15 stone, and it's quite handy being able to stop.