Ma Advice
The Disc Debate
Heard this the other day from a customer:“ I saw the strangest road bike the other day … it had disc brakes – like a mountain bike, and huge tyres!” Unbeknownst to the unsuspecting roadie, the steed they ride is set to undergo its biggest change yet, but far from it being a radical departure, it’ s a metamorphosis that has been bubbling under the surface for far longer than people realise. – BY THE GENTLEMAN RACER
A short while ago there was a big furore over a top-flight European professional being gashed by a disc brake rotor during an accident and this really brought to public attention the road bike disc brake, along with it’ s ramifications, and how much the road bike has already changed in recent years. First, though, we should look at bicycle designers’ vision of what they believe our near-future Cape Town Cycle Tour, 947, or indeed Tour de France road bike will be. While there isn’ t bona-fide consensus, there is a well-defined idea of what this‘ new’ beast will be.
Picture a traditional road bike, with a taller headtube( along with a more upright riding position, significantly reducing lower back pain), more relaxed geometry( softer head angles, reducing steering nervousness and increasing composure over rough surfaces), larger-volume tyres( increasing from 23C to 28C, giving larger contact patches, increasing grip as well as reducing air pressure needs, therefore increasing comfort), and the aforementioned disc brakes( increasing braking control and modulation). Lastly, add electronic shifting of the gear system, seamlessly integrating with data devices such as power meters, GPS, etc.
So why has this uber-bike not already been made part of our lives? Is all of this high-tech equipment too new to implement? Do we even need all this technowizardry? As usual, the answer isn’ t that simple.
The Tech Debate
Most of us experience riding the road in a very stereotypical way. Endless miles of smooth tarmac, on sunny, dry days with nary a whiff of traffic in sight... Well, that’ s the dream we all cling to. Our reality has become something quite different. Roads have become of increasingly poor quality, traffic volumes keep increasing, and in our quest to“ get away from it all,” we find ourselves riding more and more marginal roads. Weather also has a way of“ making things interesting,” as grabbing a handful of nothing on a wet Alpine descent will attest to.
Meanwhile, the trusty steed has remained relatively unchanged. Technology has done as much as it can and a modern top-end bike is an absolute marvel, but it’ s also a dinosaur. Racers tackling the cobbles of Europe have long used largevolume tyred cyclocross bikes in races like the Paris-Roubaix, and the traditional cyclocross bike is being used for more general riding, such as long gravel road rides. At the same time,‘ Sportive’ events and‘ Gran Fondo’ rides started becoming popular – organised, timed events with less emphasis on racing and more on the fun factor – and gravel-grinder races are huge in the US. From these two kernels, a new breed of drop-bar bike started to evolve, and bike designers took note and looked towards the future.
Moving Forward
The trick is to get the idea accepted by the buying public. Road riders are generally the most conservative amongst riders, and this has born true with the struggle to get a disc brake-equipped bike accepted in the pro ranks. But it’ s been a few years now and the floodgates are set to open. Already this year Marcel Kittel has tasted success aboard a disc bike and hopefully it will go a long way to help dispel some of the myths doing the rounds.
There are many truths and half-truths regarding a disc brake-equipped road bike, notably that while a disc brake rotor is literally a rotating, circular knife, there are still many evil items on a bike that can do as much harm in a crash, such as a chainring, for example. Secondly, a disc bike won’ t be massively more powerful under braking in the dry. Its ability to be modulated is the real improvement – rim brakes tend to be‘ snatchy’ – and this leads to being able to brake later, deeper into corners. In the wet, however, a disc bike is far superior, because its performance is hardly affected, unlike a conventional rim brake.
So, welcome to the first in a raft of changes set to occur in the road riding world. It’ s going to be an interesting ride.
Images: The Gentleman Racer
50 ISSUE 92 MARCH 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za